IN November last year, we started looking at one of the categories of the data stocked by the Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats) – the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) section.
Today, we picked up from there and state that SDGs are, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
The 17 goals were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 and the deadline is 2030 which in Zambia’s case coincides with the Vision 2030 target.
Zambia’s Vision 2030 is the country’s first long-term perspective plan aims at attaining prosperous middle-income nation status by 2030 by creating an enabling environment for sustainable socio-economic development.
Back to SDGs, the 17 goals have a total of 169 targets with 231 unique indicators 12 of which are repeated thereby increasing the total to 247.
From the 17 targets, some of which are not relevant to this forum, today we will look at goal number eight – decent work and economic growth.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines decent work as “productive work for women and men in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity”.
Generally, work is considered to be decent when it pays a fair income to workers who are also free to express their concerns and to organise themselves for representation like unions.
Further, economic growth is an increase in the production of economic goods and services, compared from one period of time to another, according to Investopedia.
The decent work and economic growth goal, therefore, aims at promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all, and looks like a tall order for Zambia as well as other developing countries.
The goal has 10 indicators one of which has two sub ones.
This article looks at some of those items to evaluate how Zambia is performing towards attaining them, nine years before the deadline.
The first target is to sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and, in particular, at least seven per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth per annum.
According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the GDP is the standard measure of the value added created through the production of goods and services in a country during a certain period.
As such, it also measures the income earned from that production, or the total amount spent on final goods and services (less imports) The indicator to post at least seven per cent GDP growth per annum could have easily been achieved by Zambia in about 10 years ago.
The country could have easily achieved that indicator because the average growth rate then was about six to 6.5 per cent but plunged to regression for the first time in 2020.
The SDGs Zambia indicators shows that the annual growth rate of real Gross GDP was 3.8 per cent in 2016, 3.5 per cent in 2017, 1.1 per cent in 2018, -1.4 per cent in 2019 and -5.5 per cent in 2020.
The GDP is the main measure of national output, representing the total value of all final goods and services produced within the country’s borders in a given year.
The next target is to achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors.
The only indicator is the higher annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person.
GDP per person employed in Zambia was reported at $8,963 in 2020, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources.
Other than that, we do not seem to have tangible indicators from either ZamStats or other credible platforms to show Zambia’s level of performance.
Further, the world wants to promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship and creativity and innovation.
The other target areas are to encourage the formalisation and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services is another target.
By 2030, it wants to achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value.
This is indicated by average hourly earnings of female and male employees, by occupation, age and persons with disabilities.
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