As we approach the final of the historic FIFA Soccer World Cup hosted by South Africa in this historic year which marks the 50th anniversary of 17 African states, we need to explore the ideas and motives that underlay the colonial business model and the forces that precipitated the rapid decolonization of Africa.
The anti-colonial movement gathered momentum not only because there was a general feeling that colonialism was immoral but the issue acquired weight in the public mind and attracted remarkable individuals who were willing to devote time, creativity and …

Africa’s future belongs to builders.  Our civilization has evolved and contemporary African civilization is dualistic with one part based on laws and other institutions underpinned by a market system and another that is based on what can be described as African norms, traditions and custom.
I was born in Zimbabwe and I must confess that there is nothing that prepared me to be a businessman of the scale that I have been privileged to engage in.
The political, social, moral and economic morality that informed the …

What is a gentlemen’s club?  What, if any, is its usefulness to nation building?  What role did it play in the consolidation and sustenance of the colonial political economy?
The origins of gentlemen’s clubs is to be found in 18th century English society where members-only private clubs were established to promote and protect interests of members.
They were set up by and for English upper society but today they are a universal phenomenon.
Our knowledge of the few that were and are successful in climbing the opportunity …

On 1 November 2009, I wrote the first of 20 articles under the theme: ”Pushing the envelope of knowledge” focusing on the concept of capital and its role in human progress and nation building.
I was acutely aware that what I may consider knowledge might not have the same meaning to others.
Notwithstanding, I felt it was important for me to add my voice to the kind of debates that we must have as Africans if we have to discharge our generational responsibilities to make tomorrow …

What kind of Africa do we want to see?  Sudan gained independence in 1956 and so became the first African state to chat its own future.  It was followed by Ghana and this year, 2010, 17 African states will celebrate their 50th anniversary of independence.

The citizens of the 17 African states that turn 50 this year will no doubt ask the question whether independence has produced a fair society and the extent to which the circumstances they find themselves in speak to the …

What time is it in Zimbabwe?  Is it indigenization time?  If black economic empowerment is good for South Africa, why should indigenization be bad for Zimbabwe?
If the three principal political parties agreed that at this defining hour in Zimbabwe’s history, the country’s cabinet needed a portfolio a portfolio to deal with indigenization and economic empowerment, who has the place and standing to be a critical of the implementation of laws that are already on Zimbabwe’s statutes?
At the core of the indigenization/economic empowerment debate is the unresolved issue of the impact …

President Mugabe celebrated his 86th birthday last week and Zimbabwe will celebrate its 30th independence anniversary in a few weeks.
President Mugabe is the oldest head of state and government in Africa.  He has been privileged to have a long and eventful life.
Zimbabwe does not know of any other leader than President Mugabe and, therefore, it is difficult to imagine what kind of society Zimbabwe would be if it had had another leader.
Zimbabwe was born out of the womb of Rhodesia and its history, challenges, and prospects have been similar to …

We are products of our past.  We find ourselves challenged by the future and a past that divided us by the color of our skin and not the content of our characters.
Some were lucky to inherit a rich legacy while the majority remembers the pain of life.
There is nothing we can do to change the past.  Any strategy that seeks to strengthen the weak by weakening the strong is bound to fail and yet Africa can only advance its cause if the majority of its people lift themselves up.
We all …

When I started writing about Africa’s corporate history and the individuals who played a role in laying the foundations of the corporate landscape that characterizes contemporary Africa, I was acutely aware of the risks associated with such an enterprise.
How dare a black person glorify the contribution of white people in Africa?  I am indeed black and a product of a complex political, economic and social past.  There is nothing I can do to change the past.  It is easy to ignore the past but what cannot be denied is that …