Published: 10 June 2013

With the rapid development of the Rhodesian economy, despite sanctions. the need to involve black Rhodesians more closely became paramount, so that they could form an integral part of this development, to which they would contribute and from which they would benefit, in the same way as their white counterparts.

 To satisfy this requirement, educational schemes have flourished all over the country - government and mission schools and colleges, the University, teacher training colleges, technical colleges and company training schemes trained and moulded the emergent black Rhodesian to enable him to take his place in the over-all concept of meritocracy, in which advancement and recognition are based, not on race or colour, but on ability and achievement.

 A United States State Department Agency report says that in the decade 1965-1975, Rhodesian economic growth outstripped that of almost all its neighbours; her Gross National Product rose by almost 80 per cent. and the per capita income by 26 per cent. The 1974 per capita income of $422 compared very favourably with that of $348 in Botswana, $148 in Zaire and $126 in Tanzania.

 In the purely material sphere earnings have increased phenomenally: in 1958 the 652,000 workers in the industrial sector earned an average per capita income of $169, ranging from a high of $285 in the finance and insurance fields to a low of $104 for an agricultural worker; in 1965 the figures were 656,000 workers, average income $250, and by 1975: 982,000 workers had a mean per capita income of $692, with those employed in the educational, transport and communications and finance, insurance and real estate spheres, earning an average of $981, while the least paid employees - agricultural workers, domestic servants and miners and quarry workers - earned $336 on the average.

 A point to note, however: the figures for agricultural workers and domestic servants do not take into account the free accommodation and food these employees receive; also, on many of the larger farms, schooling is provided for the children of workers, and farmer's wives run small stores where the workers can purchase almost all their requirements at much cheaper rates than would normally be the case.

 Progress has not been confined to only one sector of the black population; both in rural and urban areas the advancement in standards of living has been moving on apace.

 In the tribal areas, where some 60 per cent. of the population live, improved farming methods are changing the traditional existence that was eked out by subsistence farming to one of positive action and forward planning that brings substantial tangible rewards. Where, in the past, a subsistence level farm, on which archaic and wasteful methods had long since exhausted the inherent goodness and fertility of the soil, might have brought in $60 per annum, nowadays, Government efforts aimed at integrating traditional tribal practice with modern agricultural methods are bearing fruit and a market gardener can now expect a return of some $500 per annum for his work.

  The tribesman is thus being brought into the cash economy and is fast becoming aware of the benefit he is likely to gain - his profits can be channelled into projects such as dam-building, irrigation systems and better methods of transporting his crop to the nearest station, which will in their turn increase their profit yield, enabling them to contribute to development funds for use on further projects, such as schools, roads and clinics. Apart from the profit aspect, the tribesman is also gaining an awareness of his responsibilities - himself and his self-improvement, to his family and to the community at large, a development which in turn augurs well for his eventual knowledgeable participation in the national context.

 In the urban Sphere, the black population of the towns and cities has increased twice as fast as the national population. This enormous increase has brought its share of problems - housing and employment in particular, but nevertheless the black population has been a major source of the remarkable expansion of the economy since 1965, and with the rapid development of a black middle class, it is the black consumer who is setting the pace and must be regarded as holding the major part of national demand for a wide range of products.

 Black private enterprise is growing, particularly in the fields of transport, distribution and agriculture: black bus-owners manage highly successful businesses which provide transport between the urban areas and the Tribal Trust Lands; black retailers own and run about 2,500 stores, varying in size and sophistication; and blacks own and manage over 8,000 commercial farms.

 In the professional field, there are many successful black doctors, lawyers, teachers, accountants, etc. In the private sector of business and commerce, there are significant examples of appropriate responsibilities offered to, and successfully discharged by, qualified blacks and many large companies employ blacks in management or trainee-management positions.

 The Civil Service employs increasing numbers of blacks in established posts, especially in the fields of education, health and social welfare.

 There can be no doubt that these trends will accelerate with the advent of a majority rule government in Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.

 Economic development is, therefore, proceeding at a rapid pace, but even this pace cannot keep up with the high population growth rate, the population influx into the urban areas and the great number of young employment-seekers who come on to the labour market every year; lack of sufficient finance is one of the main reasons for this. Millions of dollars are spent each year on development projects but the sources of this finance are limited. Since 1965, Rhodesia has been cut off from the world money markets and possibilities of aid from international agencies; and, unlike other newly independent states, Rhodesia, before 1965, was never a recipient of any foreign aid grants from American and European sources. Financing for development, therefore, comes largely from internal sources.

 It can be anticipated that an independent and recognized Zimbabwe Rhodesia will provide almost unlimited scope to the overseas investor, in terms of opportunities for investment in schemes aimed at the development of the country as a whole.  
- news