The colonial and apartheid business model was not underpinned by a mass movement but by committed Anglo Saxons who celebrated the economic illiteracy of native Africans and invested in a value system designed to promote and entrench a race-based capitalist system. A constitutional order and a civil rights architecture was put in place to disenfranchise the majority politically and economically while enabling the minority settler community to construct a sophisticated economic system to serve Europe and the settlers.

The decolonisation project was waged at a pan-Africans level and over the last 51 years, country by country was liberated. However, although theoretically we should no longer be fighting for our civil rights the reality in many African countries suggests otherwise. We thought through independence we had won the civil rights battles and yet the majority of Africans live in fear of their own governments.

Independence was supposed to bring with it black hope and prosperity but this has largely been a mirage. On the contrary, independence has converted white fear into economic prosperity, albeit without political power. Today African resources are largely exploited by foreigners with little or no involvement of natives. African economic decisions are not made in the continent and yet our conversations have little to do with the continent's economic heritage.

Although in theory we have the opportunity to acquire wealth, African capital formation is a contested issue not only because many African governments that came from the womb of colonial oppression believe that private capital accumulation is not in the national interest. The struggle in Africa is not about wealth generation but about state engineering in the belief that poverty reduction is a preserve of state action.

The purpose of the Platinum Rights Movement is to generate dialogue and encourage Africans to focus on developing a national democratic revolution agenda. This agenda must have as its focus conquering the dominant issue of our time, Wealth Acquisition/Platinum Rights, through an Economic/Advantage Movement. Just as it was necessary for our liberators to utilize movements (Liberation and Civil Rights) to overcome the dominant issues (Racial Discrimination/Subjugation) of their times, we must do the same to fulfil our historical challenge.

We are proud to introduce the Advantage Movement aimed at converting the spent by Africans into a new power base. In South Africa, victims of apartheid are commonly referred to as Historically Disadvantaged Individuals (HDI) or Previously Disadvantaged Individuals (PDI) and yet this generation is the most advantaged of all generations of blacks to live at a time when the glass ceiling of opportunities has been lifted to allow the formation of New Mutual initiatives in contrast to old-style race-based "Old Mutuals" that were demutualized in the post-apartheid era.

The Advantage Movement is an instrument for fostering this Economic Movement for Africans with the ultimate objective of building wealth and creating a new generation of Randlords or representative African economic brand ambassadors through an investment in financial literacy as an empowerment agent.

If we have to be masters of their destiny and be instruments for accelerating and sustaining stable economic growth, we must possess a sustainable and diverse economy with a pan-African focus that generates wealth for businesses, community members and all of the many other elements that interact within the community. This wealth will provide re-investment capital, income-earning opportunities and business growth and expansion. These are critical factors for reducing crime and poverty, aiding in achieving a better quality of life, and ultimately, providing stability for the continent.

You are encouraged to show your support by signing up as an Advantage Member. Once signed up, your name will appear on the site under the respective sector or business grouping that you select.

Dominant Challenge

A close examination of colonial Africa will reveal one constant issue. The colonial issue was the denial of Civil Rights and this called for liberation movements to propel us beyond this dominant issue. However, the most dominant issue facing post-colonial Africa is Wealth Acquisition. As was the case in the colonial era, overcoming this dominant issue requires an Economic Movement.

Why is Wealth Acquisition the most dominant issue facing our generation? Consider this, today: Africa has invested in a Brain Trust of doctors, lawyers, PhDs and more people with college degrees than at any time in our history. We have an enormous but fragmented buying power that even our most distinguished mathematicians and business professors have not been able to aggregate. When the Diaspora community is included in the equation, the figures are staggering. If our spent or collective payroll was to be converted into national income, the African economy is undoubtedly one of the largest in the world.

The African economic power base suggests that we are not poor; we just make poor choices with our money. And as a result, we have not been able to acquire wealth at the same rate as others have in the global family of nations. Part of the reason lies in the fact that we have yet to understand that "The Liberation/Civil Rights Movement was never meant to Create Wealth." So just what did the Liberation/Civil Rights Movement do? It opened the door for us to create a new economic heritage and an opportunity to acquire wealth. Therefore, it is time for us to move from "Civil Rights to Platinum Rights." Our generation is not blinded by the colonial past and yet we do not seem to know what time it is and what needs to be done to leverage our economic power into real and substantive power.

Once we adopt Platinum Rights as the dominant issue of our time, we can start focusing on the things that are preventing us from taking full advantage of the opportunities afforded by the national democratic Revolution/Civil Rights Movement- specifically the opportunity to acquire wealth.

The national democratic revolution has created economic opportunities, and now the Platinum Rights Movement must create the vehicle for capturing and seizing them.

Why a Movement?

In the colonial era, Africans faced "dominant challenges" that former colonial masters were unwillingly to identify with and support. We were able to overcome these challenges through major movements guided by faithful, competent and unrelenting leaders. In the post-colonial state the situation is no different; it too brings with it a "Dominant Challenge." But that challenge is not political or Civil Rights. That decolonisation battle has been won. The new issue is Platinum Rights (Wealth Acquisition) and, as we did during the colonial era, we must meet the dominant challenge of this century head-on with an Economic Movement or Platinum Rights Movement.

