The Age of Explorers / Imperialists in Africa

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CECIL RHODES:
He is greatly known  as a founder  of the British  South African  Company. He was born  in England and was forced out of his homeland by health problems.  He reached South Africa in 1870 at the age of 17 years.  As a youth, he settled with his elder brother  in Natal  and later started a private mining business in Kimberly in his adulthood.
He facilitated  the formation  of the De Beers  consolidated  mining  companies.  After  the growth  of  his  business   and  acquiring   some  financial  banking   from  powerful   British capitalists  which  enabled him to join  Barney Bamato  and formed  the De Beers company in  1889. By  1890, these  two businessmen   had controlled  most  of the diamond  fields  in Kimberley.
Cecil  Rhodes  regarded   money  as  a means  to achieve  political   power.  His overriding motive was to annex African territories  that .stretched  between  Cape Town to Cairo which
made him popular and in 1890, he was made a Prime Minister  of the Cape Province.
Cecil Rhodes outplayed  the Boers of South Africa from taking over the independence  of Ndebele.  In July  1887  President  Paul  Kruger  sent  a representative   Pieter  Grobler  who persuaded  chief Lobengula   in signing  of Groblyf Treaty  and  recognition   of  the  Boer republic as their, supremacy.  When Cecil Rhodes learnt of this, he imagined the flop of his dream of connecting  Cairo and Cape Province. He quickly sent Moffat who signed another treaty with Lobengula  in the famous  18&7.~offat  treaty where  Lobengula  repudiated  the terms of Grobler Treaty  and promised  the Ndebele protection  by British. This was made
official in the 1888 Rudd concession.
He was instrumental  in the signing of the Rudd concession  in . 1888::This came as a result of the 1886 gold discovery at Witwatersrand  in South Africa, which made Cecil Rhodes to develop an interest  of extending  British  rule beyond  South African  reg,io.n. It was called
Rudd  concession   because  Cecil  Rhodes   had  sent his  delegate   Charles   Rudd  to Sign a treaty with  chief  Lobengula   of the  NdebeJe   to grant  the  British  mineral   exploitation    right  in the area.
The  main  Important   pr W1SIon of the  treaty  was  that  Lobengula was  to receive   100 pounds per month   and  1000 lines   in exchange    of  granting   Cecil   Rhodes   right   of  mining  In his territory   and  in areas  of Mashonaland.
Cecil   Rhodes   led to colonisation    of  Barotseland    through   two  successive    treaties   i.e.  The Lewanika    Lochner  Treaty  of  1890,  signed  between   Lewanika   and  BSA  Co.represented    by frrank Lochner  a former   officer   of Bechuanaland     Police   The  company   delayed   to appoint
a resident   In Barotseland    because   of  British   involvement    in  1893  Ndebele   war  and  1895 Jameson  Raid.
Lewanika decided to denounce this treaty but eventually    in  1897  BSA   Co.  appointed Robert   Corvndon    and  Lewanika Coryndon        Treaty    was   reached    in   1898  that   saw  the Barotseland recognition of the british rule . indirect rule administration    was  established   under a firm collaboration    with  Lewanika.  Coryndon   s headquarters    were  established   at Sesheke.
To  protect   his  treaties  and  other  businesses    in Central  Afnca,  he  formed   the British   South African   Company,    which   was  granted   a royal  charter   in  1889  hence   paving   way   for  the imperial    designs    of  Cecil   Rhodes.    This   charter   empowered     the  British   South   Afncan Company to   undertake     the  administration     and   development      of   the   area    between Bechwanaland and  liver  Zarnber,   which  late- came  to bear  the  name  Rhodesia.
He  was  the   founder    of  the pioneer    column    force.   This  assisted    him   in   conqueing
Mashonaland where  he expected   more  mineral   deposits.
His force   comprised   of  200  white settlers  and   500  British    South    African    Company policemen.    Nearly  all of them  were  recruited   from  the white  settlers   living  In South  Afnca and  Central  African regions.    It  was   Important    as  far  as  the  extension     of  the  British Colonial   rule  in Central and  South  Africa  was  concerned.
He is remembered    to have  had  an  upper   hand   in the  aborted   Jameson   raid  in Transvaal Republic,    After  detectmg    the  presence    of  minerals    in  the  Boer   republic,    Cecil   Rhodes attempted    to  extend   the  British  rule  in the  Boer  Republic   of  Transvaal    headed   by  Paul Kruger  at the  time.  It was  called  the Jameson   raid  because  Jameson   was  the  commander   of the   troops   that  attacked    the  Boer   land   and   lost   war  at  the  hands   of  the  mighty    Boer soldiers.   This  raid  took  place  in  1895 which  left  Bntain   humiliated   internationally;    a factor that  made  the Bntish   to doubt  the capacity   of Cecil  Rhodes  to manage   the colonial  work  in the area  hence  the beginning   of his downfall.
The  failure   of  Jameson   raid  also  resulted   in the  straining   of  the  Anglo-Boer    relations   in South  Africa  that  came  to climax   in  1899  at the  beginnmg   of the  second   Anglo-Boer    war between   1899 and  1902.