Vision 2020: are you committed or involved?

We are eight years to the year 2020 when Rwanda should become a middle income nation, with a private sector-led economy. A lot of work has been done towards attainment of this vision but still, there is much that needs more attention. As the d-day approaches, the question boils down to this; are you committed or are you involved?An illustration is necessary here. There’s an ‘Animal Farm’ fable that captures the gist of commitment and involvement question quite aptly. A farmer (a professional farmer, I would imagine) was about to retire from his work as the overseer of the farm. Clearly, he had been a good farmer, for just before the due date of his retirement, the animals got together to deliberate on how they would show him gratitude for the good care he had taken of them.The cow was the first to speak; “I will provide a litter of milk every morning for the farmer’s breakfast”. Everyone clapped. Not to be outdone, the chicken quickly quipped, “and I will provide two eggs to go with that breakfast!” Another round of applause. The sheep then said he would provide wool for this clothing during winter. It went on in such good cheer for awhile. The mood in the meeting was quite merry and the animals were happy with themselves.Somewhere down the line, the goat noticed that the pig was looking rather morose and had in fact not contributed a thing. This was not in line with the spirit of the party and so naturally everyone was furious with the pig. Why was he such a spoil sport? “In fact he is the one who eats the most, and since he has benefitted the most from the farmer’s good work, he should contribute the most!’ shouted the goat.Finally, the pig spoke. “Ladies and gentlemen”, he began, “please understand that I am not ungrateful to the good farmer”. “My feelings are quite the contrary; however, you must note that you are committed but I am involved!” He said sadly, “the farmer cannot enjoy his ham and bacon with me alive.” And all of a sudden….you could hear a pin drop.Commitment is more like a promise or a vow. It is wonderful, but we have seen too much a vow broken or a promise not kept. On the other hand, involvement is ‘being in the mix’, it is engaging and being absorbed in an activity. When you are involved, no one can doubt your commitment. It is so clear that the blind would see it.May be it is too optimistic, but I think we can still achieve a private sector-led (read SME-led) economy by 2020. It will take some work though, quite some work. We will have to be more involved!It has to start from the mind, many a time we talk about investments we imagine foreigners coming with sacks full of money to start businesses and employ us. That may be the case as of now, but we need to turn that thinking on its head. We need to see ourselves starting business (even without the sacks full of money). We may not, each, hire many people but the few we hire (including ourselves), are worth the effort.Then we must be present and participate in all matters pertaining to our dreams. There are just too many occasions that you find that concerned parties or institutions are missing. This trend tends to be across sectors. Watch a workshop or conference and you will notice that some key player that is a ‘natural fit’ is missing! This is actually more prevalent than you’d imagine. The thing is everyone wants to organise their own little initiative. This is not only expensive, but also stifles growth, individually and collectively.Commitment is good, but involvement is better. Being involved is the only way the vision will be realized.