Social reorientation is as key to prosperity as physical infrastructure

The Biblical Parable of the Talents reveals three kinds of people, organisations and nations. The parable talks of three entities that were given talents or resources according to their ability.

The one that had been given five talents traded and made a 100 per cent return on investment. The one that had been given two talents did the same but the one that had been given one talent did not know what to do with the one talent and buried it.

One-talent nations are resource-rich but dollar-poor. They bury their resources, brag about the potential that they have as nations, blame others for their sorry states and never really benefit from their resources.

They are not innovators but managers who maintain the status quo. They do not know how to convert the resources from one form to another and they engage the support of five-talent nations to exploit their resources. These five-talent nations end up profiting more from the resources of the one-talent nations than the owners.

Previously, we mentioned China and how in 1960 the country experienced a man-made famine with some reports showing that as many as 40 million people may have lost their lives.

Today, China is both the world’s manufacturing leader and second largest economy. Some call it the greatest case of economic transformation in history with GDP growing at around 10 per cent a year for 40 years. This is no mean feat.

A country that has been able to move hundreds of millions of its people out of poverty definitely got something right. They rejected Western prescriptions for growth and transformation and developed in their own unique ways.

In 1978, under Deng Xiaoping, China decided to begin a journey of industrialisation and reforms that would pave the way out of poverty and transform the nation into a force to reckon with.

He is credited for executing the four modernisations—placing emphasis on the advancement of agriculture, industry, defence, and science and technology. It was literally the Chinese Big Four agenda to transform the economy.

It is interesting to know that the concept had been floated since 1963 but it is not enough to get the vision right. A great vision alone is not enough to take a nation, an organisation or an individual from one talent to five talent. It needs decisive decision making.

Another nation worthy of mention is Singapore. Nothing maps the journey better than Lee Kuan Yew in his best-selling book, From Third World to First.

He had to deal with everything from eradicating a spitting culture, dealing with chewing gum and a lot of other critical issues.

In his own words, “After Independence, I searched for some dramatic way to distinguish ourselves from other Third World countries.”

He acknowledged the fact that the physical infrastructure was easier to improve than the rough and ready ways of the people. This is the core of the challenges facing one-talent nations. They focus on physical infrastructure at the expense of social reorientation.

Make no mistake, such transformations do not come easy. For instance, it took Singapore 20 years to relocate hawkers to designated hawker centres.

They also had the issue of cowherds bringing their livestock to the city to graze on the roadside. Lee Kuan Yew said, “We gave owners of cows and goats a grace period until January 31, 1965, after which all such stray animals would be taken to slaughterhouses and the meat given to welfare homes.

By December 1965, we had seized and slaughtered 53 cows. Very quickly, all cattle and goats were back in their sheds.”

Wale Akinyemi is the chief transformation officer at PowerTalks.