Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): A Panacea for Sustainable Socio-Economic Development of Mining Communities in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The majority of developing countries in Africa are struggling to get their vast mineral resources to significantly contribute to sustainable socio-economic development of their economies in general and rural communities that host mining companies in particular. The situation where countries that have vast mineral wealth but the citizenry remains very poor has become known as the "resource curse”.  In Sub-Saharan Africa this situation obtains in countries such as Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, to name but a few.With a focus on Zimbabwe, the purpose of this study is to ascertain the extent to which Corporate Social Responsibility programmes of mining companies contribute to the socio-economic development of communities that host mining operations. Government leaders, community leaders and members of mining communities in Zimbabwe are clamoring for a bigger share of revenue deriving from mineral extraction in their areas in an effort to achieve a level of socio-economic development that is commensurate with the level of mineral wealth in their area and to mitigate the paradox of very poor rural communities that host very large prosperous mining firms.  Meanwhile, Zimbabwe mining companies strongly believe that through their Corporate Social Responsibility programmes, they are significantly contributing to sustainable socio-economic development of the rural communities that host their mining operations. This scenario presents a gap and a conflict which prompted the researcher to embark on this study.  The researcher used a mixed methods approach in the collection and analysis of data where questionnaires and interviews were employed. The research findings confirmed the hypothesis as community leaders and members of the mining communities stated that there must be more investment by mining companies in areas like roads, water infrastructure, health facilities, schools, etc. To the contrary, all the major mining companies surveyed confirmed their strong belief that their Corporate Social Investment is more than adequate. With a view to solving this glaring problem and to foster harmony between key stakeholders in the mining industry in Zimbabwe, the researcher concluded his study with a recommendation to the effect that a minimum Corporate Social Investment threshold based on a percentage of revenue be set and applied uniformly across the mining industry in Zimbabwe. Further, each mining entity must make an annual Corporate Social Responsibility report showing the attainment of the set minimum annualCorporate Social Investment target.  This is set to solve the problem and bring uniformity, predictability and transparency in the Corporate Social Responsibility programmes of mining companies in Zimbabwe, with the level of socio-economic development reflecting the level of mineral endowment and extraction in the mining communities.