Existing conventional wisdom on the Rhodesian economy during UDI posits that the state muzzled organised secondary industry, which became acquiescent. This assertion captures developments on the political front. However, this chapter shows that in the economic sphere, industrialists remained forceful in pursuit of their interests. They manipulated the state’s overreliance on the manufacturing sector to provide employment and consumer goods vis-à-vis sanctions. The chapter also revisits the accepted belief that UDI was the period of high import substitution industrialisation (ISI) and economic nationalism. In this vein, it examines the interaction between the state and industrialists over the administration and implementation of the import control policy and currency allocations – the two major economic instruments of the UDI regime. The chapter suggests that Tor Skålnes’s notion of societal corporatism – the changing role of interest groups and their relationship with the state, as well as their collaboration in a broader sense – may be a more useful way to understand the relationship between the ARnI and the state during this period.

In addition, the chapter analyses the numerous interactions between the state and industrialists over several challenges affecting the economy in general and the manufacturing sector in particular. Both the Rhodesian war of liberation and the constitutional negotiations with Britain attracted comments from the industrialists, and as such warrant examination. The chapter begins in 1966 with the imposition of sanctions by both Britain and the United Nations (UN), which necessitated the introduction of a new economic policy. It then moves on to examine the implementation of the economic policies, the challenges faced, and industry’s views on decolonisation and African majority rule. It ends in 1979, with a discussion on the nature, pattern, and structure of secondary industry that emerged during UDI.

UDI, Economic Policy, and State–Industry Relations

The UDI in November 1965 had huge economic and political consequences for Rhodesia. Following the White rebellion, Britain and the UN imposed economic sanctions on Rhodesia. The sanctions were applied piecemeal. Britain initially introduced financial sanctions from 12 November 1965 to 16 December 1966. British embargoes were also imposed on Rhodesian tobacco, sugar, and other products, and Rhodesia’s Commonwealth trading preferences were suspended, as was the country’s access to the London capital markets.