“To Serve Administrative Purposes and Native Interests?”

Abstract

Based on archival material from the Natives Reserves Trust, this study examines the history of infrastructural development in African areas in colonial Zimbabwe. The article historicizes a generally neglected theme in Zimbabwe’s economic history: road investments in what were called African reserves. It addresses the themes around the nature of infrastructure in the countryside, funding of rural infrastructure, labor mobilization for road construction and the impact thereof on African areas. Furthermore, the article addresses the question behind the colonial state’s need to improve road infrastructure in rural areas. It notes that although colonial officials emphasized the development aspects that would come with improved road infrastructure and some Africans benefited from the improved road network, it was mainly whites and the colonial state that benefited more. Improved roads enabled white traders and colonial officials to have a greater presence in reserves. Furthermore, colonial officials coerced Africans into providing labor services for road building and maintenance, while improved roads facilitated the reorganization of rural areas to promote colonial policies. Ultimately, the improvement of roads in African areas entrenched further unequal access to land between Africans and Europeans in colonial Zimbabwe.