Examining the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Programme of Zimbabwe

After independence, many African countries embarked on economic empowerment policies as a measure to address massive colonial injustices. Former colonies conceived and implemented post-colonial policies aimed at addressing socio-economic inequalities brought by their colonial masters. In similar fashion, the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Programme (IEEP), was adopted with a view to uplifting the socio-economic status of the indigenous people of Zimbabwe. Contrary to the IEEP objectives, programme failures outweighed programme benefits thus leading to economic deterioration in the country. This was mainly due to the structure of the programme, implementation irregularities, inconsistencies, corruption and the politicisation of the programme. This study examines the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Programme (IEEP) of Zimbabwe. The study looks at the context of the programme, its relevancy and impact on indigenous Zimbabweans as well as its impact on the economy of Zimbabwe. Findings indicate that in order for the programme to succeed it needs to be restructured. Key amongst the new structure of the programme should include, IEEP funding, reduction of the 51 % shareholding to be ceded to indigenous Zimbabweans target, training and development of indigenous entrepreneurs, attracting Foreign Direct Investments, wider consultations to achieve stakeholder buy-in of the programme, IEEP to be implemented differently across the different economic sectors and there should be strong oversight, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms in place for the programme to succeed.