A LESSON FROM THE SWISS ECONOMY.

A few months ago, I was watching a documentary about Switzerland’s economy being one of the best economies in the world. The first reason that was responsible for the boom as given by the analyst is trust.

Switzerland earns herself an economic reputation in the committee of nations because of their trust.

This concept resonates with me because I have always argued that our lack of trust is one of the fundamental factors that are responsible for our poverty. I’ll explain.

Look, there are many people around you with extra cash in their bank account that they can doll out for a business venture. Unfortunately, they don’t have the time but will be willing to partner with another individual that has the time and skill.

Imagine if this works, you would have created a new venture that has the capacity to employ people, an extra income for the guy with the cash, a stable job for the guy with the skill and time, and add value to the economy. Isn’t that amazing? But why are we not doing it? Trust. Yes, trust.

Imagine the multiplier effect that we would all have enjoyed from the guy with an extra 1 million naira for instance. But, who would risk giving out such money when trust has become an extremely scarce commodity.

More than 5 years ago, a friend of mine signed a business agreement with a man whose appearance is akin to trust. The agreement requires my friend to part away with his money to expand the business of this person. When you see the person I’m talking about, even you will agree to do business with him. Nonetheless, my friend did all the background checks despite knowing this man before now.

Unfortunately, when it was time to remit, my friend has to consider getting a lawyer that will file a case in court. I’m sure you can guess what he might have gone through in the hands of this man before making such a conclusion.

This is no news, you can also relate to this.

If we fix trust, we fix our economy like the Swiss.