Features

Three-Wheeler Conundrum:From a Controversy to a National Skills Policy

Published

1 week ago

2026/09/13

(The real issue is not the age of three-wheeler drivers, but what Sri Lanka offers its youth)

by Athula Ranasinghe
Productivity Specialist and Management Consultant
(The writer can be contacted at rathula49@gmail.com)

The recent controversy over whether young people should be permitted to enter the three-wheeler profession at an early age has generated considerable public discussion. The remarks of Deputy Minister of Vocational Education Nalin Hewage appear to have been motivated by a genuine concern: whether too many young people are entering occupations requiring little formal training when the country desperately needs technically skilled workers.

The subsequent clarification by the Cabinet Spokesman that no such proposal had been submitted to Cabinet may have brought the immediate controversy to an end. But perhaps the controversy has done something more valuable. It has brought into the open a much larger national question.

What happens to a young Sri Lankan after leaving school if he or she does not enter university, technical education, vocational training or another recognized pathway?

That is the question that deserves national attention. A three-wheeler is an honest means of earning a living. Those who drive three-wheelers should neither be ridiculed nor treated as though they have chosen an inferior occupation. For many young people, it provides immediate income with relatively little entry cost.

The problem arises when such a low-entry occupation becomes the default destination for large numbers of school-leavers because the country has failed to provide sufficiently attractive, accessible and clearly signposted alternatives. If a young person is prevented from driving a three-wheeler but is then left without employment, training, guidance or another career pathway, the underlying problem has not been solved.

A paradox that demands attention

Sri Lanka faces a striking contradiction. On one side, young people are looking for work. On the other, employers are looking for skilled young people. The available figures indicate that in the first quarter of 2026 overall unemployment was 3.7%, while unemployment among those aged 15–24 was 16.1%. Among young women it was 19.2%, compared with 14.4% among young men. At the same time, the country faces shortages of welders, electricians, mechanics, construction workers, agricultural technicians, marine workers and other technically skilled personnel.

This is not simply an unemployment problem. It is a mismatch between the aspirations and choices of young people and the skill requirements of the economy. The missing link is an effective national system connecting the two.

Where are the opportunities?

Sri Lanka is not without opportunities for its youth. Information technology and digital services, banking and financial services, tourism and hospitality, construction and manufacturing, shipbuilding and ship repair, marine services and overseas employment all offer substantial possibilities.

The construction industry illustrates the contradiction particularly well. Manpower estimates presented in this discussion indicate a potential requirement for approximately 40,000 additional workers by 2029 in occupations including carpentry, masonry, plumbing, electrical work, welding, steel fixing and heavy-equipment operation.

Industry based estimates derived from the contractor surveys, Chamber discussions and vocational training data and labor demand trends indicates that the man-power requirements for the next three years in the construction sector as herein given under. It is highly questionable whether any progressive action has been initiated by the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) coming under the purview of the Ministry of Vocational Education to fill this vacuum by the end of 2029. This glaring laxity and preparedness on the part of the policy makers speak volume of its readiness for meeting the man-power requirements of the country. (See table)

Another startling study of the Construction workforce industry reveals that the current situation of the man-power requirement of the country has an unbridgeable gap in the context of a situation where Sri Lanka has 33% of masons, 10% carpenters, 2% of plumbers and electricians of the total requirements and the balance being supplied by the unskilled labour force.

Today, the shortage of the required man-power has worsened because of multiplicity of reasons such as skilled workers migrate overseas for higher salaries, young people avoid vocational trades, construction work lacks social recognition, informal training dominates the sector, large infrastructure and apartment projects increase demand rapidly and many experienced craftsmen are ageing out of the workforce.

Yet industry has reportedly sought permission to bring foreign workers into some of these occupations because suitable local manpower is difficult to find. There is something fundamentally wrong with a situation in which Sri Lankan young people remain unemployed or underemployed while employers seek skilled workers from abroad.

The answer cannot simply be to import labour. Nor can the answer be to tell young people that they should not drive three-wheelers. The answer is to create a systematic national pathway from school to skills, skills to employment and employment to productive citizenship.

The other side of the three-wheeler problem

There is, however, another dimension to this controversy that deserves equal attention. The problem is not only who drives a three-wheeler or at what age they begin driving. It is also how the three-wheeler industry itself is regulated and professionalized.

