The Panama Papers Syndicate

In what has gone down as the largest data revelations in modern times, the Panama Papers is perhaps an event and not just an activity of any sort. The Panama Papers data leaks involve a total of 11.5 million documents in form of emails, pdf files, photo files and excerpts from the database of an international law firm, Mossack Fonseca, situated in Panama Island and whose associates are Jorgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca. The data on Panama Papers is touted to be 2.6 terabytes in size, dwarfing the total combination of other data leaks that have occurred in recent times such as the famous Wiki Leaks which was 1.7GB and occurred in 2010, the Offshore Leaks 260GB in 2013, the Luxembourg Leaks 4GB in 2014 and the Swiss Leaks 3.3GB in 2015.

The Panama Papers showcase on how corruption networks and systems function globally, with indications on how the global financial system and the global tax system are manipulated to benefit a few individuals and to impoverish the masses. The aforementioned syndicate has revealed on how ‘dirty’ money has ostensibly been hidden for several years in one of the world’s most sought after tax havens or offshore financial centres. A tax haven or an offshore financial centre refers to a geographical region(s) in the world in which the taxes levied on the financial transactions carried out within that particular region are either very low or non-existent. These tax havens also highly regard and prioritize a high level of secrecy in their banking operations.

These tax havens are normally islands and they include, among them, the Panama Island, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, the Macao among others. Due to the very low taxes charged on the financial transactions and the guaranteed secrecy on banking transactions and operations, these offshore financial centres are deemed as the ideal places where money that has been acquired through fraudulent means is hidden. This can be the financial proceeds obtained from activities such as drug-dealing and corruption. In so doing, these tax havens act as mechanisms for the perpetuation of tax evasion and money laundering.

Fast forward, the Panama Papers data leaks came into being after the information was provided to one of the leading newspapers in Germany, Suddeutsche Zeitung, by a source which remains unnamed. This particular scandal orchestrated by Mossack Fonseca involves about 215,000 non-existent companies and 14,153 clients. These companies that are non-existent are usually referred to as shell companies.  A shell company is a firm that outwardly appears to be a legitimate business entity but it is just empty, a shell for that matter, tasked with the management of the money and/or wealth received without revealing who the real owners are.

Mossack Fonseca is claimed to have aided in the setting up of several shell companies and various offshore accounts for individuals who are believed to be influential either globally or in the geographical regions where they hail from. These individuals include politicians, officials of the football world governing body FIFA, drug barons, athletes and even celebrities among other high profile individuals. 

Some of the individuals who have been named in the Panama Papers include the immediate former Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, President Mauricio Macri of Argentina, President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani a former Emir of Qatar, former Prime Minister of Qatar Hamad bin Jaber al-Thani, world’s soccer superstar Lionel Messi, the current FIFA President and former UEFA Secretary General Gianni Infantino, Sergei Roldugin who is a very close ally to the Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Gonzalo Delaveau Swett the President of Transparency Chile which is a branch of Transparency International. 

Those ones whose names have been mentioned in the leaks and hail from Africa include Khulubuse Zuma who is a nephew to Jacob Zuma, Kenya’s Deputy Chief Justice Kalpana Rawal, Ian Kirby who heads Botswana’s Court of Appeal, Jaynet Desiree Kabila a twin sister to DRC’s President Joseph Kabila, Angola’s oil minister Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos, Mamadie Toure a widow to former Guinean President Lansana Conte, Kojo Annan a son to Koffi Annan, John Addo Kufour a son to John Kufour a former president of Ghana and Mounir Majadi the personal secretary to King Muhammed the Sixth of Morocco.

How Mossack Fonseca Operates

Mossack Fonseca carries out its operations by providing a number of offshore firms located in different parts of the world. This Panamanian law firm usually establishes shell firms in some of the world’s famous cities and disposes them to clients at negotiable prices. Normally, the shell companies are sold at US$1000 but the client can pay extra amounts of money so that Mossack Fonseca can be able to provide a fake director(s) and this hides the identity of the true owner of the firm and the subsequent business activity that the firm carries out. 

