Mutumwa Mawere

As we continue the journey to discover the men and women who helped shape the corporate and political history of Africa, we are reminded that it does not take a crowd to make a difference.

Very few individuals were responsible for setting the foundations of what we now take for granted.

Individuals who were ahead of their time made the critical decisions that needed to be made and in so doing impacted on the future of Africa.

Our corporate history would not be complete without mentioning the name of Sir Otto John Beit, the younger brother of Sir Alfred Beit, who was born in Hamburg, Germany on 7 December 1865 into a Jewish family.

He went to England at the age of 23 where he joined the stock broking firm of Wernher, Beit & Co., a company in which his brother, Alfred Beit who had moved to England in 1888 was a partner.

In 1890, he left for South Africa to gain experience un the diamond industry where he remained for six years before returning to England where he naturalized as a citizen in 1896.

Although his stay in South Africa was short, he made a mark. He played a critical role in the development of Rand Gold Mines and became a member of the Hermann Eckstein's firm, H. Eckstein & Co.

On his return to London, he continued his career as a stockbroker and continued his association with the mining interests that his brother had in South Africa.

Like his brother, Otto's worldview was greatly influenced by Cecil John Rhodes at whose house he resided at the time of the Jameson Raid.

He subscribed to Rhodes' imperialist vision and that explains why he chose to naturalize as a citizen of Great Britain instead of acquiring South African citizenship or retaining his German citizenship.

To Rhodes, it was important that his close friends identify with his vision. Both brothers appreciated why it was important for them to assimilate themselves into the English civilization.

The institutional and legal framework that informed the colonial project had to be underpinned by a civilization that could produce the outcomes sought in Africa i.e. accelerated accumulation of wealth.

He was a director of the Rhodesia Railways Limited, a company that played a critical role in the logistics and supply chain industry.

He was also a Governing Body of Imperial College from 1912 through 1930 the year of his death.

He was a Trustee of the Rhodes Trust and the Beit Railway Trust for Rhodesia.

The close relationship between Rhodes and the Beit brothers continued after his death. They became like family and kept the Rhodes legacy alive.

They understood more than Rhodes' natural family what kind of world he wanted to see and more specifically what kind of Africa he wanted to see.

It is rare that many of us can bequeath our wealth and legacy to non-relatives. What was remarkable about South Africa in its early years of industrialization was that it brought people together.

The only minimum condition was that one had to be white to participate in the opportunity ladder.

It did not matter where you were born in Europe what mattered was the network one could build in the land of promise.

Rhodes understood that the rewards had to be internalized by the actors.

Otto whose brother died in July 1906 founded the Beit Memorial Trust for Medical Research and also the Beit Fellowship at Imperial College in 1913 in memory of his brother who had opened the door to wealth for him.

He also founded the Beit Fellowship for Scientific Research at Imperial College. He was a founder member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and in 1912 became a member of the Governing Council.

He became involved in land settlement schemes in Southern Africa through his involvement as a trustee of both the Rhodes and Beit Trusts. He served as a director of the British South Africa Company that Rhodes had helped establish.

Beitbridge, the gateway between South Africa and Zimbabwe, was named after his brother while the bridge to cross the Zambezi River at Chirundu was named after Otto.

To get into Zimbabwe, one had to go through one Beit brother and to get out of Zimbabwe into Zambia one still needed to go through the other Beit brother.

The two important bridges to Zimbabwe were built with private funds and the role of the Beit family in making this possible cannot be overstated.

The original bridge to cross the Zambezi is known as the Otto Beit Bridge. It was built during 1938 and 1939 by the Cleveland Bridge Company; with financing provided by the Beit Trust that funded most of central and Southern Africa's colonial era bridges including the Kafue Bridge and the Luangwa Bridge.

The Otto Bridge was the first modern suspension bridge to be built outside the USA with parallel wire cables.

The new bridge was only built between 1999 and 2003 with state funds exposing the fact that the generation of people like the Beits had vanished.

How many of our generation of entrepreneurs can boast of the achievements and contribution to Africa of people like Otto? Anytime we think of a major infrastructural project, we have to look at the state.

The resources that the Beit brothers used to build these major projects as well as for philanthropy were generated from Africa and yet they were magnanimous enough to plough back where they had harvested.

However, the choice of investments is instructive. Anyone who invests in infrastructure must be thinking of the long-term. Our investment horizon tends to be short and consumption focused.

To the extent that Rhodes played a critical part in transforming the Beit brothers' worldview, it would not be misplaced to conclude that were it not for Rhodes, the critical infrastructural investments that still remain visible would not be there.

The Otto bridge cost £186,000 to build and was opened on 24th May 1939 after Otto's death by his widow.

He died at 65 having accomplished so much and bequeathed a legacy that we all have to study and appreciate.

He could have taken the view that Africa's future did not matter. However, he became a torchbearer for both Rhodes and Alfred's legacies.

He was invested as Fellow, Royal Society (F.R.S.) as well as Officer, Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem.

He was invested as a Knight Commander, Order of St. Michael and St. George (K.C.M.G). He was created 1st Baronet Beit, of Tewin Water, Welwyn, co. Hertford (UK) in 1924.

The University of Cape Town as well by the University of Edinburgh awarded him the honorary degrees of Doctor of Law.

Although Otto is dead, he works still live with us. The objects that he helped create as a creative capitalist are far too many to enumerate. What is significant is that he walked the Rhodes talk and did not betray what Rhodes stood for.

The British scientific and cultural landscape was impacted by Otto just as much as the Southern African landscape was indelibly shaped by the actions and choices made by the Beit brothers.

Although Rhodes died in 1902, his legacy continued and Otto played a vital part in keeping the flame glowing. It is only when we attempt to review whence we came that we can better appreciate that capitalism could produce outcomes that may not be as toxic as we now associate it with.

Otto was a financier, philanthropist and art connoisseur par excellence. Next time you cross the Zambezi River just pause to think about this remarkable man who had no obligation to plough back what he and his brother had benefited from Africa and was not compelled to make the choices that he made.

Can we consider him to be less African than many of us who live beyond 65 and yet have nothing to show for it?