For decades, three-wheelers have become an indispensable part of Sri Lanka’s passenger transport system. Yet the growth and importance of the sector have not been matched by a sufficiently integrated professional framework governing the people who operate it and the services they provide. A serious national policy should therefore examine some basic questions.

What training should a person receive before becoming a three-wheeler driver? Should compulsory training cover responsible driving, road safety, passenger relations and traffic regulations? What standards should apply to the roadworthiness and maintenance of three-wheelers? How should passenger charges be determined and displayed? What mechanisms should exist for dealing with passenger complaints and irresponsible driving? Should there be continuing training or periodic competency requirements?

These are not merely questions concerning drivers. They concern the safety, convenience and confidence of millions of passengers who depend on this service. Existing regulations affecting road traffic, vehicle licensing and roadworthiness are important, but the larger issue is whether regulation has kept pace with the enormous expansion and economic importance of the three-wheeler sector.

A sector that has become such an integral part of the national transport system should not remain largely informal in its professional standards. The answer, therefore, should not be simply to discourage young people from entering the profession. If three-wheeler driving is an important source of employment and an essential transport service, the State should help transform it into a more professional occupation.

A properly designed framework could encompass appropriate licensing and competency requirements, compulsory initial training, road-safety education, vehicle roadworthiness standards, transparent passenger-fare arrangements, driver identification, a mechanism for handling complaints and periodic refresher training.

It could also create opportunities for drivers to progress into transport management, logistics, vehicle maintenance and other related technical occupations. The three-wheeler should therefore not be viewed merely as a problem from which young people must be kept away. It should also be viewed as an existing economic sector that requires professionalization, regulation and upgrading. That would turn an apparent weakness into an opportunity: better-trained drivers, safer vehicles, more responsible service and a more dignified occupation.

From vocational education to a National Skills Policy

This brings us to the larger issue. Sri Lanka needs to move beyond the traditional concept of vocational education as a collection of individual courses offered by different institutions. What is required is a National Skills Policy for Youth, closely linked to the actual and projected manpower requirements of the economy. Such a policy should identify, nationally and provincially:

· occupations currently in shortage;

· occupations with strong future demand;

· emerging industries;

· opportunities for self-employment and entrepreneurship;

· skills required for overseas employment;

· skills required for national infrastructure development; and

· the training capacity necessary to meet those demands.

The Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission, the National Apprenticeship and Industrial Training Authority, employers, Chambers of industry, universities, technical institutions and the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment should be brought into one coordinated national skills-planning mechanism. The country cannot afford to continue training young people in isolation from the requirements of the labour market.

A National Skills and Service program

There is an opportunity here for a more ambitious initiative. Sri Lanka could consider establishing a National Skills and Service program (NSSP) for young people, particularly those leaving secondary education who do not immediately proceed to university, technical education, vocational training or productive employment. This should not be a replica of military conscription in another country. It should be a distinctly Sri Lankan program designed around the country’s economic, social and developmental needs.

A structured period of approximately nine to 12 months could provide young people with practical exposure, occupational training, discipline, civic responsibility and a recognized qualification. Those proceeding directly to university, technical education or recognized vocational programs could receive appropriate educational deferment.

The objective should be simple: No young person should leave school and enter the world of work without being offered a meaningful pathway to acquire skills.

What could the program offer?

The NSSP could provide different pathways according to aptitude, education, physical ability and national requirements. They could include:

· Armed Forces, Coast Guard, Police and Civil Defence;

· disaster management, firefighting, first aid and emergency rescue;

· irrigation, drainage, water supply and public infrastructure maintenance;

· agriculture, food security and environmental restoration;

· hospitals, elder care and community services;

· digitalization, cyber security, surveying and national data collection;

· welding, fabrication, electrical work and machinery maintenance;

· construction trades;

· shipbuilding, marine engineering and offshore services; and

· other occupations identified through national manpower planning.

The important feature should be hands-on experience. An engineering student could obtain practical exposure on an infrastructure project. An IT trainee could contribute to a government digitalization initiative. A technical student could train in a factory, shipyard or maintenance center under qualified supervision.

A young person interested in the maritime sector could be trained as a welder, mechanic, boat builder, marine technician or other specialist required by an emerging marine economy. Such training should not be theoretical window dressing. It should lead to recognized qualifications, preferably through the NVQ framework or equivalent professional certification.

