Nomsa Jane Moyo - Corporate Governance in Zimbabwes Public Entities

COMPARISONS WITH SOUTH AFRICA AND AUSTRALIA

First published 2022
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2022 University of South Africa

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ISBN: 9780367767327 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781032228037 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781003168317 (ebk)

DOI: 10.4324/9781003168317

Typeset in Arial by Nozipho Noble and Thea Bester-Swanepoel

A number of recent studies suggest that public entities have not used their resources efficiently and that they have imposed a burden on public finances due to a number of reasons, the most significant of which is a lack of good corporate governance. In this regard, the role and effectiveness of the boards of directors have emerged as very important when examining the causes of poor corporate governance and inefficiencies in public entities.

As a result, a number of corporate governance initiatives have been introduced to govern the operations of public entities and their boards. But, empowering directors to effectively discharge their obligations and enforcing compliance with good corporate governance practices have proved to be major challenges. Although substantial research has been undertaken on the effectiveness of boards of private enterprises, in my view, inadequate attention has been given to the challenges being faced by boards of public entities in effectively discharging their duties and promoting good corporate governance. This is especially so in developing African countries. Furthermore, there has not been much meaningful research on the effectiveness of boards of public entities in Zimbabwe. It is also questionable whether research results obtained from other regions or countries can be extended and applied without further investigation into Zimbabwe given the differences in the countries contexts.

It is therefore the main purpose of this book to analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of boards in promoting good corporate governance in public entities in Zimbabwe. The book particularly focuses on the corporate governance framework that seeks to enhance the effectiveness of boards of public entities in Zimbabwe and assesses whether the framework has assisted the boards to meet internationally accepted corporate governance standards. To achieve the objective of the book, a literature analysis was undertaken, interviews were conducted and questionnaires circulated to board members, senior managers, company secretaries, chief executive officers and selected shareholder representatives. The main reason for selecting these participants was to assess corporate governance issues and challenges facing these public entities from the participants' perspectives given their firsthand experience. Furthermore, Zimbabwe's corporate governance framework for public entities was compared to the frameworks of South Africa and Australia, which were chosen because of the similarities they share with Zimbabwe. The comparative analysis with South Africa and Australia assesses how well Zimbabwe is performing in comparison to other countries and what good practices it can emulate to improve corporate governance in its public entities.

After almost two decades as a company sccrctary in public entities, I was able to observe, at close quarters, how the entities are run and how often they are misgoverned. This exposure to developments in the public entities and corporate world prompted me to write this book. It is hoped that this book will contribute to the debate on interventions required by Zimbabwe and other developing countries to accomplish the objective of enhancing the effectiveness of boards in promoting good corporate governance within public entities. In particular, the book may assist policymakers, legislatures and board members who have a vested interest in the assets and overall performance of public entities as well as other scholarly researchers who may build on this book to cover other aspects of public entities.

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the following whose input made the writing of this book possible: