Invest in education, infrastructure – Thembekwayo

Celebrated South African entrepreneur and public speaker, Vusi Thembekwayo has challenged government to re-direct more resources into critical areas of the economy.

According to him, the expenditure of hard-earned revenue on consumption rather than investment into strategic areas of the economy meant Ghana was living beyond its means, and “basically it’s going to catch up with us.”

Mr Thembekwayo made the remarks in an interview with The Finder last Thursday on the sidelines of a business forum in Accra dubbed ‘Business without limits,’ where he spoke extensively on how businesses could successfully innovate their way out of challenges.

The public speaker was in Ghana through a Stanbic Bank initiative for a series of programmes, including a three-day capacity building programme initiative dubbed the ‘Inspire Ghana Series.’

Infrastructure, according to him, remained a major challenge for countries such as Ghana , adding that, “Even though Ghana is spending more money than it is raising, I drive around and I don’t see any bridges being built, no schools, no hospitals being built, which tells me Ghana is not spending the money you are raising on investment, rather it’s spending on consumption.

“Because you are not spending money on investment, particularly education, it means you are not creating a calibre of citizens and youth who will be able to build a better country,” he pointed out.

Mr Thembekwayo challenged African leaders to drive economic change with speed and focus in order to turn the continent into an economic superpower.

“In order for the continent to be united politically, we need economic activism and pan-Africanism; we need to open up the continent, create a single trading bloc, move goods around and create competition,” he said.

Earlier on in the week, the accomplished public speaker told students of the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) that business plans were “fallacies created by academic institutions” and are not a necessity to start a business.

He pointed out that business plans were not a reflection of the realities of how a business should or would be.

“I’m not saying the business plan is evil but am saying if you think the business plan is a reflection of reality, you are either deluded or you don’t know what reality is…the world changes, things happen so you start a business in month one and by three years things have changed,” he said.

Mr Thembekwayo explained that different factors such as competition and change in taste and preference of consumers could easily change after the preparation of a business plan, which renders the plan useless.

“In my business plan, I didn’t factor in having a competitor so I assumed a certain price, I had supply and demand factors. I know at this price given supply and demand factors I can make this kind of profit. All of a sudden I’ve got a competitor who undercuts me on price and I must now drop my price. In my business plan, I didn’t have that, which is the problem with a business plan,” he said.

“A business plan is a static document,” he added.