Implications

Following the revelations of the Panama Papers syndicate, several resignations have taken place including the one by the Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and the resignation by the President of Transparency Chile Gonzalo Delaveau Swett. I foresee many more resignations happening with regards to this event especially in countries whose laws on corruption are strict. 

On the account that the world’s football governing body FIFA and Europe’s football body UEFA have been mentioned in this particular scandal leaves a lot to be desired. Last year, the then president of FIFA Sepp Blatter and UEFA’s boss Michel Platini resigned due to allegations of corruption that are believed to have originated from the activities mentioned in the Panama Papers. The involvement of the Qatari Prime Minister and a former Emir of Qatar, FIFA and Sepp Blatter in this scam is an absolute coincidence that the awarding of the 2022 world cup hosting bid to Qatar might have happened under conditions fuelled by corruption. Of course, the 2022 world cup hosting bid has been shrouded with a lot of controversies. And don’t forget the 2018 world cup hosting bid that was awarded to Russia. The Panama Papers document the involvement of Russian power players in great length and breadth and I have a conviction that the Russian heavyweights might have bought their way to hosting this global event. This conjecturing of coincidences cannot be whisked away.

Global Governance Going Forward

The Panama Papers reveal the existence of an intricate and intrinsic web of corruption in the world. The tax havens or the offshore financial centres have led to the development, complication and sophistication of the global corruption networks and the manipulation of the global tax systems and financial systems. 

The offshore financial centres are not illegal in the first place but the major challenge that they pose is the hiding of the identity of the owners of the various firms and accounts that are found in these tax havens. This act of concealing the identity of the shareholders of the companies and the accounts is what has largely contributed to the breakdown of the global governance system by propagating the acts and activities that involve money laundering, looting of public resources and drug-dealing. 

As a result, such activities have led to the increase in the incidences of tax avoidance or evasion. As a matter of fact, it is highly possible that some of the multinational corporations, especially those involved in mining activities, could be engaging in such vices which have led to massive capital flight from the developing countries and this has consequentially starved them of the necessary capital required for investments in order to engender rapid economic growth and development.

The Panama Papers is just one of the many unknown global syndicates that exist in the various tax havens that are located around the world. I’m pretty sure that other similar networks actively operate in the other offshore financial centres. Such networks only seek to worsen the inequality gap in the world and even undermine the gains of democracy if not to annihilate democracy itself and its related aspects. A research carried out by the Tax Justice Network in 2012 estimated that these tax havens hide wealth amounting to between $21 trillion and $32 trillion, a clear indication on how they enhance and worsen the global inequality rates.

It is high time that laws meant to deal with the offshore financial centres are formulated through multilateral institutions such as the United Nations Organization. Who knows that may be even these tax havens provide a fertile ground for terrorism to thrive? Sanitizing the financial transactions and banking operations of these tax havens will definitely reduce the intensity of some of the global challenges. But as for now the emergence of a global spring on global governance is imminent, to specifically champion for the formulation of legal frameworks to combat these offshore financial centres.

State Of The Nation: The Achievements & Challenges In Physical Infrastructure, Devolution & Investment.

The talk of this ending week has certainly been the State Of The Nation address by President Uhuru Kenyatta which was preceded by other similar events in which the Cabinet Secretaries and the Deputy President gave conclusive and comprehensive reports on what the ministries have achieved, the challenges that they have encountered and most importantly what they intend to achieve in the next two years. 

The State Of The Nation address was perspicuous albeit the incidences and instances of whistle blowing by a section of the opposition Members of Parliament. This unfortunate event shifted the focus of the initial and intended objective of the speech which was to highlight the achievements that have been made by the Jubilee administration and the goals to be realized in the next few months going into the electioneering period.

One of the remarkable and memorable parts of the speech was the echoing of the Nationalist Covenant that was patriotically drafted and adroitly crafted by the Founding Fathers of the Republic of Kenya. Under this, they envisaged a united country irrespective of one’s ethnic orientation, ready to quash the three enemies of poverty, disease and ignorance. The eradication of these three challenges is pegged on the implementation and operationalization of efficient socio-economic policies.

