Resource-based industrialisation in Southern Africa: Domestic policies, corporate strategies and regional dynamics

Abstract

This article analyses policies and strategies adopted by Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe in order to develop linkage industries from the mineral sector. Whilst Southern Africa has a strongly integrated regional value chain for equipment and services related to mining, linkage development strategies in the three countries under examination have been formulated within narrow domestic frameworks. The evidence suggests that the success or failure of a resource-based industrialisation approach is country and sector specific, requiring the deployment of different and appropriately tailored policy instruments. Our research uncovered important cross-country variations in terms of opportunities created by specific mineral commodities, ambition and scope of industrial and linkage development strategies, and institutional capabilities to ensure enforcement and coherence with other policies.