Engage private sector more in public policy discourse

As we move into the election year, it is worth considering how the private sector can constructively inform economic policy discourse during upcoming campaigns. It is common knowledge that the private sector is hurting. The cost of doing business keeps rising.

Onerous taxation and regulatory burdens show no signs of retreat. Meanwhile, the macroeconomic environment is not particularly inspiring – consumer spending will continue to be negatively impacted by declining real incomes and uncertainties over the election. “Let us talk after the election” is about to become the standard strategy for addressing the political risk posed by next year’s elections.

The Kenyan private sector need not take these challenges lying down. Collectively, they have power to shape policy and the environment in which they operate. They can do this in two ways. First, they can cultivate public interest in economic policy and shape how Kenyans think about the private sector.

If we are being honest, the Kenyan public has a healthy skepticism of the private sector. Many associate the private sector with unfair profiteerism and poor working conditions. This is not optimal. The private sector ought to do more to convince the public of their importance in creating jobs, paying taxes, and keeping a dynamic economic going.

Second, the private sector can directly influence politicians’ (re)election prospects, thereby creating incentives for politicians to do the right thing by the private sector once in office. So far the model has been for individual firms to negotiate directly with the government, or through their industry association. To the extent that businesses have directly supported politicians’ election campaigns, it has happened secretly.

Consequently, the relationship between the Kenyan political class and the private sector is haphazardly structured. This situation gives politicians a lot of power over private sector players via tools like taxation, licensing, regulatory burdens, among others.

It follows that the private sector stands a chance to benefit from being more involved in selection and influence of politicians. Of course, there ought to be a balance to avoid undue private sector capture of politics. What is clear in the Kenyan case is that the private sector has essentially allowed itself to live and die at the mercy of rather errant politicians.

One of the things that has become abundantly clear over the last two years is that while Kenyans have certainly embraced the increased salience of economic policy in our politics, many still lack the vocabulary or accessible frameworks for making sense of economic policymaking.

With this in mind, the private sector (through their industry associations) should take it upon itself to educate Kenyans on what types of policies ought to receive mass support. Good policymaking rarely happens spontaneously. Instead, it is often the result of interested people doing the work of selecting for the right politicians and policymakers, and then ensuring they face the right incentives to do the right thing once in office.

-The writer is a professor at Georgetown University