What is this Platinum Rights Movement? It is arming advantaged Africans with the knowledge and means to take full advantage of the opportunities to acquire wealth. We have accomplished a great deal over the last 50 years in terms of education, professional and political achievements. But we can ill afford to be complacent about our current economic position because the Chinese/Indian and Anglo Saxon appetite for African primary resources threatens our independence and prosperity if we do not take steps to organise ourselves in a manner that can complement foreign direct investment with domestic capital formation. Our collective future is exposed and our weak and parasitic political institutions will not be able to protect our future. So this Economic/Advantage Movement has a sense of urgency about it because, right before our eyes, the world around us is undergoing profound changes, and the stakes are incredibly high.

There is both anxiety and anticipation in the continent about the future of the continent in a global environment that is less charitable and inward looking. Africa needs a sound economic agenda underpinned by genuinely African interests. Although the political kingdom is under the control of natives, the same cannot be said of the economic agenda of Africa.

We must focus on the importance of our generation in developing an Economic Movement with a new agenda that will enhance our ability to sustain a high standard of living, with good jobs and healthy communities. To begin this Platinum Movement, we must ask ourselves tough questions. If the Civil Rights battle has been won, why haven't we gained Platinum Rights? Why aren't we creating an economic democratic space for the majority? Why are we still facing paralyzing social and economic inequities? Why aren't we able to take the next steps and capitalize on our educational and political gains? Who is to blame? Yes, questions about how we got here are important, and so are questions about who is responsible. However, an even greater question is, "How do we forge a Wealth Creation Movement to achieve the kind of economic power that will transform Africa and benefit the greater African family in the diaspora?" The answers lie in understanding the problems: (i) an inability to value and grasp the opportunities won in our hard-fought national liberation/Civil Rights struggle. We cannot benefit from our history if we do not understand its importance and build on it. (ii) A lack of leadership. We need new Platinum Rights Movement leaders, men and women who have the vision and passion to initiate an Economic Empowerment Movement that will truly transform our continent. (iii) A lack of strategy. We need an Economic Empowerment Plan that will educate, motivate, inspire, support and sustain wealth creation.

Accomplishing this will require us to view wealth acquisition as a process and not an event. It will also involve embracing the Advantage Movement and adopting it as a historic strategy.

Black Business Class

There are two types of communities in Africa: the thriving first economy and struggling/dying second economy. The difference between a thriving first economy and a struggling/dying second economy is in the investment dollars flowing into it. A dying community has investment dollars flowing out of it.

Herein lies the problem for us; we do not control the economy in Africa because we do not own/control the "Points of Exchange" (Businesses) in the continent. Wealth is a function of ownership. The post-colonial state operates under a landlord economy that is doomed to fall victim to crime, decay and ultimately a vicious cycle of hopelessness. Under a landlord economy, the dollars that could be used for community reinvestment are taken away and reinvested in other neighbourhoods leaving our addresses in a state that is ripe for crime and decay.

While individual and personal wealth is important (and many among us have achieved great levels of it), only wealth created through business ownership will provide the kind of long-term solutions for the social consequences created by our historic lack of wealth.

Therefore, our Black leadership, particularly in business and politics, must embrace Wealth Creation as a historic movement because the challenge is a historic one. Overcoming this challenge will require our best minds, both young and old. We need new efforts that will focus on creating wealth for the majority throughout all social strata. We believe this will happen only by re-energizing the black business class, who are the key leaders of this New Economic Movement.

When you create a viable black business class, you create an engine for African reinvestment and ultimately, points of light (POL) for Wealth Generation. The principle component for establishing and retaining capital within Africa is business ownership and brand control.

That is why the next great movement for Africans must be the Platinum Rights/Economic Movement.

In light of this gap between black and non-black in terms of asset ownership, then, the black business class is a critical component in the Platinum Rights equation because this business class, not government, forms the foundation for African reinvestment. Government must create the climate, conditions and infrastructure for business opportunity, but business investment must come from individuals � namely the black business class. Communities grow when business people invest in them. We should not expect others to come into Africa and be the primary investors in our continent. That is our responsibility, and we must do it. We must start the march toward Platinum Rights ourselves. Creating this new economy in Africa through a strong business class will require us to engage the situation with the same level of passion that was evident in the Liberation Struggle/Civil Rights Movement.

We must come to understand that, when our money is not retained in Africa, the continent lacks the necessary investment dollars to sustain itself, resulting in economic and social instability that ultimately promote decay. Conversely, when dollars are reinvested in Africa, it creates stability and halts decay.

Leadership

The movement calls on you to be involved. The future of Africa is only as good as we invest in it. Be the change that you want to see. Do not expect others to invest in the change that you want to see. We have the power to change our circumstances and change the African brand in a manner that will position our successors to fully benefit from Africa�s resource endowment.

Become our Advantage Ambassador if you believe that a more organised and literate Africa can leverage its spent to build a new Africa challenged by the future and not intimidated by its past.