We must not miss our economic Kairos moment

As we prepare to usher in the New Year, it is my prayer that we do not miss our Kairos moment like I think we did in 2014. Kairos is a Greek word often used in the Bible to denote an opportune moment. It is that strategic moment of opportunity within which success is almost guaranteed.

Kairos is not a moment of luck or fate, but a unique instance of favour and action. Unfortunately, such moments do not easily come by. But if and when they do, wisdom and speed are paramount; because if you miss your Kairos moment, you have missed it...sometimes forever!

An interesting incident in Song of Songs in the Holy Scriptures may illustrate. It is the story of a young man and a young woman, deeply in love, most likely preparing for marriage. One night, as the woman went to bed, her heart was anxious and her mind filled with thoughts of him.

To her pleasant surprise, she heard a sound — a knock at the door and the sweet voice of her man, “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.” For sure, the dream of her life was at the door!

Unfortunately, the hour was late, and the young lady was already dressed for bed. And so, as the man stood at the door knocking, she wondered, “I have taken off my robe—must I put it on again? I have washed my feet— must I soil them again?”

Understandably, for this lady, the knock came at a wrong time. But as Steve Gray avers: Opportunity knocks at the strangest times. But it is not the time that matters, but how you answer the door.

In this case, the young lady was long at opening the door. The man became impatient. He thrust his hand through the latch-opening trying to open for himself. At this she says, “My heart began to pound for him. I arose to open for my lover, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh, on the handles of the lock.” But alas! When she opened the door she was in for a rude shock!

She says, “I opened for my lover, but my lover had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure. I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer.” Sad indeed. This lady just missed her Kairos moment! Though she perfumed herself and oiled her hand, by the time she opened the door — the man was gone!

It is a fact: great opportunities do not last. Like the dew of the morning, they are soon gone! And the loss is often painful. When the watchmen of the city heard the woman’s story, they had no pity on her — they simply beat her up! An Indian proverb says, “A man who misses his opportunity, and a monkey who misses his branch, cannot be saved.” When you lose your Kairos moment, few will sympathise. And I have wondered whether this has not been our experience in Kenya in particular and Africa in general.

At about exactly this time last year, Carlos Lopes, the Executive Secretary of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and Tony Elumelu, an entrepreneur and the chairman of Heirs Holdings Limited, wrote a special article to CNN entitled: How Africa’s natural resources can drive industrial revolution. In their observation, five years after the global financial system came perilously close to collapse, the global economic outlook remains uncertain. Europe, USA, and even China — which has been the global driver of growth — are not strong.

In sharp contrast, the economic performance of Africa has not only been remarkable, but has consistently defied these global trends.

The average growth in Africa over the last decade has been more than five per cent, with seven of the ten fastest-growing global economies located in sub-Saharan Africa. Apart from this, the continent has 12 per cent of the world’s oil reserves, 40 per cent of its gold, and 80 per cent to 90 per cent of its chromium and platinum.

Accordingly, there is a strong belief that these abundant natural resources could be the driver for an industrial revolution across the continent. It can thus be argued that Africa’s Kairos moment to become an economic powerhouse has come, and it is both imperative and possible.

But, according to Carlos and Tony, this revolution requires courage, vision and a new mind-set from the continent’s business and political leaders. In other words, there is a knock at the door, but Africa, and especially Kenya, must abandon its bedtime routines and rush to open. We cannot keep playing cheap politics January to December and still hope to catch the man at the door.