Brian Kazungu, 22/04/2021

The 1873 Network, a non-profit organisation comprised of individuals and corporates who share a common passion and desire to build a new African identity focussing on returning Africa to its 1873 pre-colonial state runs several life transforming campaigns in the pursuit of its objectives.

Amongst some of the objectives of this organisation is to provide a platform for the exchange of ideas, experiences and insights on Africa’s challenges and opportunities as well as to identify, strengthen and motivate African people to enter into the corporate market.

With campaigns such as Bridge to Wealth Campaign, Banking on Africa’s Future, Corporate Heritage Africa, Ready to Learn Campaign, Salute The Living Legends Campaign, the network was established to support the emergence of the next generation of participants who are effective, values-driven and enlightened through knowledge and shared experiences.

Below is the detailed information on all the campaigns that the organisation runs in line with its vision to become the world’s largest Afrocentric network.

1.      It Starts With Us & I am The Us Campaign

The campaign seeks to raise awareness of the impact of individual choices and actions on social and economic change. As the Chinese proverb says, ‘The journey of a thousand miles, begins with one step,” we believe that the promise of Gauteng as a place to live and work, begins with the individual who chooses to act positively and constructively.

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The network whose name stems from the idea that not a rack in Africa’s trajectory, the continent was not dressed with boarders that now divides the contemporary experience into 54 nation states. Indeed in the year 1873, Africa had no boarders hence the core idea of a borderless mind that underpins the establishment, promotion and development of the network.

The aim of the campaign is the development of a large searchable repository of key actors who continue to define and shape its character and personality.

Programs and Activities

Programs, events, workshops, seminars, breakfasts, dinners, lunches and similar activities aimed at informing and educating people about he challenges and promise of Africa’s legacy with the intention of influencing and bridging professional and business opportunities towards making Africa a winning continent in general and Gauteng, a home of promise for forward leaning and progressive actors.

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The awareness- raising activities are a constructive and positive catalytic force that are already leading to positive change in actions and behaviour. The programs of the network are intended to transform mind-sets with the broader objective of driving transformation in the communities we live in.

Campaign Objectives

• To discover, showcase and recognise the firms and their actors in delivering the promise of an inclusive, prosperous and progressive province
• To promote local and foreign direct investment into and out of the South Africa into the rest of the continent
• To promote collaboration and connections between firms and their state and non-state actors involved in investment and related activities
• To create a platform for sharing ideas, insights, experiences and knowledge
• To create a one stop source of real time information that can be used in investment decision

2. Bridge to Wealth Campaign.

This campaign seeks to raise awareness about the different channels and paths one can take to acquire wealth, soft wealth or hard wealth. It falls under one of the pillars of the network which is Inspire.it is a form of mentorship, where we have a successful and prominent person hosting a group of forward leaning individuals at their house or office.

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The idea is to inspire people though sharing and opening doors to those who look up to them. Sharing their stories of how they got to where they are and how race or history did not stop them from acquiring the wealth they have today, inspiring people to work hard and work smart.

We had lunch with Dr Tim Tebeila and Ms Jackie Huntley in February as activities for this Campaign.

You will concur that there appears to be a mystery surrounding the enterprise of wealth accumulation.

How can economic freedom be best won? This is the question that we need to unpack in order to locate and use appropriate bridges to wealth.

We believe that the human potential can best be unlocked by sharing experiences, ideas and insights.

There are many inspiring stories of people who have lifted themselves from poverty and unemployment to new heights.

3.      Salute The Living Legends Campaign.

This campaign seeks to discover, showcase and recognise those among us who inspire us and on whose shoulders we can stand on.

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In January we hosted a farewell dinner for General Derrick Mgwebi, who was appointed the Commander In Chief of The UN Peacekeeping Force in DRC. We honoured and saluted him for his service and leadership skills to expose those of us who are forward leaning to what is possible if one sticks to a career and keeps his or her eyes on the real price of life.

Being a part of this initiative helps people to improve literacy about institutions that historically were exclusive, and this is a way to be a friend of the insiders.

The objective of this campaign is to discover, showcase and recognize those among us that are beacons of light and hope.

4.      Ready to Learn Campaign.

Towards an understanding of the role of firms and their actors in creating bridges to prosperity.

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The Ready to learn campaign is an initiative of the 1873 network, a member-based, not-for-profit, non-partisan organization established in terms of the laws of South Africa. The Network was specifically founded to connect, equip and inspire members to know and act better in a forward-leaning manner.

The Ready to Learn campaign seeks to raise awareness about the role of shared knowledge, the role of the individual i.e. you and I, the role of Corporates and Non-State actors in shaping up and defining the Africa we all want to live in.