Fast-forward, President Kenyatta largely focused on the positives among them the resilience of the Kenyan economy, the controlled level of inflation, the improved level of the foreign  exchange reserves among others. At this juncture, I wish to note that in the recent launch of the 13^th edition of the Kenya Economic Update, it was revealed that Kenya is the most resilient economy in Sub-Saharan Africa. This can be attributed to the effective macroeconomic policy frameworks that have been formulated to address both the endogenous and exogenous economic shocks that may afflict the economy. 

In his address to the nation, Mr. Kenyatta made a bold reference to the report by the World Bank on the ease of doing business which indicates that Kenya is the third most improved country in the world as far as conducting business is concerned. In addition, it was captured in the speech that Nairobi was named as the most attractive destination in Africa for the Foreign Direct Investments. Further documentation was made with regards to Kenya being among the seven most promising emerging markets in the world and the only state from Africa.

This is positive news in view of the anticipated economic growth trajectory and the subsequent structural transformation. However, there is much to worry going by some of the latest reports that have been issued by the World Bank. In the final days of the month of March 2016, the World Bank published a report on the state of the Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in Kenya. The general focus of the report was on why foreign investors are preferring Uganda and Tanzania to Kenya. The report conclusively states that this can solely and squarely be attributed to the accretion of the rate of corruption in the country.

This report had three main aspects: firstly, the level of FDI in Kenya is relatively lower when compared to Uganda and Tanzania. Secondly, Kenya’s FDI inflows have fallen below the pre-1980s levels and thirdly, the FDI for manufacturing in Kenya is way too low to stimulate a rapid growth of the manufacturing sector in the economy. Furthermore, the report notes that the manufacturing FDI is lower in comparison with countries such as Ghana and the ilk whose economies are nearly of the same size as Kenya’s. The current administration has to initiate measures that are to lead to highly significant inflows of the FDIs and more specifically the FDIs for the manufacturing sector which is fundamental in the achievement of Vision 2030.

Going by the address, it feels good to note that the government continues to prioritize investment in infrastructure as a catalyst for robust economic growth. The progress of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) cannot be whisked away. It’s construction is six months ahead of schedule and it is expected that the stretch between Mombasa and Nairobi will be fully operational by June 2017. This particular infrastructural project has already created 27000 jobs both directly and indirectly. Upon its completion, the SGR is expected to generate an additional 1.5% rate of economic growth. 

On the construction of the roads, the current administration has adopted a three-pronged approach: the first one entails the completion of the road networks that were initiated by the Kibaki-Raila Grand Coalition administration. The other approach entails the opening of new major national trunk routes and the final approach involves the implementation of the Roads Annuity Programme which focuses on constructing low volume tarmac roads especially in the rural areas. In the address, the president noted that for fifty years from 1963 to 2013, only 11000kms of roads were tarmacked and that the current regime has completed about 3000kms of tarmac roads for the last three years. This translates to an average of 1000kms per year and by 2017 it is prospected that an additional 2000km would have been completed.

Other notable infrastructural developments that have been carried out by the Jubilee administration include the expansion of the Port of Mombasa and the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. In 2013, the Port of Mombasa was the eighth busiest airport in Africa with a capacity to handle 890000 twenty foot containers. As at February 2016, the Port of Mombasa was ranked as the fourth busiest in Africa with its handling capacity having expanded to 1.6 million. 

The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport has been expanded. The air terminal 2 has already been completed with terminals 1A and 1E expected to be completed by May 2016. This is expected to increase the passenger handling capacity by an additional 5.1 million new passengers bringing the total number of passengers to 7.5 million per year. 

However, in my opinion, the president ought to have given the progress that is being made as far as the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor is concerned. This is a key project in enhancing medium-term and long-term economic growth of the country. Also the president ought to have given explanation as to why the government has annulled the Greenfield Airfield Project which was a key project in the Vision 2030 economic plan. This was a Kshs.56 billion  project and its termination would imply that an extra Kshs.20 billion in costs might be incurred in the process of compensating the contractor on site. This is a failure on the part of this administration. Special attention needs to be paid to the quality of the tarmac roads that are constructed. Above board technology should be used to reduce on the cases of the roads being dilapidated as soon as they are completed.

