Navigating policy implementation gaps in africa: The case of Zimbabwe

Abstract

This study reviews policy issues and the efficacy of policy implementation through a content analysis approach. In Africa and Zimbabwe in particular, policies have invariably been formulated to cater for the populace in the post-colonial era in order to address previous socio-economic imbalances. From 1991 to 2015 several policies have been developed as reflected in the Framework for Economic Reform, Zimbabwe Programme for Economic and Social Transformation (ZIMPREST) and Letters of Intent to the International Monetary Fund through to the current Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) among other blueprints. Findings indicate that policy problems in Zimbabwe are largely due to implementation failure against well thought out intelligible proposals. The paper reveals that implementation gaps reside in the absence of capacity to translate those intelligible proposals into action, poor sequencing of policies, political inaction to account for the failure and lack of resources. This does not appear to be unique to Zimbabwe alone but prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa and many countries across the continent. Alternatives and recommendations are suggested for this phenomenon.