We believe that everyone has a role to play in bending the long arc of the moral universe toward the kind of society that we all want for ourselves and our children. We believe that knowledge is the power and knowledge that is shared is the true promise.

With this campaign we are inviting all who are concerned to learn why some and not all nation-states are able to deliver the promise of a just, inclusive and prosperous society.

As an initiative of the READY TO LEARN campaign, we have a campaign in which we salute the individuals who have paved a way for our generation and each generation that has come before.

We are also building an inventory or bank of names called THE HIGHWAY OF FAME for the ordinary people who have done something meaningful with their lives and inspire hope to others resulting in them standing out as extra – ordinary individuals.

Our motto is “it starts with us!”, Because we believe that the change that we seek for our society has to begin with the individual, We are calling out to you all to play your part in building up the society that we all want for the current generation and for the future generation.

5.      The 1873 Network Project 1000.

Honoring drivers of change.

Most underprivileged Africans are scared to dream because hardships and poverty break the spirit. They do not know where to turn or where they can get the knowledge that they require. They do not know where to look to see that there is hope, that birth does not condemn us but is just a beginning.

There are individuals that we look up to, be it business men, musicians, activists etc. but do we really know them? Have we taken time to understand them?

Many people want to be rich but do not understand what it means to be rich. This project answers these questions, by collecting information to share.

OBJECTIVES

1. To give a voice in creating the kind of bank that uplifts and inspires
2. To create a bank of hope, a bank of knowledge
3. Identify and honor individuals that show the kind of Africa we all want to see
4. Connect – the Project creates a platform where individuals who would otherwise have no reasons or means to meet can meet.
5. Equip – through sharing, members of the project and the rest of the continent will be equipped with knowledge
6. Inspire – Knowledge that is shared is the true promise. By sharing the experiences, life lessons and values of a thousand individuals we hope to inspire individuals across the continent that their hopes and dreams can be achieved.

What is Project 1000?

A platform for likeminded people to share ideas, experiences and insights on unlimited issues that matter. Life that is not shared is has no meaning.

The future of Africa is not known but there are individuals that give us a glimpse of the true promise of Africa, the Africa we all want to see. By learning the lives of these individuals with the intention to share their story change is guaranteed.

Who is the 1000?

The 1000 is you. By knowing yourself and sharing who you truly are, your experiences, principles and life lessons, you will inspire others to follow suit.

Why 1000?

The continent of Africa has 1.111 billion people living in it and 1000 is just a fraction of the billions living in Africa. By appreciating a 1000 at a time, a thousand entrepreneurs, a thousand thought leaders, a thousand CEOs, we will inspire all of Africa’s people.

The purpose of the Project is to Connect, Equip and Inspire. 

6.      FRIENDS OF GENERALS

The FOG initiative seeks to build a connected, equipped and inspired community of serving and retired defense generals against a backdrop of a fragmented role players.

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As part of its mandate, it is intended that links at a personal and informal basis be encouraged between the men and women who are and have occupied leadership positions in the state and non-state defense and security institutions.

The FOG is an initiative of the 1873 Network to connect defense actors with a view to optimizing supply and human capital chains.  The program involves discovering, showcasing and recognizing the actors in the African space with a view to raising awareness about the role of the defense forces in building an inclusive, secure, and prosperous Africa.

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The program to connect actors is critical in removing the current market distortions that characterize the African defense market resulting in inefficiencies and weak capacities.

Some of the activities that have been implemented under the umbrella of FOG includes the hosting of Lt General Mgwebi’s farewell party, Retired Lt General Matanzima’s birthday party and the birthday of Ambassador Sifingo.

A courtesy call meeting with General Mohammed from Nigeria, Dr Sam Gulube, General Shoke and Ambassador Sfingo of the SANDF was also part of FOG’s mission to connect actors so that they can begin to develop a seamless and borderless network.

7.      FRIENDS OF SMM

VISION / MISSION

Our vision is to become a trusted and premier platform for networking, collaboration, knowledge creation and sharing for stakeholders interested in enriching and broadening their analytical and conceptual understanding of the often forgotten role of African corporate citizens and their actors in bridging the gaps of poverty, inequality and unemployment.

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Our mission is to invest through sharing of experiences on issues related to the role that the state and non-state actors including firms, institutions and their actors can play in delivering the promise of inclusive, caring, prosperous, sustainable and progressive human societies.

We believe that fundamental concepts like the rule of law, property rights and constitutionalism are best understood using real life and contemporary empirical case studies like the classic case of SMM Holdings (Pvt) Ltd (SMM), a company born in 1908 and ceased operations at the instigation and direct hand of the government of Zimbabwe.

