INDUSTRIALISATION IN ZIMBABWE: SHAPING THE DEBATE AND PRACTICE THROUGH SOCIAL SCIENCES

Abstract

Sustainable development anchors on meeting societal needs through service provision and economic development. Social sciences unleash the important aspects of meeting society’s needs through broad literature and scholarship. However, there is a scarcity in the literature that conjoins industrial development and the social sciences. A myriad of ephemeral scholarship exists on how Zimbabwe fares in service provision and industrialisation. To avoid a demise in socially sustainable development, the article seeks to coalesce the aspects of social sciences, industrialisation and service provision in the context of the Zimbabwean experience. The article explores efforts and challenges to service provision for the country from the colonial era to the present day to capture various perspectives that build up on the country’s present situation. It compares the efficiency of the private sector to the public sector in service provision and posits recommendable insights that provide a way forward for the betterment of service provision in the country. It describes the efforts, challenges and opportunities for local organisations towards fulfilling their mandate to efficiently provide services to the public.