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“So when the Africans say ‘indigenisation’, why is this a strange notion? And yet when we talk about solutions to Africa’s development, one of the issues that we have to address is exactly this indigenisation. How are we utilising our resources to impact positively on African development?
“I am saying this because I can see that there is a cloud that is building up somewhere on the horizon when Zimbabweans say ‘indigenisation’. But we have to, as intellectuals and thought leaders, address that and say: ‘Yes, indeed as Africans we are concerned about our own renaissance, our own development, and we must as indigenous people make sure that we have control of our development, our future, and that includes our resources. And therefore indigenisation is correct. We must demonstrate it even intellectually, which I am quite sure we can.”
The above quote is attributed to former South African President Thabo Mbeki, who three years ago reiterated that Zimbabwe “was topical” across the world because it had given fellow Africans an example of how to take charge of their own resources. In doing so, through the Land Reform Exercise and other people centred programmes, President Mugabe showed the continent that as Africans, we can not be free from the bondage of colonialism but still remain not in charge of our natural resources, which should in fact, define our destiny in terms of economic success.
Indeed, Zimbabwe and the rest of the continent has interacted with the rest of the world in doing business using natural sources, but the big question that we as a country have answered more clearly is “what is the indigenous benefit from the exploitation of these resources and even with the control?”
It is also prudent to point out that even Europeans and Americans have ring fenced their resources and will not allow anyone to have total control, as explained by the former South African President.
“You have seen examples of this, all of us have, when Chinese companies, in terms of all this theory about free markets, have sought to acquire US firms (and) they got prohibited. ‘No, (it is) indigenisation of US intellectual property! We can’t allow it to be owned by the Chinese, so no!’”
It is therefore baffling to come across Zimbabweans who today are still opposed to the process of indigenisation, and it gets worse when it comes from political parties, which takes us to the question; “Whose interests are they serving?”
Virtually all opposition political parties in the country, with Tendai Biti’s People Democratic Party being the latest — last week in particular- have opposed the indigenisation programme underway in the country. We believe opposing the programme is literally going against the grain and fighting a losing battle.
The programme has been embraced by the majority of Zimbabweans, as shown by the number of people who took up land under the Land Reform Exercise and also the number of people who are in support of Government’s stance to reserve 51% of shareholding in companies to local people. That is surely living true to the spirit of empowering locals, which was one of the reasons why the war of liberation was fought — to make sure that locals gain both political and economic freedom.
There are a number of programmes that have been embarked on by the Government to empower indigenous people, with the Community Share Ownership Schemes as one of them. The Community Share Ownership Schemes or Trusts (CSOS/T) are a vehicle for participation in shareholding in various businesses by our communities. Government says proceeds from such participation must be properly accounted for and used in projects which benefit the communities and many communities have benefited from the building of schools and clinics. We believe indigenisation is indeed the cornerstone of African renaissance, with a number of African countries seeking ways to emulate what the ruling Zanu-PF has done for the people of Zimbabwe.
Online Reporter