ABSTRACT
Four phases of Rhodesian political economy are considered, namely, primitive accumulation 1890-1930, the 'two pyramids' 1930-1953, 'partnership' 1953-1962 and UD1 1962-1980. Throughout all phases, Rhodesian development remained a complete paradox: the sources of growth, African dispossession, settler nationalism, external demand and white luxury consumption, were also the sources of structural constraints that crystallized in the recession of the late 1970s. Once the Rudd concession to mine Mashonaland had been deceitfully obtained off the Ndebele king, Lobengula, Cecil Rhodes founded the British South Africa Company, which received a Royal Charter to colonise Zimbabwe. He BSAC's Pioneer Column entered the country in 1890 and met little resistance forging the colonial belt. According to Kingsley Garbett, from thereon the 'traditional political system ceased to exist' and African chieftainship was reinvented. The collapse of world markets during the Great Depression caused a fall in Rhodesia's export revenue by 50" between 1929 and 1931.
