Unarguably, peace is life. All people across the globe have been feeling the taste of peace and are heard of saying that it is the backbone of all sorts of activities since nothing can be safely carried out without it. Yes, peace is priceless human capital that knows no boundary because everything in the world can’t be dealt with in human life without the presence of peaceful atmosphere and persistent security.
When it comes to the onward motion tied with economic growth, the scenario that attracts different versions as economy; the basis of livelihood and the secret behind staying alive; economy or source of food product; one of the most fundamental or basic necessities of life, of course, the role of peace is untold.
Cognizant of the fact that every activity in relation to social, political or economic progress is highly annexed or firmly intertwined with peace and serenity, The Ethiopian Herald had recently a stay with Mohammed Feisel, who was graduated in Agro Economics from Haramaya University, to have professional outlook regarding the peace and economic growth or affluent life style.
He said, “In the first place, no one can limit the significant of peace as it is equaled by none on the planet earth for it was, is being, has been, even will in a limitless fashion be the source of all the good, inside calmness and social repose. Truly speaking, no one can provide peace with a clear cut explanation or purpose since it is tantamount to assuming all the things found in the land in aggregate.
In simple terms, health is peace, life in the absence of scarcity is peace, harmonious living is peace, clean and mesmerizing environment is peace, showing progress in life is peace, love is peace, wealth or income is peace.”
As far as the latter is concerned, wealth or economic aspect which is the basis for every life, all activities from which economy is secured need peace and peaceful trend more than anything else as every fruit can be successfully collected in the presence or peace. Needless to state, peace is life in short as every aspect of life demands it equally with what living things deserve to stay alive, equally with air, food, shelter and other related necessities for life. True, peace is the lifeblood of human existence, and its absence entirely disrupts life let alone leaving rooms for production and productivity and recording growth in economic spheres.
As to Mohammed, the relationship between the economic performances of Ethiopia, for instance, its levels of peace could hardly be expressed in words as peace acts as a reliable predictor of a country’s future performance for a number of macro-economic indicators. In the prevalence of peace and peaceful atmosphere, a number of insights can be better assessed and the potential source of economic advancement and investment perspectives of the country are going to be well expedited.
Mohamed further explained that, apart from sorting out the potential means that enable the nation to promote production and productivity in Ethiopia, taking the presence of peace and serenity for granted, properly hunting financial investment products that are likely to yield higher returns has to be well capitalized on.
Besides, it is quite important for the country to develop more comprehensively competent companies, which can decide where to invest and determine better future economic outcomes. Clearly, all the available sources of economic progress had better be exploited well thereby helping the nation come up with gratifying economic growth bedecked with peaceful environment. The role of peace especially in due course of running activities in relation to economic factors is by far invaluable since such a travel-oriented step requires peace, security, amicable social communication and peaceful coexistence.
Mohammed further elucidated, “We all need to capitalize on what peace can offer businesses instead of saying what businesses can do for peace. All economic actors and business doers have to be granted with peace and security. In order for the private sector to engage with peace building, investors’ thus first need to see the benefits of peace to their investment decisions as economic performance can be predicted by movements in the same socioeconomic developmental factors that impact peacefulness.”
Without a shadow of doubt, greater peacefulness is extraordinarily connected with higher levels of economic firmness of purpose, business and technological innovation, higher worker productivity and less administrative red tape, he added. Mohammed further said that the presence of peace has long been the main factor used to forecast superior economic performance by the nation since the country can set a number of economy-oriented plans, macroeconomic trajectories and national development schemes taking its unwavering peace for granted. Otherwise, it is difficult to back home out for work and conducting a range of societal associations let alone thinking about how can solicit income generating means, which in turn helps the nation garner huge economic return at the end of the day.
Hence, embarking on peace is an incomparable step to be taken in Ethiopia if the country wants to become an affluent one. Interestingly, the country has been in a position to register remarkable economic growth, win tourists’ confidence, create continental market linkage and contribute a lot to the nation’s economic growth though there are challenges, he added.
He said, “Peace first and all other aspects are its subordinates in life. Peacefulness is the backbone of economic progress, social connection, political interaction and even a means to drive bilateral or multilateral ties wheel well. Therefore, nothing is much more important and rewarding than working for peace in the history of human race. Come to our point, we can absolutely say that peace and economic growth are two sides of a coin. ”
Mohammed said, “If the issue of peace is entirely solved in Ethiopia, the high cost of living, peculiarly witnessed in urban areas, would undoubtedly sharply fall for agricultural products are transported from place to place without restriction and reservation. If this is so, the long heaped social, political, cultural and even economic challenges from which every Ethiopian is now suffering are going to be queued in their proper pattern and provide citizens with a sigh of relief.”
Yes, peace and its invaluable elements attract higher rates of foreign direct investment, promote low inflation, lift citizens’ purchasing power, and ensure equitable distribution of resources thereby recording superior economic and investment performance across the nation. The reason for such superior returns lies in the relationship between the factors that create peace and those that create a robust transaction, economic bolstering and conducive economic environment, is the prevalence of lasting peace, he added.
Progress in peace indeed helps the government exercise low level of corruption and improve the everyday lives of citizens via reducing the cost of regulatory compliance for businesses, and contributing a lot to peace that targets at improving systems of doing business and making profits out of all economic activities, and this is practically being done so, Mohammed opined.
Ethiopia’s progress in the peace and security framework is highly associated with increased production and productivity with superior financial returns, outcomes on safe biodiversity and a viable social well-being. As peace is a very good forecaster of future environmental, social and governance performance, all citizens have to join force and move in unison to come up with economically, socially and even politically stable nation under the auspicious of peaceful scenario. That is why it is recurrently heralded that better economic performance assists in building peace and vice-versa.
Peace and economic growth together can form a virtuous cycle. Similarly, a worsening performance in peace hinders economic growth and contributes to the process of forming a vicious cycle. The economy and peace can therefore be thought of as a system that can move in either a beneficial or destructive direction. In simple terms, the systemic relationships between peace and favorable economic environments have to be well handled and well nurtured for a delightful return.
In a nutshell, since the nation has registered commendable economic growth and appealing tourism amid some sorts of challenges, everyone has to focus on ensuring peace and security. The best scheme for successfully addressing such a daunting challenge, which has highly compromised the smooth flow of activities in one way or another due to lack of peace and security, must be well aborted to help the nation record remarkable economic growth for attaining the intended prosperity.
Such a bold move unquestionably helps make money and do business individually or collectively out of every sector and this in turn would enable the nation bring about a better economic growth. As stated from the outset, economic growth without peace is definitely unthinkable!
BY MENGESHA AMARE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2023
