Such a consolidation would also enable the governance structures to improve, as well as reduce today’s rather high “cost per transaction”, as a result of the enhanced scale of operations. Therefore, over the next few years, it would be necessary to fashion and encourage such a consolidation outcome, and the policies that would lead to such an outcome would need to be encouraged.
Fourth, the country will have to sustain its poverty reduction strategies as well continue with strategies that are designed to foster balanced regional growth. Over the past four and a half years, an enormous investment has been made in the North, which has resulted in the Northern Province reaching a reasonable parity viz-a-viz the other provinces.