The young person must receive something tangible in return: a living allowance where appropriate, food and accommodation where necessary, insurance and welfare protection, recognized certification, practical work experience and a formal record of competencies that assists future employment.

The NSSP must never become a source of cheap or unpaid labour. It should be a career accelerator, not merely a period of compulsory service.

Learning from other countries—but not copying them

Several countries provide useful lessons, although Sri Lanka should not blindly copy any foreign model. Singapore’s National Service system has created a common experience among young citizens and developed capabilities in defence, emergency response and civil protection. But Singapore’s economic transformation resulted from a much wider combination of education, industrialization, infrastructure, investment and disciplined economic management.

Finland and Sweden demonstrate that national service can incorporate different forms of service and training according to individual aptitude and national requirements. South Korea illustrates how education, technical skills, manufacturing, technology and export development can be integrated into national economic transformation. These examples do not prove that compulsory service automatically produces economic development. They demonstrate something more important:

A nation can deliberately organize its young human resources around clearly defined national priorities.

That is the lesson Sri Lanka should consider.The three-wheeler is not the enemy. There is nothing inherently wrong with driving a three-wheeler. It is a legitimate occupation that provides an essential transport service and supports many families. But the State should ask a different question:

Why should a young person have to choose between a three-wheeler and unemployment when the economy is simultaneously crying out for skilled workers?

If a young person, after receiving proper career guidance and having access to technical training, freely chooses to become a three-wheeler driver, that is a personal choice. But if that young person chooses it simply because it is the quickest available means of earning money after leaving school, the problem is not with the young person. The problem is with the system.

A programme designed with care

Any national youth programme must be designed with exceptional care. Simply placing young people in uniforms will not transform them. Nor will compulsory service automatically create discipline, employability or patriotism. What matters is what young people are taught, how they are treated and whether they acquire useful skills.

Sri Lanka has already experienced the consequences of failing to understand and productively engage its young people. The lessons of the youth upheavals of 1971 and 1987–1989 should not be forgotten. The NSSP must therefore be a school of production, skills, citizenship and opportunity—not merely a parade ground. It must have independent oversight, transparent selection, proper protection of participants and appropriate civilian alternatives for those with genuine conscientious objections.

The elephant in the room

The three-wheeler controversy has therefore brought an elephant into the room. Sri Lanka is discussing the age at which a young person should be permitted to drive a three-wheeler when the much more important question is: What are we doing to prepare that young person for the next 40 or 50 years of working life?

An age restriction by itself does not create a welder, electrician, mechanic, marine technician, construction specialist, agricultural technician or digital professional.

Training does.

Exposure does.

Career guidance does.

Industry participation does.

And above all, a coherent national policy does.

The Ministry responsible for vocational education should therefore seize this controversy as an opportunity to initiate a national conversation on youth skills, employment and service Instead of asking how to keep young people out of three-wheelers, let us ask how to open more attractive doors for them.

Let those doors lead to workshops, factories, shipyards, construction sites, farms, hospitals, digital centres, infrastructure projects, emergency services and other productive sectors of the economy. At the same time, let us professionalize the three-wheeler industry itself—making it safer, better regulated, better trained and more respected as an essential component of public transport.

Sri Lanka does not lack young energy. What it lacks is a national system capable of directing that energy towards productive employment, national service and economic development. The three-wheeler controversy should therefore not end with an argument about age. It should become the beginning of a National Skills Policy for Sri Lanka’s Youth.

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Features

Defend civic space upon which peace is built

Published

7 hours ago

2026/09/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

by Jehan Perera

International Peace Day was observed on 21 September. It finds Sri Lanka with a genuine achievement to record and a demanding test to meet. The UN’s theme this year was “Invest in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day.” It also honoured the “everyday architects of peace”—people driving local action and building a lasting peace from the ground up. In the 2026 Global Peace Index, Sri Lanka rose 30 places, from 97th to 67th among 163 countries. Over the same period, global peacefulness declined for the twelfth consecutive year to its lowest level since the index began, and South Asia suffered the sharpest regional deterioration. The test is whether the government will protect the civic space in which those architects of peace work.

