An evaluation of indigenisation policy in Zimbabwe.

Abstract

The need to redress the skewed ownership of productive assets has given rise to the process of indigenisation and economic empowerment processes in many previously colonized countries. Countries such as Zambia, Brazil, South Africa and lately Zimbabwe have embarked on indigenisation or economic empowerment initiatives, to varying degrees. The common aim of these initiatives is to increase the role played by the previously marginalized population groups in the mainstream economy and to correct imbalances in resource ownerships construed as a major cause of vulnerability and obstacle to economic growth and development. This paper seeks to analyze Zimbabwe’s indigenisation policy. The controversial Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment policy in Zimbabwe has been dismissed by many as a statutory instrument designed to suit the interests of politicians contrary to assurances that it seeks to empower ordinary citizens. There are arguments that the indigenisation policy was only used to position individuals in political spheres to allow them to penetrate the countries’ resources and it is not about the majority’s benefit. The indigenisation policy has been used and continues to be used by the elite in order to commit or justify acts of economic banditry, expropriation and unfair practices. The paper discusses whether the indigenisation policy has provided the stated benefits to the majority of Zimbabweans. Secondly the paper also seeks to evaluate whether the indigenisation policy has achieved or on the right track towards achieving its intended objectives and also looks at the constraining factors in the implementation of indigenisation policies in Zimbabwe.