British South Africa Company

The British South Africa Company was chartered in 1889 following the merger of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association with the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, two firms that had competed to capitalise on the expected mineral wealth of Mashonaland before uniting over shared economic interests and to secure British government backing. It received a royal charter modelled on that of the British East India Company, and its first directors included the 2nd Duke of Abercorn, Rhodes himself, and the South African financier Alfred Beit. Rhodes intended the company to promote colonisation and economic exploitation across much of south-central Africa as part of the Scramble for Africa, with his main focus south of the Zambezi in Mashonaland and the coastal areas to its east, and in the Transvaal. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/