To make a difference, counties must find their competitive advantage

Senate Buildings, Nairobi. [Boniface Okendo,Standard]

Traversing Kenya on a national campaign is a humbling and exhilarating experience.

You see the beauty of Kenya in its full splendour, the wealth of our country and the sheer poverty of some areas.

You see the inequality of opportunities and how leaders’ attitude can perpetuate poverty. Some are asking for a university while others are begging for food.

We were flying over a county that was so poor and dry and it was immediately clear that the number one requirement was water – not for development but as a matter of survival. As we travelled on land, we saw thousands of dead animals. One wonders how many human beings have also died unaccounted and unmoaned in the wilderness there.

Yet this county received Sh140 billion over the last 10 years and there is nothing to show for it. If there are any development projects, then they are very well hidden. What a shame. What a waste of national resources.

As I was flying out of the county, I kept asking myself, what would I do if I was the governor of this county? Hundreds of thousands of miles of arid land, no rivers, no natural resources other than the few goats and cattle that are decimated almost annually by recurrent patterns of floods and drought.

Changing a people and weaning them from their cultural economics of cattle and goat rearing can be a long and tiresome process but isn’t that what leadership is all about? Sometimes people must change to develop.

One of the most revolutionary ideas on economic development was introduced by Professor Michael Porter who wrote a book called the 'Competitive Advantage of Nations' in which he pointed out that the most successful countries are those that were not endowed with natural resources but create their own competitive advantages.

He also pointed out that an abundance of natural resources could be a curse. Congo, Nigeria, Venezuela and many other countries are rich beyond belief with natural resources but remain basket cases. They are perfect examples of failed economies, yet tiny countries like Singapore, Dubai and now Rwanda with extremely limited resources are touted as examples of successful countries.

Why? Successful countries create their own competitive advantages.

Education would be my growth economy and cash crop. I would build as many schools as possible and make sure that within a generation every student either goes to university or college and becomes employable outside the county, in Kenya’s big cities or even abroad.

There are more Somali’s outside North Eastern Province than in the counties. I would make my county a centre for educational excellence and build my own national school and university. With a budget of Sh140 billion it is possible.

Every governor needs to make a realistic assessment of his county and whether he can create some competitive advantage for his county. If there is little to look for inwards, then they should look outwards.

We need to think out of the box and look for new ideas, not perpetuate the same economies that have impoverished us. We also need to start hanging governors who loot billions and get away with it.