Zimbabwe’s recovery path: Aconceptual framework

Abstract

Once one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most prosperous and promising states, Zimbabwe has endured a traumatic decade, socially and economically, under a government led by President Robert Mugabe since its independence from the United Kingdom in 1980. As Zimbabwe emerges from a decade marked by economic mismanagement, political violence, and international isolation, the national government faces enormous challenges ahead. Formerly the envy of its neighbors for its abundant mineral deposits, thriving agricultural sector, and one of the continent’s most skilled and educated workforces, Zimbabwe has since become politically unstable and an economic disappointment of unprecedented proportions.