OBJECTIVES

• To promote the development and sustenance of a culture and practice that respects the rule of law, people and their property.
• To provide a forum for discussing corporate heritage issues.
• To assist the membership in their intellectual and conceptual development and in playing their parts as active and vigilant citizens.
• To provide a Pan African network of peer coordinators for fellow-shipping and institution building.
• Sharing ideas, insights, experiences, problems and solutions.
• To interact with other organizations and individuals to accomplish these ends.
• To build a strong national network of actors who share a common belief that Africa can lift itself up when the role of state and non-state actors is properly balanced and located.
• To seek to influence government proposals and existing legislation by utilizing the expertise of our members.
• To identify and share good practices and to promote values of the organization.
• To offer mutual support and provide a forum for discussion.
• To facilitate learning workshops and distribute information.

8.      Banking on Africa’s Future (BOAF)

One of the ways established to document and promote business practice in Africa was by creating The Banking on Africa’s Future Foundation, a foundation that has been implemented to improve knowledge about our world and experience of others by investing in that knowledge and informing individuals and corporate about the builders and drivers of Africa’s corporate heritage.

The Banking On Africa’s Foundations seeks to recognise leaders by creating an awareness about the Companies profile, how it was established, when it was started, why it was started and how they have changed lives so that our future leaders are inspired to look at the corporate world through a different angle in a way that will motivate them to do more by instilling that knowledge. As a continent we need to increase the number of great leaders in our continent so that they can contribute to the well-being of Africa.

For progress to be sustained, it is important that the next generation of leaders find a platform that will help to:

• Identify and address the leadership challenges that confront contemporary Africa
• Share and refine visions of the kind of Africa that citizens want to live in
• Lead by example in building nation states that are viable, inclusive and founded on share principles underpinned by the rule of law and respect of the rights of citizens and their property

We are celebrating the African Promise and have 5,000 reasons we think we should celebrate. Each reason is in the form of a person who you believe has had a profound impact on African society with no colour discrimination, as seen with President Barak Obama, the American people have shown how the colour of a person skin does not make them any less American as is with an African, if you believe you are an African focused on Africa’s progress and feel a part of this land then you are an African.

From social entrepreneurship to sports to arts to academia to general entrepreneurship to medical breakthroughs to technological advancement to scientific discovery to political entrepreneurship, the BOAF-5000 POL Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes outstanding individuals whose pioneering spirit, fame, power, personality, accomplishments, and demonstrated creativeness and inventiveness throughout their careers has improved African society and inspired others.

The 1873 Network in Association with all stakeholders have begun a long campaign to educate and promote the African Brand, under Banking on Africa’s Future. Culminating to a Published work of all the material collected to be released on the site.  We invite you to share in this rare and opportune journey in discovering and revealing Africa.

9.      Corporate Heritage Africa – Telling the story of African business

An initiative by members of The 1873 Network that aims to:

• Encourage all aspects of research writing and teaching of corporate history and the environment in which business operates.
• Further the historical study of business and their environments – political, social and cultural in which business operates

Business historians and entrepreneurs know only well the challenges of locating and accessing the historical records of corporations and their actors which is vital in tracing and reconstructing the complex evolution of business enterprises.  Central to the problem is the foreign nature of capitalism and the ease with which the system throws out more losers than winners to the extent that the story is easily lost.

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The CHA initiative seeks to determine the broad historical features of business organisations, lifespan, business activities, and the actors who breathe life into enterprises, the change in status through acquisition, merger and takeover.

Background

The CHA initiative is a collaborative project involving members of the Network who are committed to researching, preserving and writing about the Corporate History of Africa.

The Project has two objectives:

• To encourage the addition to the knowledge base about business and its role in building viable societies and nation states; and
• To establish a collection of archival materials to support business development in Africa as well as business history-related teaching and research.

The Purpose

The purpose of CHA is not to duplicate collections and services already available; but rather to:

• Collect information about what is available so that entrepreneurs and researchers are better informed;
• Start to collect the business records of important African business that are not already being collected elsewhere
• Assemble a collection of hard to find secondary business history sources

Remembering Africa’s Corporate History

Who and what is remembered depends not only on the preservation of materials by archives but also on the availability of those materials to researchers and interested persons.

The business community plays an important role in building Africa.  Our goal is to help the stories of the men and women who operate in business told as well as the stories of business told.

Corporate History in the broadest includes everything about our business past, from the history of individual firms to that of entire business systems.  The history of business in Africa as a social institution is one of the neglected aspects of our narrative and our literature.

To be featured:

1. 5,000 Points of Light – famous people who made it big in African business
2. 1,000 Points of Light – famous women in African History who made it big
3. 500 Points of Light – famous black entrepreneurs
4. 100 Points of Light – famous black people who changed the African Business world
5. 50 Points of Light – important women in African History whose work changed the character of the continent.