The Project Lifecycle in the Political and Economic Cycles in the Developing World: Case of Zimbabwe

Abstract

This article is built on a study that investigated a development projects' life cycle in the context of Zimbabwe's political and economic cycles. These projects bring about visible and tangible public goods that can be used as evidence that development is taking place. The study's main goal was to figure out the reasons for the failure of some megaprojects in Zimbabwe within the context of political and economic cycles and provide recommendations on improving that nexus. This study's approach included a desktop review and topic and content analysis for indepth analysis. As argued in the study findings, numerous projects that have been set to fit in particular political and economic periods, have failed to meet the completion deadlines because of constraints within and beyond the project’s control. These include unsustainable use of resources, poor project planning, lack of stakeholder involvement, incompetent project managers, poor inadequate monitoring and evaluation and lack of funding and an unconducive political climate, resulting in the so-called white elephants.