Sri Lanka’s improvement is real and deserves acknowledgement. In this year’s review, issued a few weeks ago, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights acknowledged progress in the form of action against corruption, arrests and investigations linked to political killings, enforced disappearances and the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, and continued official denunciation of racism. A ranking, however, records conditions at a particular moment. It does not guarantee that they will last. Sustainable peace will depend on three factors. These are whether the government addresses the unresolved causes of conflict, whether it strengthens accountability for past and present abuses, and whether it protects the civic space in which peace is built from below. On the first two the record is incomplete. On the third, the draft NGO law threatens to weaken the very organisations that press for the other two.

What holds Sri Lanka back from a higher place are the same things that fed the war at home and also feed international conflict that rages elsewhere in the world. These are racism or ethnic nationalism that is narrow-focused, corruption and lawlessness. Equality, accountability and the rule of law are their remedies. The present government has committed itself to these, and is a significant improvement over governments of the recent past. But these pillars are not held up by governments alone. Peace is made in villages, workplaces and university campuses. It is made by families who insist on the truth about their disappeared, by journalists and lawyers who expose abuse, and by community organisations that bring Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese into practical cooperation.

Unfinished Work

The UN High Commissioner’s report to the current Human Rights Council session, covering October 2025 to July 2026, shows how much remains to be done. The Prevention of Terrorism Act is still being applied, producing arbitrary arrests and long detention without charge. The report calls for a moratorium pending repeal and for the release of long-term detainees. Military-occupied land has not been released, memorialisation lacks support, and tensions over land and religious sites persist. The Batticaloa district illustrates how such problems endure. In the past three years, two Presidents, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, have visited and instructed that the dispute over grazing land in Mailaththamadu and Mathavanai be resolved. It is a dispute between Tamil cattle farmers and outside Sinhala cultivators, and it has not been resolved. When two Presidents issue instructions and nothing changes, the fault lies in the machinery of State. An unresolved dispute does not stand still. It hardens into the next grievance.

Accountability shows the same pattern. The report documents torture and deaths in custody, and surveillance and intimidation of activists, journalists and civil society. Serious cases remain stalled for years, among them the killing of seventeen aid workers of Action Contre la Faim in Muttur two decades ago. Sharper still is the case of the Eastern University refugee camp at Vantharamoolai, where in 1990 the army took away 158 persons in a single day. They were never seen again. The camp’s officer-in-charge, Dr T. Jayasingam, later Vice Chancellor of the university, identified the officers responsible. More than three decades on, those officers have not been questioned. These cases are still remembered because families, survivors and independent witnesses have refused to let them be forgotten. Meanwhile several commissions of inquiry have completed their investigations but nothing further has happened.

What South Africa, Argentina and other post-conflict societies have found indispensable are four pillars of what is called “Transitional Justice” which are truth, accountability, reparations and non-recurrence. In Sri Lanka’s circumstances, truth means credible, independent investigation of what happened to the disappeared, and support for memorialisation. Accountability means prosecuting Muttur, Vantharamoolai and comparable cases, and removing credibly accused persons from senior office. Reparations mean compensation for victims and the return of military-held land. Non-recurrence means repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act, releasing those held under it in the meantime, and resolving local disputes such as Mailaththamadu before delay hardens them. A country that buries its past does not escape it. The past returns in the next generation.

Civil Society

It is against this background that the draft NGO law is most troubling. The proposed legislation contains sweeping provisions for State oversight and control of civil society organisations. Among these are enforcing a licensing requirement on NGOs, which is to be renewed every three years, and severe penalties for not submitting reports on time, or for spending on emergency flood relief (for instance) when the NGOs mandate is peacebuilding (as an example) with possible sanctions including deregistration and having to shut down. Civil society groups have warned that it would confer excessive discretion over their registration and operations. Officials in Sri Lanka have abused such powers in the past. Additional power without effective checks invites further abuse. Sound regulation would have clear criteria for registration, an independent registrar and a right of appeal to the courts. What cannot be justified is a regime in which registration becomes a licence to be withheld from organisations that scrutinise policy, expose abuses or advocate for the rights of citizens.

Democracy is based on checks and balances. Those who press for accountability are part of those checks. The contradiction is plain. A government that has pledged accountability, equality and the rule of law ought not to be preparing to weaken the very organisations that press for their fulfilment. The organisations most exposed are those working on disappearances, land, memorialisation and reconciliation in the North and East, where the State’s record is weakest and the need for independent witnesses greatest. Silencing them would not remove the grievances they document. It would remove the channel through which those grievances are addressed peacefully. The government appears to be relenting, which is welcome, but a pause is not a withdrawal. The bill should be withdrawn and any replacement drafted in genuine consultation with those it would govern.

Investment in peace as called for by the UN in its International Peace Day theme implies commitment over time, with returns that come slowly. Sri Lanka’s 30-place rise on the Global Peace Index is a first dividend and nothing more. It can be built upon only if the government matches its commitments with action: withdrawing or fundamentally redrafting the NGO law, repealing or suspending the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and bringing Muttur, Vantharamoolai and Mailaththamadu to resolution. A higher place in a global index is not a certificate of success. Sri Lanka’s higher ranking is an encouraging start, but it will endure only if the space in which citizens speak, question and organise is protected. Peace is built from below, and a government that is serious about it will treat civil society as a partner rather than a threat.

Features

Africa is buying: Sri Lanka must start selling

Published

7 hours ago

2026/09/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

A call to Sri Lankan exporters and agencies: Can Sri Lanka compete with China and India in Africa?

By Kana V. Kananathan
Former Ambassador

Sri Lanka has spent decades concentrating its exports on traditional markets in Europe, North America and Asia. Yet across the Indian Ocean lies a rapidly expanding market that remains significantly underdeveloped by Sri Lankan exporters: Africa.

The opportunity is not theoretical. Sri Lanka already exports packaging, textiles, rubber products, pharmaceuticals, paper, machinery and electrical goods to African markets. The question is whether these modest beginnings can be transformed into a serious export strategy—and whether Sri Lanka can compete against the enormous commercial presence of China and India.

The answer is yes—but Sri Lanka must compete differently.

Kenya: Gateway to East Africa

Kenya should be the starting point.

Sri Lanka exported approximately US$32.08 million to Kenya in 2025, while importing US$11.41 million. But US$32 million is tiny compared with the opportunity: Kenya imported more than US$24 billion in 2025. Even a 1% share of that market would represent nearly US$240 million in annual exports.

And the commercial base already exists. Sri Lanka’s 2025 exports to Kenya included approximately US$9.99 million in paper and paperboard products, US$9.73 million in knitted fabrics, US$3.64 million in pharmaceuticals, US$1.24 million in rubber products and US$1.20 million in machinery.

Kenya’s import structure is equally revealing. In the third quarter of 2025, industrial supplies represented 34.4% of imports, machinery and capital equipment 19.2%, food and beverages 9.0%, and consumer goods 7.3%. The opportunity for Sri Lanka, therefore, extends well beyond consumer goods—we can become a supplier to African industry.

But competition is fierce. Asia supplied around 70% of Kenya’s imports in 2025, with imports from China rising 16.5% and those from India 11.3%.

Sri Lanka cannot challenge China and India across every product category. Nor should it try. We must target sectors where quality, specialisation, reliability, technical capability, smaller production runs and flexibility matter more than simply offering the lowest price.

Where Can Sri Lanka Compete?

Packaging is an obvious starting point. Cartons, boxes, bags and labels are already among Sri Lanka’s exports to Kenya. Importantly, some Sri Lankan companies operating in Kenya are themselves importing these products from Sri Lanka. The market already exists; the challenge is to scale it.

As Africa’s food-processing, pharmaceutical, apparel and consumer-goods industries expand, demand for sophisticated packaging will grow with them. Sri Lanka already possesses the manufacturing capability and industry experience to capture a larger share.

Industrial rubber products, tyres, gloves and specialised rubber components offer another opportunity where Sri Lanka has established manufacturing expertise.

The apparel supply chain is equally promising. Rather than competing directly with African garment factories, Sri Lanka can supply fabrics, elastics, labels, packaging and specialised textile inputs.

Some Sri Lankan apparel manufacturing and export companies already established in Kenya, Togo, Ghana and Ethiopia are importing several of these inputs from Sri Lanka. The supply chain, therefore, already exists. The next step is to move beyond supplying Sri Lankan-owned factories and become a competitive input supplier to the wider African apparel industry.

