WHAT IS THE ABDF LTD

The ABDF (Afrikan Business Development Fund) Ltd is a wholly Afrikan owned company limited by shares with a mission to:

‘To stimulate and activate economic prosperity in the Afrikan community in accordance with the guiding principles of Ma’at’.

These principles are:

TRUTH, RIGHTEOUSNESS, JUSTICE, HARMONY, BALANCE, NATURAL ORDER and RECIPROCITY.

The ABDF has been in existence for over 10 years (founded November 1996) – initially as an unincorporated association and since 2001 as a limited company. It has over one hundred members and has invested in property; established a company in Ghana involved in road haulage, invested in an Afrikan owned business, and has built strong links with similar organisations in the UK and abroad.

WHAT IS OUR VISION?

‘To make a significant contribution to creating a world in which all Afrikan people enjoy a high quality of life’.

This is our long term commitment which we will achieve through our close adherence to our mission and aims whilst we hold a firm commitment to being inspired, directed and informed by the Afrikan principles of Ma'at. This is what we feel will set us apart from others: being consciously experimental, seeking to learn as we go along how the principles affect how we work, as well as who we work with and how we assess our outcomes. We invite you to come on this journey of Afrikan wealth creation with us, where we are open to learning and doing and being in ways that enrich our community.

WHAT ARE OUR AIMS?

• To generate wealth for our shareholders by conducting business on their behalf within the Afrikan community as far as possible

• To increase the financial literacy of our membership and the wider Afrikan community.

• To participate in investment opportunities e.g. property and new and existing Afrikan businesses

• To build trust amongst Afrikan people in the handling of our economic affairs.

• To bring together Afrikan businesses and business associations and networks, locally, nationally and internationally.

WHAT ARE OUR PRINCIPLES?

The ABDF Ltd has, as its guiding principles, the ancient Afrikan virtues of MA’AT. MA’AT is associated with seven cardinal virtues, the keys to human perfectibility: Truth, Righteousness, Justice, Reciprocity, Balance, Harmony and Natural Order. The symbolic representation of MA’AT is as a female figure wearing an ostrich feather as a head-dress and carrying an ankh and a flail. She is also often represented by the foundation stone upon which the Creator stands to bring forth, which shows that these seven virtues are those that are the basis for Creation or Creativity. She is also depicted as her scales, upon which the heart is judged by being weighed against her feather. This is in recognition of the role of Maat in the transformational ascent of human to the realm of the Divine.

In practical terms, so far, this means that:

• Each member (shareholder) has the right to exercise a vote in respect of the company’s affairs that require a decision by the shareholders and each vote shall carry equal weight.

• No shareholder will acquire greater rights than any other shareholder by virtue only of their shareholding in the company

• The company will seek to invest ethically and will be ethically minded in its dealings with its membership, businesses, organisation, the community and the environment.