By Riaz Gardee*
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed a 2-day state visit to South Africa as part of his 4-nation African tour including Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania. Bi-lateral trade between India and South Africa totalled R95bn in 2015 with a trade surplus of R13bn in India’s favour. Trade is the cornerstone of economic growth and an essential ingredient to any developing country achieving its goals. Modi magic has transformed his native Gujarat into an economic success story and the expectation from the Indian electorate is for him to replicate this nationwide.
Under Modi’s stewardship Gujarat achieved a 10% per annum GDP growth rate from 2001-2012 allowing it to grow faster than India as a whole and much higher than SA. With only a tenth of the workforce it accounted for 22% of India’s exports. Gujarat has always had deep trade roots with its port city, Surat, being the largest export centre of the Mughal Empire. This was the largest economic empire on Earth at the time prior to Britain overtaking it to secure the top spot for the next two centuries. Modi built on this trading culture by significantly improving the ease of doing business in Gujarat thereby drawing major industrial manufacturers and exporters into the region. Some of his key actions were:
- Taking personal accountability and leading by example;
- Focussing on basic infrastructure;
- Good governance in general with a drive to make civil servants more accountable through the use of IT platforms; and
- Reducing bureaucratic ‘red-tape’ allowing businesses to move quickly from concept through to production.
At India-South Africa Business Meet, shared my thoughts about the need for greater India-SA economic cooperation. https://t.co/27o5eSoeSL
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 8, 2016
The tangible benefits of improved infrastructure, an electricity generation surplus, greater access to water resource, improved primary healthcare and sanitation, enhanced economic well-being, increased education for girls, high-speed internet access to all villages and other similar initiatives have allowed the BJP, his party, to obtain a resounding 100% of the seats in Gujarat during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. This phenomenal feat evidenced his popular mandate and should silence his detractors who have claimed he focusses on divisive politics as well as prejudices against minority communities.
Modi has also impressively managed to obtain support across classes from both grassroots level to the business sector. He has done this by focussing on service delivery to the poor whilst at the same time allowing a favourable climate for investment and trade. This is not the usual political tactic to play these two groups off against each other whilst simultaneously looking for scapegoats to blame the misfortunes of the poor on. At a recent gathering in Johannesburg he expressed his aim to create 500 million jobs in India over the next 8 years even though India has a relatively low unemployment rate of 5% compared to SA’s 25%.
Talked about India’s economic transformation in the last 2 years & highlighted the investment opportunities under @makeinindia initiative.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 8, 2016
Narendra Modi spent his early years imbibing Indian philosophy and spiritual training with various sages. He is a vegetarian, has no wife, no children, a teetotaller, remains celibate and is considered a workaholic starting before dawn. His spiritual teacher discouraged him from living a monastic life of renunciation and suggested that he rather serve people through the medium of politics as this was most suited to his inherent nature. His unselfish and ‘service’ approach is evident in his actions, approach, demeanour and results.
Democratic SA has many similarities to India including a heterogeneous populace comprising many languages and ethnic backgrounds, a business class who controls its allocation of resources largely independent of the state, a development policy which allows for production by the indigenous capital class and relatively limited control of strategic interests by foreign powers. There are many lessons that SA can take from Modi and the Indian experience to accelerate its growth, reduce poverty and eliminate the daily indignities suffered by the poor. Every South African who wants a better future should remember the words of the Mahatma who said “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
- Riaz Gardee is a chartered accountant, financial writer and contributor to various media platforms including print, online, radio and television.