Other sectors deserving systematic market development include pharmaceuticals and medical consumables, processed foods, biscuits and confectionery, coconut products, cinnamon and spices, electrical products and cables, industrial chemicals, ceramics, light engineering, agricultural equipment and food-processing machinery.

Sri Lanka should also look beyond physical goods. IT, fintech, banking technology, engineering, healthcare, hospitality management and professional services largely escape the freight disadvantage confronting merchandise exports.

The Tariff Problem Can Become an Opportunity

Market access cannot be discussed without tariffs.The East African Community applies a Common External Tariff with bands of 0%, 10%, 25% and 35%, while certain sensitive products attract still higher protection. Simply filling containers in Colombo with finished consumer goods will therefore not always be commercially competitive.

But that obstacle points towards a bigger opportunity: manufacture in Africa.

Sri Lankan businesses could export intermediate materials while undertaking final assembly, manufacturing, processing or packaging in Kenya. Packaging companies could establish converting plants; electrical manufacturers could assemble locally; pharmaceutical companies could explore manufacturing or packaging partnerships; and food companies could undertake final processing closer to consumers.

Kenya would then become more than an export destination. It could become Sri Lanka’s manufacturing and distribution gateway into East and Central Africa.

With the East African Community now comprising eight partner states and extending geographically from the Indian Ocean towards the Atlantic, establishing a regional presence is increasingly more important than viewing each African country in isolation.

West Africa Cannot Be Ignored

Sri Lanka simultaneously needs a West African strategy.

Ghana offers potential as an English-speaking commercial gateway and host of the AfCFTA Secretariat. Nigeria, with its enormous population and consumer economy, should be approached as a major market in its own right, despite its greater regulatory, currency and operational complexity.

ECOWAS tariff bands of 0%, 5%, 10%, 20% and 35% again make product selection critical. Sri Lanka should concentrate on products with sufficient differentiation and margins to absorb freight, tariffs and distributor costs.

Pharmaceuticals demonstrate both the opportunity and the challenge. Nigeria imported approximately US$766 million in pharmaceuticals in 2025, with India supplying roughly US$394 million and China US$131 million. Ghana imported approximately US$301 million, with India supplying about US$140 million.

Sri Lanka cannot simply offer another generic product and expect to beat India on price. We must identify specialised products, reliable supply arrangements, partnerships and, where commercially justified, local production or packaging.

Stop Promoting Sectors—Identify Products

Sri Lanka now needs an Africa Export Opportunity Study based on individual products, not broad sectors.

The Export Development Board, Foreign Ministry, chambers and private sector should jointly identify 15–20 priority products. For each product, Sri Lanka should calculate the HS code, African annual import demand, principal suppliers, Chinese and Indian market shares, applicable duties, freight from Colombo, regulatory requirements, distributor margins and final landed price.

That will tell us where Sri Lanka genuinely has a competitive advantage.

The Commercial Test

Before spending resources promoting a product, apply one simple test:

African import demand + Sri Lankan production capability + tariff + freight + distributor margin + regulatory cost = final landed competitiveness against China, India and local African production.

Only products that pass this test should receive concentrated export-promotion resources.

This would move Sri Lanka away from exhibitions, delegations and general discussions towards what ultimately matters: specific products, specific buyers, specific distributors and actual export orders.

Give Our Missions Targets

Commercial diplomacy must become results-driven. The Government should set clear annual trade and investment targets for every Sri Lankan mission in Africa.

Missions should be evaluated not merely on diplomatic activity, but on buyers and distributors identified, business introductions made, investments facilitated, market barriers resolved and measurable exports generated.

In a competitive Africa, our missions must become active economic frontlines not merely diplomatic outposts.

A practical strategy could operate through three commercial gateways: Nairobi for East and Central Africa, Accra for selected West African markets and Lagos for Nigeria.

Sri Lanka’s total exports of goods and services reached approximately US$17.25 billion in 2025. Capturing even a small additional share of Africa’s enormous import market could, therefore, make a meaningful contribution to export earnings, investment and foreign-exchange generation.

Africa Will Not Wait

Sri Lankan exporters must stop looking at Africa as a distant or difficult market and start treating it as a strategic growth market.