On infrastructural development in the energy sector, significant strides have been made. In 2015 634MW of new power were injected to the national grid system bringing the total amount to 2282MW. As a result of this 1.2 million Kenyans have been connected to electricity. But this expansion of the energy infrastructure needs to be met with a lot of efficiency. This means that incidences of power outages need to be significantly reduced especially in the rural areas. Street lighting projects have been embraced by the current administration. By mid-2016, about 26000 new street lights would have been erected across five counties. This is a fundamental infrastructural step towards a 24-hour economy which needs to be facilitated by other basics to achieve it.

On devolution, the president noted that his regime has remitted Kshs.1trillion in revenues to the county governments which translates into a 30% remission rate in each fiscal year which is above the constitutional threshold of 15%. The president faulted the governors for the opulent lifestyles that they have adopted and these have created avenues for corruption to thrive. But the Jubilee administration needs to reduce the bureaucratic process that is involved in the transfer of funds from the national government to the county governments. These red tapes have slackened service delivery particularly in the health dockets of the respective counties leading to frequent industrial unrests. In order to tame devolved corruption, the administration should facilitate legislation that devolves effectively the functions of the anti-corruption institutions.

Generally, the economy grew by 5.6% in 2015 and it is expected that by 2017 the growth rate will be 6% which I highly doubt about considering that the political temperatures are expected to rise. A look into the second Medium-Term Plan(MTP) covering 2013 to 2018 shows that the country’s economy is lagging behind the set targets. This isn’t some sort of reckless fabrication because reference can be made to the MTPs. This latency implies that either the policy makers set overambitious targets or the macroeconomic environment is highly punctured, in relative terms, by the external shocks. To ensure that the economy grows rapidly and robustly, corruption that is extant needs to be weeded out. Budgetary accountability and prudence  must be embraced  especially in collection of revenue and in carrying out the spending.

 

  

Economic Take-off Abridged By Covetous Individuals

Most of my write-ups in this blog have largely focused on issues that deal with economic and political governance with respect to my beloved state of Kenya and my continent of Africa. It is not that I hate or in any way regret being born in this part of the world but I take it as a duty and a challenge to make Kenya and Africa better than I found them. On this note, therefore, I will neither tire nor relent in my efforts to see Kenya and Africa in general become better places as far as governance is concerned.

Fast-forward, Kenya is a country that has great potential to become an economic powerhouse in Africa and even in the world. This great potential can be realized through the socio-economic policy papers and the respective policy frameworks that have been formulated since the time we attained our independence up to the present moment.

In fact, at one time, Kenyans were considered as the best policy makers in the world. This accolade, however, is accompanied by the word but which has completely reversed if not negated the compliment so made by public policy analysts around the world. The but itself is that we are so poor when it comes to policy implementation. This is the harsh reality and the bitter truth.The poor policy implementation that has become the zeitgeist in the socio-economic policy realm can be traced to the unending if not spiraling rates of corruption that continue to bedevil the Republic of Kenya. 

 

Recently, a report released by the PwC ranked Kenya as the third most corrupt country in the world. To me this was not a shocker going by the recent slippery-slope dynamics with the revelations of incidences of rapaciousness that have rocked the Jubilee administration.

In addition, a few days ago, the chairperson of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Philip Kinisu candidly revealed on how approximately Kshs.600 billion of the national budget is lost through corruption. Can you imagine what could be done with this amount of money?

Talk of infrastructural development in terms of construction and expansion of roads, construction of railway lines, modern airports, seaports among other social amenities that are key to necessitating an economic take-off. This is certainly the economic cost of corruption. 

Our country’s economic growth for the last three years has been an average of 5.5% with an economic growth rate of 5.6% in 2015, 5.3% in 2014 and 5.7% in 2013. To me, this is an average economic performance going by the potential that our economy harbors. If transparency and accountability could be strongly adhered to by the relevant authorities then achieving the magic 7% economic growth rate would not be difficult. 

In as much as our economy is prone to the exogenous shocks due to the inter-linking nature of the global economy, I am pretty sure we could be gearing towards the double-digit growth promised by the current regime if financial and budgetary prudence could be effected. But at the moment this remains a pipe-dream because of the stagnation in economic growth that is being seen.

