Mr Agha Hasan Abedi, the founder and President of Bank of Credit and Commerce International, was arguably at the forefront of early work in constructing a unifying goal of the less economically developed countries, the Global South, that might challenge the domination of the developed countries, the Global North, in the world order.
Mr Agha Hasan Abedi, the founder President of Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), who built the bank into an international financial force, shared a deep concern for the economic conditions and development in the underdeveloped countries that were crippled economically under colonialism. He was a pioneer banker dedicated to creating BCCI as a bank that would use part of its profits to alleviate poverty in the Third World countries, the 'Third World' in short, or the 'South', now referred to as the 'Global South'.
In 1978 the Third World Foundation was established as a charitable organisation in London, United Kingdom. Mr Agha Hasan Abedi was the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. The Foundation was funded by BCCI to promote collaboration among South | Third World countries on economic, social, environmental, cultural, and technical issues.
The Third World, interchangeably referred to as the 'South', was a term often used to identify lower-income under- developed countries or developing countries, that included emerging economies in countries like China, India and Brazil, on one side, and the developed or industrialised countries of the 'North', reflecting the North-South divide.
The term 'Global South' was introduced as a more open and value free alternative to "Third World" and similar potentially "valuing" terms like developing countries. This was known as the South-South Cooperation (SSC), a "political and economical term that refers to the long-term goal of pursuing world economic changes that mutually benefit countries in the 'South' and lead to greater solidarity among the disadvantaged in the world system.
The radical thought behind the establishment of the Third World Foundation was that through South-South Cooperation, the countries within the 'South' would expand their relations and assist each other for mutual benefit in social, political, and economical development, radically altering the world system to reflect their interests and not just the interests of the 'North' in the process.
- South - South Cooperation Banquet, Harare, Zimbabwe, 12 November 1985 - Toast Proposed by Mr Agha Abedi, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Third World Foundation in honour of His Excellency Comrade Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe
The conferences on South-South Cooperation, lectures, seminars, exhibitions, publications, the Third World Prize and the concept of the Third World Bank, promoted by the Third World Foundation addressed the major development challenges of the South such as debt, colonialism, poverty, disease, and environmental issues.
The work of the Third World Foundation ceased with the controversial and abrupt closure of BCCI on 5 July 1991.