Resource nationalism question in Zimbabwe: An analysis of ZIMASSET programme beneficiation goals as an instrument for promoting indigenization ideals (2013-2016).

Abstract

The abundance of natural resource particularly minerals in Zimbabwe raises prospects of a matching socio-economic development. On the contrary, the country has very little to show for all the resource she has been exploiting for over a century. This unfortunate reality emanates from the fact the country has been losing a greater percentage of potential value through exporting its natural resources in their raw state, thereby forfeiting the accumulative value to the importing countries. The status quo was a result of deliberate actions of the colonial regime that cared less about local development than it did supplying home country with cheap raw materials. In order to reverse this legacy, the government adopted the Indigenization and Economic Empowerment policy as the overarching policy stimulating sustainable growth and development. The government through the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset) identified Value Addition and Beneficiation of minerals and other primary products as critical in facilitating the achievement of Indigenization and Economic Empowerment policy outcomes. This study interrogated local beneficiation policy in order to establish its contribution towards the attainment of Indigenization and Economic Empowerment policy goals. Specific objective of the research are; to interrogate beneficiation as a policy alternative, to analyse the implementation of beneficiation policy by the government, to investigate the potential of beneficiation policy to promote the Indigenization and Economic Empowerment policy goals, among others. In order to get a deeper understanding of the issue under investigation, the study utilized the exploratory case study design, where face-to-face interviews were conducted with Key Informants from the government Ministries responsible for the implementation of the policies on Indigenization and Economic Empowerment and also Value Addition and Beneficiation policy. The qualitative data obtained from the interviews revealed that beneficiation policy promotes the attainment of Indigenization and Economic Empowerment policy goals. This occurs industrialization and also through downstream, upstream and side stream linkages within the products value chains, and also through employment creation, among other things. Despite the identified potential of beneficiation policy, numerous challenges have been identified as undermining the policy success, and these include lack of funding, policy inconsistency, and infrastructural bottlenecks, among others. When these challenges are addressed systematically, there is huge potential for the policy to yield many positive outcomes in the economy. In order for the policy to achieve its goals, it is recommended that the policy implementation should be guided by a legal and regulatory framework specifically designed to address the needs of stakeholders in involved the process and also the government should seek to address the macroeconomic challenges that are affecting the easy of doing business in the country, as well as utilizing the Special Economic Zones policy in the VAB industry.