10 October 2008
editorial
AS the rest of the world buckles under the jackboot of financial and banking crises, Namibians remain almost blissfully unaware of the systemic consequences of the global meltdown.
Central banks in the so-called First World are scrambling to pump cash into the commercial and private banking sectors to shore up short-term liquidity and ensure that ordinary folk don't lose their savings and deposits.
Governments have promised guarantees to their citizens who have invested their life savings into the banks that are being razed to the ground.
Without exception, the metropoles of free marketeering and unbridled accumulation have been fatally hit and are trying to synchronise their efforts to save a system that they have created, and whose outcome is a miserable Frankenstein.
Greed, profits, lending to people who can't honour their debt (the subprime crisis in the US), a wildly unpredictable and volatile oil price, futures trading and speculation, obscenely high salaries and bonuses of chief executives, collusion of governments in hiding the growing crisis from their public, have all combined to produce a monster that may be difficult to tame.
The world will never be the same again after this and Namibians should be ever vigilant and informed about the banks in our part of the world.
At present our banks are seemingly out of the loop of the financial crisis gripping the globe.
But for how long will this last, given that there are identifiable areas that we can pinpoint to help us avoid the financial devastation of Europe and the US.
A debt-driven society, as we are rapidly becoming, will always be on a knife's edge and every effort must be made to stem its further spread.
But this is not our mindset at present in Namibia.
We crave houses, smart cars, private schools, satellite connections, laptops and more and often useless gadgets.
While many people may argue that these are essentials in a rapidly evolving technological world, there are still those of us who believe that our basic humanity has taken a turn for the worse in this slide towards consumerism.
The adage that money makes the world go round has turned around to bite us from behind and if we don't take the necessary steps to reflect about the direction of our society, we will face dire consequences.
So, what can we do to prevent our nation falling into the webs of intrigue and calamitous collapse of the financial system that dominates the First World? Firstly, banks must be held accountable and must be turned into institutions of transparency.
The Banks Act and the legislative environment must provide sufficient tools for investigation into banking activities and their investments so that the clients don't become the victims of reckless trading and speculation by punters who have absolutely no interest in ordinary people's lives but their commissions when they trade on the stock exchanges of the world.
Secondly, the buck stops with financial executives who are protected by their boards of directors and who are often paid fortunes even when banks operate at a loss.
But while we contemplate our status in the world of international finance, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund will meet over the weekend in Washington to angle for an active role in solving the global meltdown.
There is every reason for Namibians to be suspicious about these moves.
The global lenders have a track record of underdeveloped countries that are in debt and there is little concrete evidence to suggest that this time round they will behave differently.
In Namibia, we need a socially responsible banking system that looks after the savings and deposits of ordinary folk.
While we are not shielded from the ebbs and flows of international finance, and the vagaries of the markets, we must learn to save and slowly build up our own capital base.
We must do so individually and collectively.
This is our responsibility and we have to start acting immediately.
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