Green Finger, Makeni closes
…The forest was being decimated and shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe; for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood, he was one of them… – Turkish Proverb…
Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba wrote;
The closure of Green Finger Cafe in Makeni typifies the state of the business sector in Zambia.
Thriving young entreprenuer, Mwala Mooto announced the closure of his integrated farm and agro-business citing loadshedding and other negative factors.
He announced that he was closing Mooto Foods Ltd Mwembeshi Farm due to unsustainable operation costs.
Small and medium enterprises have been adversely affected, destroyed, left in soaring debt, and shut primarily because of loadshedding.
The business environment in historically hostile,cost of money extremely is expensive, you have a central bank obsessed with restricting money supply in the economy, with a banking sector that would rather lend to the State as it is far profitable abd risk-free than to lend to businesses that should grow real wealth and create real jobs.
President Hakainde Hichilema presented himself as equal yo the task touting his skills and experience as a farmer, as businessman abd as an economist.
He is the worst nightmare for farmers with failed agro policies for four years now
Many were shocked that with forecast that showed an imminent drought, orobably the wirst in 100 years, he kept on exporting maize to neighbouring states.
He has shocked businesses with his hostile business policies and non-responsive posture to the crisis sectors are facing.
Economists are far embarrassed at the rookie mistakes he frequently makes, the unashamed pro multi-national and pro-foreign policies he promotes and the utter hostility he shows to local businesses.
I guess the business community must wake-up and learn that the axe, although bearing a wooden handle, is not one of them.