The Tribune

By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

Gowon Bowe, CEO of Fidelity Bank Bahamas, has renewed his call for the government to implement a National Development Plan to direct and benchmark improvements on key economic and social metrics.

Mr Bowe said the pandemic highlighted the need for the National Development Plan to be implemented as it will provide clarity during adverse economic times.

He said: “Ultimately what COVID demonstrated for us was the lack of a national development plan… a failure to plan is planning to fail. And ultimately, what COVID highlighted for us was that there are going to be periods when we do not have clear sight of all that has taken place.

“And a plan allows us to continue the methodical steps that we settled and have planned even when we don't have clarity. Because ultimately, as the sun rises, the clouds dissipate and we have greater clarity, if we follow the trajectory that we were on with a clear plan, we hopefully will still be going in the right direction.”

He said the National Development Plan should have input from all areas of society including businesses and civil society and that it will provide a benchmark to judge the performance of policymakers.

He said: “If we devise a national development plan that gains consensus, not unanimous agreement, consensus. That says civil society, the citizens, the businesses, the government all are in relative agreement over what the vision for the country is and how we will get there, then we will actually start grading and evaluating our politicians and our policymakers, by execution, not philosophy.”

He said that without a National Development Plan the country is not leaving a clear vision for future generations to aspire to and that leaders "owe" the general public accountability, execution and integrity.

He said: “We're not leaving in place what [future generations] can build upon and they can be comfortable with. We're leaving them with debt, we're leaving them with no plan as it relates to what the country's vision and strategy is. And we are leaving them with purely a legacy of sweet talk.

“Our policymakers, our political leaders, our civic leaders, it is not that they gift us by accountability, execution and integrity. They owe us that.

“Ultimately, if we are talking about the Road to Recovery versus the Road to Perdition, I start by saying it has to start with a National Development plan. It has to start by helping persons to envision how they contribute to the development of the country. And then it has to end with accountability that says, I can show you what I have done, not what I've told you I've done. A goal without a plan is just a wish. In the Bahamas, you know, we do a lot of wishing because we set a lot of goals and we have very few plans.”