Assessing the Influence of Sustainability Worldviews in Zimbabwean Banks: Towards Decolonising Sustainable Finance

Gilbert Tepetepe
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Gilbert Tepetepe: Johannesburg Business School

A chapter in Embracing Technological Agility in Accounting and Business – Vol. 1, 2026, pp 525-538 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Using a transformative sequential mixed methods approach, this study assesses the influence of sustainability worldviews within 19 Zimbabwean banks to uncover concealed sustainability colonialism embedded in sustainable development policies. Sustainable finance has been widely promoted in Zimbabwe and globally through the implementation of United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Accords. However, no prior research has assessed the influence of sustainability worldviews within Zimbabwean banks. Data were collected through 289 structured questionnaires, 30 focus group participants, and 25 policy documents sourced from archival search. The data were analysed through descriptive statistics, narrative analysis, and Marxist immanent critique. Findings reveal that Zimbabwean banks are predominantly influenced by a weak sustainability worldview, which masks neo-colonialism through neoliberal policies that promote capital accumulation and resource expropriation from Africans through financialisation, privatisation, commodification, and enclosure of natural resources. The adoption of weak sustainability theory fosters empty rhetoric and “business as usual” approaches that continue to support carbon-intensive sectors and new forms of extractivism. Paradoxically, these practices exacerbate social inequalities, economic instability, and environmental degradation. This study recommends the adoption of strong sustainability standards rooted in indigenous finance, pluriverse technologies, and decolonised institutional practices.

Keywords: Sustainable finance; Sustainable development goals; Mixed methods; Strong sustainability; Weak sustainability; Worldviews; Marxism; Heterodox finance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-032-13380-9_33

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-13380-9_33

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