Cambridge Commonwealth Trust
BCCI was a major contributor to the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, which was established in October 1982 to enable academically outstanding students from Commonwealth countries to study at the University of Cambridge. The Trust was a Cambridge educational charity rather than a BCCI-controlled institution, but its establishment and early scholarship programme received substantial financial backing from the Bank.
Agha Hasan Abedi, Founder and President of BCCI, served on its board of trustees alongside several internationally prominent figures. These included Lord Callaghan, the former British Prime Minister; Dr Kenneth Kaunda, the first President of Zambia; and Sir Shridath Ramphal, the former Commonwealth Secretary-General. The Trust operated under the chairmanship and patronage of the then Prince of Wales, now King Charles III.
BCCI’s contributions helped finance Cambridge scholarships for students from countries including Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Zimbabwe and China. The arrangement therefore appears to have been more than an occasional charitable donation: BCCI became one of the important external supporters of the Trust’s early international scholarship programme, while Abedi participated personally in its governance as a trustee.
It would nevertheless be more accurate to state that the Trust was established with significant backing from BCCI and other supporters, rather than that it was founded or owned exclusively by BCCI. The Trust was associated with the University of Cambridge and was governed by an independent and distinguished body of trustees.
After Abedi’s illness and resignation
Abedi suffered serious cardiac illness in 1988 and subsequently underwent a heart transplant. His declining health greatly reduced his direct involvement in BCCI’s day-to-day management. Swaleh Naqvi, one of BCCI’s most senior executives and Abedi’s longstanding deputy, assumed the principal executive responsibilities following Abedi’s incapacity. Abedi formally resigned as President and severed his remaining formal connection with the Bank in 1990, during the wider restructuring of the BCCI Group under the majority Abu Dhabi shareholders.
There is no evidence that Abedi’s illness or resignation caused the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust to cease operating. Its scholarship activities continued independently of his personal trusteeship and survived BCCI’s closure in July 1991.
In August 2013, the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust merged with the Cambridge Overseas Trust to create the Cambridge Commonwealth, European and International Trust, generally known today as the Cambridge Trust. The present Trust remains an active educational charity associated with the University of Cambridge and continues to provide scholarships to international students. King Charles III remains its Royal Patron.
The modern Cambridge Trust should therefore be regarded as the institutional successor to the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, although its present funding, governance and scholarship partnerships are much broader and no longer dependent upon BCCI.
The University Archives holds a substantial series titled “Scholarships for students: Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, 1982–1996”, reference: GBR/0265/UA/FB 454/F
Zimbabwe Cambridge Trust
BCCI was also associated with the establishment of the Zimbabwe Cambridge Trust in February 1987. Its purpose was to enable talented young Zimbabweans to undertake postgraduate study at the University of Cambridge. Contemporary accounts indicate that Abedi and Lord Callaghan travelled to Zimbabwe to inaugurate the Trust, demonstrating the importance attached to the initiative by both BCCI and the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust’s leadership.
Abedi and Lord Callaghan served as trustees. Another identified trustee was Professor Walter Kamba, the distinguished Zimbabwean lawyer and academic who was then Vice-Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe. Kamba later held a number of prominent public, academic and legal positions in Zimbabwe and internationally. Records indicate that he served on the Zimbabwe Cambridge Trust from 1987 until approximately 1993.
The available sources do not yet provide a complete original list of trustees. It is possible that other representatives of the University of Cambridge, the Zimbabwean academic community and the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust participated in its administration, but their names should not be stated without further documentary confirmation.
The Zimbabwe Cambridge Trust appears to have been established as a partnership involving BCCI financial support, prominent British and Zimbabwean trustees, and the Cambridge scholarship organisation. It should therefore not be described simply as a BCCI charity. A more precise description would be that it was inaugurated with substantial BCCI backing and with Abedi’s personal participation, for the specific purpose of extending Cambridge postgraduate opportunities to Zimbabwean students.
Present position of the Zimbabwe initiative
The present legal status of the original Zimbabwe Cambridge Trust is less clearly documented than that of the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust. University of Cambridge archives retain a specific institutional file for the Zimbabwe Cambridge Trust dating from 1987, confirming its formal establishment and relationship with the University.
The original Trust does not appear prominently today as a separately operating scholarship organisation under that name. It may have completed its original purpose, become inactive, or had its remaining scholarship arrangements absorbed into the broader Cambridge Trust structure. The current Cambridge Trust’s accounts continue to identify a Zimbabwe LES Fund, supporting students from Commonwealth or African countries under the terms of the relevant funding agreement. However, the presently available records do not conclusively establish that this fund is the direct legal successor to the Zimbabwe Cambridge Trust, and the two should not be treated as identical without confirmation from the Trust’s archives.
Cambridge continues to offer scholarship opportunities for Zimbabwean students through the Cambridge Trust and through partnerships such as the Beit Cambridge Scholarship, which supports applicants from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. These current programmes demonstrate the continuation of the wider educational purpose pursued by the Zimbabwe Cambridge Trust, even though the original trust name is no longer generally used.
Taken together, the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and the Zimbabwe Cambridge Trust illustrate Abedi’s wider view that BCCI’s international presence should be used not only for commercial banking but also to expand access to advanced education for students from developing countries. The initiatives combined BCCI funding with the standing and administrative resources of Cambridge and the participation of respected Commonwealth political and academic figure.
The University Archives catalogue identifies a dedicated file:
Zimbabwe Cambridge Trust, 1987
Reference: GBR/0265/UA/R3972/ /1987
Box 1559