ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Orthodox texts in economics posit that the preconditions for industrial development are plentiful raw materials, labour, skills, infrastructure and a sizeable market. However such common sense does not demonstrate how political factors have come to influence economic decisions as well as vice versa. Central Africa as a whole is rich in many minerals, has extensive agricultural potential, hydroelectricity and adequate labour supplies. But of three states - Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi - only one, Zimbabwe, has developed an integrated industrial base.1 The roots for early differentials in industrial development lay in the interplay between the colonial politics of the setders and the British Colonial Office, the workings of die imperial system and existing material conditions. In much of the colonial period these three economies were linked together so that one was the beneficiary and the other two were distinct losers. With self-rule, the new leaders introduced forms of import substitution but with varying degrees of success. Although all three countries have disarticulated economies, heavily dependent upon the colonial metropole of Britain and secondarily on die largest regional economy of South Africa, the degree is much greater in Zambia and Malawi than in Zimbabwe.The reasons for the continuing position of Zimbabwe as the more industrialised economy have to do with the nature of the material base established under setder colonialism, the early appearance of a national bourgeoisie, and the interests of the evolving imperial system. The interplay of politics between the metropole and the setder classes determined the greater degree of manufacturing in Rhodesia, which is the
key to industrial development. Ultimately, the endurance of Zimbabwe’s superior position will rest on the class composition of the new governing class and its alliances with local capitalists.To support this argument, 1 will examine the industrial evolution of the region up to 1986. In particular, I will focus on the strategy of import substitution which evolved in Zambia, Zimbabwe and eventually Malawi2 from informal origins to the status of an integral part of a national development strategy. The analysis begins with the early economic changes which introduced capitalist mining, one of the key aspects of modem industry, at the turn of the twentieth century. Then I describe how aspects of industrial development began in all three territories. The next section outlines efforts at import substitution industrialisation which came with self-rule. I conclude with a brief restatement of the original argument of how the appearance, or non-appearance, of a national bourgeoisie interacted with the interests of foreign capital to launch industrialisation to a much greater degree in Zimbabwe than either mining-centred Zambia or the poor cousin, Malawi.