We cannot compete with China and India on scale, but we can compete on quality, specialisation, flexibility and reliability. Exporters must identify country-specific opportunities, establish strong local distributors, build partnerships with African businesses and use Sri Lankan companies already operating on the continent as gateways into regional supply chains.

Where freight and tariffs weaken competitiveness, businesses must be prepared to move towards local assembly, joint ventures and manufacturing in Africa. Exporters cannot do it alone. They need aggressive, measurable and results-driven commercial diplomacy from Sri Lanka’s missions.

Africa is buying. Its markets are being captured now. Sri Lanka must stop watching from the sidelines. We must enter, compete, build our presence and secure our share.

(Ambassador Kana Kananathan is a businessman, Diplomat, lobbyist and an expert in African affairs, with over four decades of experience on the African continent. A long-time resident of Africa, he served as Sri Lanka’s envoy to Uganda and Kenya, with concurrent accreditation to 22 African Nations, and was the permanent representative to UN Habitat and UN environmental Programme. Over the years, he has been the Elections Monitor across the continent, working closely with African governments, and built enduring partnerships with African leaders. He also served as Economic and Investments Advisor to former President Professor Alpha Condé of the Republic of Guinea)

Features

Memories and Midnight Magic: Recipe for a perfect 31st Night dance

Published

7 hours ago

2026/09/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

The heart of a great 31st Night dance is memory, and memories come rushing back when those 70s, 80s and 90s golden oldies begin to play — those timeless tunes that make revellers, young and old, rush to the floor and dance the night away.

A perfect 31st Night is not just a party. It is a journey. A journey through time.

The music should flow like a love story. Start slow, start soft. Let couples glide into a waltz for romance. Let the floor come alive with a twist, a rock ‘n’ roll, a jive. Let nostalgia build with beautiful sing-along oldies generally associated with a New Year’s Eve dance.

This is the art that many of our entertainers seem to have forgotten.

The final hour, before midnight, is sacred. It should be collective energy at its peak. The entire crowd, on the dance floor, linking arms, swaying together, singing, at the top of their voices, those sing-along favourites.

Yes, I’m referring to those immortal, nostalgic favourites that unite the world: ‘This Land Is Your Land,’ ‘You Are My Sunshine,’ ‘When The Saints Go Marching In,’ ‘Roll Out The Barrel,’ ‘Celebration,’ ‘She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain,’ ‘Happy Days Are Here Again,’ and so many more.

One wonders if some of our modern entertainers have even heard of these nostalgia anthems that traditionally lead up to the dawning of the New Year! This is not just music; this is ritual.

Then comes THE moment: Lights dim. Music pauses. A hush falls. The countdown begins — 10, 9, 8… — hugs, wishes, tears of joy, and then … ‘Auld Lang Syne.’ Hands crossed, voices united, bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new. That moment makes or breaks the night.

Here is the truth that many genuine 31st Night revellers feel but hesitate to say — an overdose of baila music at New Year’s Eve events is NOT welcome.

Of course, baila is required. Baila is our Sri Lankan heartbeat! But a 31st Night dance is for everyone.

When it’s ONLY baila, the twist and rock n’ roll lovers, the waltz kings and queens feel left out. And they are the very people who MADE nostalgia! They are the die-hard revellers who have kept the 31st Night spirit alive for decades.

A family mentioned to me that they went along with friends for a 31st Night dance, in the city, to usher in 2026, and were thoroughly disappointed with the setup.

The bands in attendance, they said, failed to generate the excitement generally associated with a 31st Night event.

If given a free hand, the music at certain Colombo venues will be mostly baila, and that is going to disappoint many. Some are already worried that it will be just a baila scene this year, as well.

A memorable 31st Night respects all rhythms … yes, a waltz for romance, a twist and rock n’ roll for that 60s magic, a cha-cha, a slow foxtrot, and then the baila, after the countdown anthem.

That balance is what makes it inclusive, classy, and truly fun-filled.

Organisers, especially in Colombo, should keep this in mind: let it be 70% nostalgia – Western, and 30% baila, with the last hour left for pure baila madness, after the New Year is in!

Organisers must work out the programme for their 31st Night and instruct the entertainers to follow those instructions. The band should not dictate the night; the spirit of nostalgia should.

This New Year, let’s give Colombo what it truly wants — memories, midnight magic, and music for every soul on the floor.

Let’s dance into 2027 with class.