I deeply understand that the Jubilee administration minions would like to chest-thump and shout at the top of their voices that the economy is doing well, may be well than Burundi, Somalia and the ilk, but the reality is that our economy is experiencing stagnation. Blame this largely on corruption.

It is also because of corruption that the Cabinet Secretary in charge of the National Treasury, Henry Rotich, recently decided to reduce the development expenditure by about Kshs.49.1 billion in the forthcoming Budget Policy Statement for the fiscal year 2016/2017. His explanation; the Kenya Revenue Authority failed to meet its revenue collection targets as at December 2015. 

The failure by the Kenya Revenue Authority to meet its revenue collection targets is largely due to corruption. I do not understand why this is the case considering that Kenya is among the few countries in the world where the rates of taxation are very high. Sometime late last year, the KRA staff was to be subjected to a radical lifestyle audit whose findings we are yet to hear. Or it was just another PR gimmick. Who knows?

This incongruity between the revenue collected and the revenue targets set is occasioned by plundering and this has continually led to relatively huge budgetary deficits whose result has been the limited financing of key infrastructural projects hence holding back Kenya’s would be rapid economic take-off. Or from another angle, why should we have huge budgets that we struggle to finance? I know that the Treasury honchos are sticking to the Keynesian principle of deficit financing and spending but they get it wrong because this only works well in case of an economic recession which we are not experiencing. Again, deficit financing cannot be applied in all economies because there is a lot of dynamism. These budgetary deficits may be the trigger factors for corrupt activities by the KRA.

A recent report by the World Bank revealed that Kenya’s level of unemployment is relatively high even outpacing her counterparts in this geographic region. The high level of unemployment is due to the economy’s inability to create more employment opportunities for the skilled individuals who are churned out in thousands each year by the training institutions.

Few days ago I came across some hearsay that 800,000 jobs were created by the economy last year in both the formal and informal sectors. This is just some wanton statistic propagated with the sole aim of gaining political mileage. The truth of the matter is that the level of unemployment is very high because the financial resources meant to stimulate job creation are squandered by some politically correct individuals.

For instance, have a thought on the National Youth Service, the Uwezo Fund or even the Standard Gauge Railway. Avowedly, these were projects meant to enhance economic growth with a view of creating employment opportunities. Billions of shillings were set aside to actualize them but we all heard cases of embezzlement tagged on each of the projects. 

The Jubilee administration should pull up its socks in terms of creating jobs for the youth. I clearly understand that many people relate the current unemployment crisis to the education system but what if the embezzled funds were diverted to institutions of higher learning purposefully for research activities and financing start-ups by brilliant college students? At the end of the day the bottom line still remains to be corruption.

Mid last year, the US President Barack Obama while in Kenya gave a public address in which he talked about corruption and lamented on how it is pulling back Kenya’s progress. He in fact stated that 250,000 jobs are lost annually due to corruption. Later on, Pope Francis paid a visit and he talked about the same issue. 

The steps taken by the current regime to expunge this vice are a bit superficial. Until a ‘big fish’ is sentenced with no privilege accorded behind bars is when the common folks will renew their sense of patriotism and optimism. Otherwise, for now, tackling graft is mere rhetoric despite it being a bread and cheese question. Economic take-off is being compromised by the cost of corruption.

Which Politico-Economic Model Suits African States?

Any upright-thinking economist or public policy analyst and enthusiast knows and to the least understands that Economics as a discipline cannot solely be studied without paying attention to the political happenstances be it the past political events that are detailed in political history, the current political events or even the future political events that are bound to take place. Hence, applied and comparative economic analysis cannot be executed in isolation of the political activities and events. After all, the government, whether directly or indirectly, influences public policy in one way or another. 

On this particular note, the economic growth and development of a state is a function of the political nature of the polity itself, its political inclusivity and to a larger extent the political willingness of the political elite and leadership to initiate, catapult and sustain an economic trajectory that seeks to positively transform the lives of the citizenry.

Related to this is the subsequent and consequential politico-economic model that emerges or if in existence, that positively enhances economic growth and development. Precisely, this refers to the specific political ideology and/or the political philosophy that a given country or state adopts. This can either be democracy, dictatorship or an intermittency of the two. This intermittent form of political governance centres on the principles and practices of both the democratic form of governance and the dictatorial one.

