Mutumwa Mawere

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 energy towards ending the system.

Although issues of race continue to be central to post-colonial African historiography, it is astonishing how little of Africa's political, social and cultural origins of moral capital is brought to bear on analyses of the contemporary world.

What would Africa have been if colonialism had not visited it? It cannot be denied that settlers had an impact on African societies and economies but equally natives had their own business model that was not dependent on European textiles, iron or firearms.

Africa's future must necessarily lie in underpinning its moral capital with supporting and reinforcing institutions.

Ultimately, the accumulation and retention of moral capital is and should be inextricably linked to institution building.

Reputation of moral conduct determines the value of moral capital as human existence and experience has not been able to produce a mechanism that can read people's minds.

What lies between the ears of a human beings is so complex and hidden that observation and experience are the only reliable instruments for predicting behavior.

It is impossible to rely on a person's moral convictions in commercial transactions and often a person's reputation based on history is used as a proxy.

With a current world population estimated at about 6.8 billion, we must accept that it is impossible for anyone to have personal and direct knowledge of the universe but in a lifetime one is able to interact with only a few and it is through relationships that we can build a society that reflects the values that we hold dear as human beings.

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 colonial constitutional order did not allow natives a large measure of freedom in seeking profit through voluntary exchange and, therefore, my worldview has been influenced by my own personal experiences.

When I started writing my weekly columns, I had no idea that my views on a number of issues would resonate with many of the people who have been kind enough to share their comments with me.

On 1 November 2009, I began this series of 20 articles with the hope to provoke thought about what Africans can do to enhance their stock of social, political and economic but also moral capital.

This being the last installment, I could not think of any better subject to complete the conversation than deal with the complex issue of commercial civilization and its relevance to Africa's uncertain future.

Any progressive modern civilization has to be based on laws underpinned by an institutional framework that allows individuals a large measure of freedom to seek profit through voluntary and not state-assisted exchange.

When colonialism visited Africa, it must be accepted that the transactions that were prevalent were not done with any prospect of making profits

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 ladder behaved, organized, and transmitted their wealth to future generations is limited by our own experiences.

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 a better and brighter day in the full knowledge that we may not be there to enjoy the fruits of our labor and input.

On 15 February 2010, I completed my 17th installment and decided to pause and reflect on what insights should be in the last three articles.

On 15 November 2009, I wrote my first installment of 30 articles with no idea of what the full collection would look like.

Today's article is the last one and for those who have followed the series, I sincerely hope that you have enjoyed the journey and more importantly the joy of sharing my own insights into the complex issues that challenge us as we try to advance the cause of human development and progress in Africa.

Knowledge is power and as Michel Foucault, the late French philosopher, sociologist and historian correctly argued, knowledge and power are like two sides of the same coin, it is important that we focus on tackling the role of knowledge production in affecting and constituting power relations in Africa.

We all want our leaders to be wise and compassionate. If the people with power were to be foolish then the people who do not have power will be discouraged from aspiring for higher positions in society.

In 1980, Howard Zinn, the late American historian and political scientist, published a book entitled: "A People's History of the United States, in which he sought to present the American history through the eyes of working people rather than that of political and economic elites.

He eloquently observed that: "The power of determined people armed with a moral cause is, I believe, the ultimate power".

Most societies are pyramidal in power structure with a select few at the top commanding a large number of underlings.

The majority is in the valley while a few whether in pre or post-colonial Africa are at the top of the power ladder.

Many nation states exhibit the same power structures with the majority feeling alienated from the political processes and decisions that are critical in shaping their societies.

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 values that were critical in informing the decolonization struggle.

We are all God's children and, therefore, it is not unusual to expect any society created by human beings to be fair.

I thought of introducing the concept of a fair society and whose responsibility it is to create such a society in the context of Africa because I do not believe that it could have been God's intention to create a civilization in which in life one human being is superior to another on account of one's race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual preferences and class.

April is special month for Southern Africans.

South Africa, Africa's economic powerhouse, achieved independence from Britain on 31 May 1910 informed by an idea that in Africa a little Europe could be created founded on the principle that Dutch and English settlers could appropriate this part of Africa; a unique geology, topography, and geography; to themselves as dominant drivers of the project to extend the tentacles of their way of life and worldview to foreign states through conquest.

It took 84 years of relentless efforts, courage, sacrifices, pain, deaths, forced migration, unequal development to make South Africa what it should have been from the very beginning, a democratic and free country founded on universally accepted values, beliefs and principles.

After 54 years of independence, many African countries remain among the least developed and yet paradoxically are richly endowed with mineral wealth.

How could God be so unfair to Africans? Why place minerals in the geology where black Africans are in the majority and yet alienate the natives from the exploration, exploitation, beneficiation and distribution process of minerals?

It is important to pause and reflect on the political aspects of the African economy.

In particular, we have no choice but to locate the impact of party politics on the formulation and implementation of policy or on economic development.

In 1995, Little Brown and Company published an autobiographical work that began as scrapes of paper buried under the floor of former President Mandela's prison cell with the title: "Long Walk of Freedom."

In this book, President Mandela describes his life journey. After all, life is nothing but a journey that has to be travelled but whose true meaning is complicated by the fact that humanity has not found an answer to its impermanence.

Although we are born equal, the journey of life takes us through different addresses and each day of life brings with it its own surprises and reveals opportunities that can defy human imagination and construction.

In coming up with the title of his autobiography, President Mandela must have been acutely cognisant of the fact that his personal journey was inextricably linked with the journey of millions of South Africans who by law were classified as second class citizens deserving inferior opportunities in life and yet were endowed with the same inalienable right to liberty, justice and freedom.

Who is to blame? Where should we start to make it right? Who should change in order to make Africa the kind of continent that we want to see?

We all have a lot to say about what has gone wrong in Africa and, indeed, the world.

When interrogated for solutions, it is not unnatural that we defer to other human beings in the sincere belief that someone out there owes the world and the future more than we do.

So when the late Michael Jackson (MJ) and Quincy Jones (QJ) were near the end of the recording for Bad, QJ called Glen Ballard (GB) and said: "Don't you have anything else for us", history was in the making.

We are privileged to live in a world that is more wired than in any previous generation.

The digital revolution is here to stay and any nation that finds itself excluded from this revolution faces the risk of suffering from a new form of poverty i.e. information poverty that has more devastating implications on human development and growth than biological hunger.

The web has and continues to shake world politics. The Internet has unleashed a new toolbox that can easily be used to bridge the knowledge divide that has made it easy for undemocratic regimes to thrive in many parts of the world.

It is true that the Internet is a potent weapon against any from of central control. It inspires solidarity and challenges and defies old notions of identity, nationalism and nation building.

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 of colonialism on Zimbabwe's political economy.

An argument has been made and will continue to be made that blacks are poor because colonialism put God given resources out of reach to them and the process of resource diversion was non-market driven hence the need for the state to intervene to correct such historically determined distortions and inequity.