Community share ownership trusts and economic empowerment: a case study of rural communities in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This study focused on the economic empowerment challenges and opportunities of rural communities in Zimbabwe through the Community Share Ownership Trusts (CSOTs) initiative. Pragmatic research methodology was used to collect data from two CSOT officials, six traditional leaders, and six executives of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) that contributed to CSOTs. Data were collected from the aforementioned key informants through interviews, structured questionnaire and observations. Results show that after several amendments and the 2018 repeal of the Indigenization and Economic Empowerment, the majority of CSOTs were no longer functional or were underfunded. Hence, the recipient rural communities remained impoverished, a sign that the model was futile. Given that the CSOTs initiative had failed to deliver economic empowerment to recipient rural communities, this study proposed a model that emphasises rural community participation in the value chains of MNCs.