Over the years, democracy has been viewed and touted as the absolute standard and benchmark for political governance because it promotes inclusivity. This inclusivity comes in the form of enhancing the institutions of private property which is diametric of the exclusivity that is propagated largely by the dictatorial regimes which create bastions of cronyism by the power elite.

In this Millennial period of time, referred to as Africa’s Moment in which it is expected that Africa is gonna experience renaissance, we have witnessed the emergence and re-emergence of democracies, dictatorships and authoritarian regimes. In the independence wave period of time, most of the states embraced democracy but sadly a large number failed to maintain it. What followed was an era that witnessed coups with the aftermath being the establishment of governments that were either run by the military juntas or authoritarian personalities. This was a period that was marked by economic stagnation due to embezzlement of resources occasioned by large doses of cronyism and the fear by foreign investors to establish their investments in most of these states.

Later on, with the intervention of the Bretton Woods institutions (The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund) to restore economic order and prosperity, these nations were required to establish democratic governments with independent institutions of governance. Some did but others did it as a formality out of the economic desperation that they encountered. 

But we have come to witness that some of the states, though not democratic, have lately experienced relatively high levels of economic growth rates of approximately between 7% and 10% which to me is remarkable growth that can quickly lead to economic development. This can be easily noticed in countries such as Rwanda and Ethiopia, dubbed as the African Lions, a misnomer for the countries experiencing high rates of economic growth in Africa. 

A common denominator among these two countries is that they are not open democracies. Instead, they are classified as competitive authoritarian regimes that allow elections to take place but the state machinery are highly used to check on the opposition figures and civil societies who are likely to strongly oppose the views and actions promoted by the incumbent(s). In Ethiopia, we have heard cases of journalists languishing behind bars especially during the era of the former Prime Minister the late Meles Zenawi. Similarly, in Rwanda, politicians who belong to the opposition side have been jailed and some even barred from contesting the presidential elections.

But the fascinating thing is that these two countries have had resounding periods of economic growth rates despite the authoritarian tendencies by the incumbents. Could it be that the incumbents view democracy as a hindrance to economic prosperity? May be yes going by the economic miracles witnessed among the Asian Tigers. In fact, Meles Zenawi in his monograph Dead Ends and New Beginnings strongly detests the ideological and philosophical dispensation of neo-liberalism which according to him is a major bottleneck towards the realization of the African Renaissance. 

For the late Zenawi and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, they fashioned and fashion respectively the economic trajectories realized by the Asian Tigers comprising of Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other Asian states such as Japan and China. These Asian states adopted the ‘development first democracy later’ mantra which led to remarkable economic growth and development.

One however may argue on why some countries despite having authoritarian regimes have completely failed to take-off economically, a relevant case being Zimbabwe and Burundi among many others. The answer can be traced to two significant factors one of them being the personality of the leader and secondly the strength of the anti-corruption institutions that are in place.

In terms of the personality, there are some leaders who have a strong will to see the lives of the people improve albeit having authoritarian tendencies. These are those who are not driven by the urge to siphon public resources otherwise known as cronyism. On the contrary, leaders in authoritarian regimes experiencing economic meltdown are known for their rapacious tendencies as far as usage of public resources is concerned. Robert Mugabe for instance recently spent $1 million for his birthday party celebrations when the masses are swimming in pools of poverty.

Secondly, authoritarian regimes that experience tangible rates of economic growth at least have strong institutions especially those that check on corruption. The Asian Tigers and the African Lions have been known to have relatively low levels of graft. The comparison states on the other hand, have no institutions responsible for fighting corruption and this is where the difference emanates from.

There are several democratic states which are experiencing relative rates of economic growth and development among them Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa et cetera. Out of these states, Botswana has performed impressively owing to the inclusivity of her governance institutions. A notable and significant observation is that authoritarian countries with efficient anti-graft policies are experiencing the highest levels of economic growth outpacing their counterparts whose governance is premised on democracy. This is food for thought as far as African Renaissance is concerned. So which politico-economic model should African states adopt to adapt to the shifts and changes in the global economic landscape? Think about this. Thank you for reading.