Biographies

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Mohammed Dewji – The Richest Man in Tanzania

June 20, 2024

Mohammed Dewji – The Richest Man in Tanzania

Mohammed Dewji (Mo Dewji) is a businessman, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and former politician. He serves as the President of MeTL Group, a Tanzanian conglomerate founded by his father in the 1970s, where he is the majority owner of the business.

Mohammed is single-handedly responsible for increasing MeTL’s revenues from $30 million to over 2 billion between 1999 and 2022. Currently, MeTL group has investments in

Textiles
Energy
Petroleum
Agriculture
Insurance
Mobile telephony
Transport and logistics
Trading
Real estate
Food and beverages (edible oils, milling, carbonated soft drinks, water).

The group conducts business in 8 countries and employs over 34,800 people.

Biography of Mohammed Dewji

Dewji was born on 8 May 1975 in the sleepy town of Singida, central Tanzania but his family’s entrepreneurial genes were already evident. His grandmother ran a small duka (shop) from her home. Breaking bulk and selling small portions at retail prices that most could afford in addition to a motley collection of whatever was needed, from soap to matches to paraffin.

His father, Gulamabbas Dewji took the business up several gears. Importing and exporting an increasing range of commodities like sugar and wheat and soft manufactures like soap and toothpaste. And exporting cashews, maize and other agricultural products.

The senior Dewji also set up a thriving distribution network. He founded MeTL in the 1970s and as the financial lot of the majority began to improve a decade or so after independence in 1961, his business expanded considerably. By the turn of the century MeTL had grown into one of the country’s biggest trading houses, worth around $30m.

But it remained essentially a family business. Mo recalls that from the age of 11, his father began to tutor him into the intricacies of the business. And even took him on extended overseas trips to expose him to the wider world of commerce.

Early life & education

Mohammed Dewji is the second of six children of Gulamabbas Dewji and Zubeda Dewji. They are Twelver Shias whose ancestors left Gujarat, India in the late 1800s to become traders in East Africa.

When Dewji was born, the family was still of modest means. Dewji was born with the help of a neighbouring midwife in a house built from sand and mud. Mohammed Dewji attested that he almost died at birth due to having the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, a condition known as nuchal cord.

By the time Dewji started school, his father had built a family shop into a thriving import-export company. Dewji received his primary education in Arusha at the Arusha Primary School and continued his secondary education at the International School of Tanganyika (IST) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

In 1992 his father enrolled him at the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy in Orlando, Florida to hone his talents and perhaps end up as a professional. After a while, he decided to give up on the idea of professional golf and switched to a regular school in Florida.

Later, he chose the very unlikely combination of international business and finance and theology as his main subjects at Georgetown University, Washington DC. He was employed by a Wall Street firm in New York and enjoyed the lifestyle but found it hard, after paying the high rents and taxes, to make ends meet from his pay-packet.

In an interview with Mfonobong Nsehe, editor-in-chief of Billionaires.Africa, he says he asked his father for financial support. The answer was a firm no. “He said I was chasing pennies in New York and helping the Americans build their economy, whereas there was a family business to run, and fortunes to be made in Tanzania.”

Return to Africa

Mo Dewji’s decision to return home, albeit encouraged by his father, rather than make a new life for himself in the West as many of his and previous generations had done, is significant.

It reflects a steadily growing trend among Africans who have done exceptionally well studying or working in the West. To eschew the stability and personal growth opportunities there and bring their new skills and wider and more ambitious outlooks back to the service of their home countries.

Mo began his career at MeTL in 1999 at the age of 24 and says he went systematically through the grades, from financial director to becoming the President of the company.

Like many of his contemporaries in Africa, he wondered why the industrial revolution that the continent needed so badly and which had been the cornerstone of many government policies was taking so long to materialise.

Why was there so little value addition, why were so many consumer items still being imported? How could Africa get ahead unless it embraced industrialization. Both for domestic consumption and exports?

He drew up plans for an edible oils factory for starters; his father thought the time was not yet ripe to move away from their trading comfort zone but Mo, with his wider perspective was convinced that industrialisation was the way to go.

His golden opportunity

His opportunity came in early 2000 when the government decided to privatize a sheaf of loss-making state-owned companies that had been set up during the country’s socialist phase.

“Essentially, these companies had been run down to bankruptcy because of government inefficiencies and they were eager to sell them at giveaway prices,” he recounted to Billionaires.Africa.

“I took a loan and bought a lot of these sick industrial operations, including [in] soap production, grain milling, rice, and sugar blending. I also went into the edible oil business and textiles.”

He invested heavily in state-of-the-art machinery and modern, vertically integrated management systems. The transformation has been described as ‘miraculous’. From 1999 to 2022, his vision, management and energy took MeTL from $30m to its current value of around $2bn.

The transformation of loss-making, inefficient parastatals into some of the most profitable companies in Africa has been spectacular.

His 21st Century Textiles, for instance, is now the largest textile producer in sub-Saharan Africa. Employing 2,300 people with an output of 100m metres of produced fabric annually.

His food and packaging factories mill 1,250 metric tons of wheat per day and 300 metric tons of maize per day. Accounting for over 25% of the local market share; and his flagship soft drink, Mo Extra accounts for 70% of the carbonated soft drinks market.

He has been setting up factories everywhere in the East and Central African region. And wants to expand his plants’ bottling capacity from the current 1bn to 3.5bn “over the next 24-36 months”, he told CNN.

He has now set his sights on making his part of the world food- secure by applying technology and capital to what he terms “abundant arable land”. He has pledged $200m to a fund specifically dedicated to this end.

Mohammed Dewji Family

In 2001, Mo Dewji married Saira Dewji, his high school sweetheart with whom he has three children. They reside in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Dewji is a Shia Muslim from the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Jamat also known as the ‘Twelver’ branch of Islam.

Mohammed Dewji Companies

Mo Dewji is the owner of MeTL Group, which has investments in the following companies:

MeTL Group
Simba Cement
MeTL Steel
MeTL Flour Mills
MeTL Sugar
MeTL Oil and Gas
MeTL Mobile
MeTL Insurance
MeTL Real Estate
MeTL Transport and Logistics
MeTL Food and Beverages

Mohammed Dewji Net Worth

According to Forbes’ real time net worth, Mo Dewji net worth is $1.8 billion. This makes him the richest man in Tanzania and one of the wealthiest individuals in Africa. His vast wealth comes from his various business interests, including agriculture, insurance, real estate, and steel.

Politics

In 2000, Tanzania hosted its second multiparty elections where Dewji, at the age of 25 contested to become the Member of Parliament (MP) for Singida Urban.
Despite winning the preliminary votes for the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) with an overwhelming majority. Dewji was deemed too young to hold the parliamentary seat.[by whom?]

Tanzania held its third multi-party elections in October 2005. Dewji stood for the parliamentary seat again and was chosen by CCM to stand as a candidate for Singida Urban. In the general election he won with 90% of the votes and was sworn in as an MP for Singida Urban constituency on 29 December 2005.

Residents fondly remember him building schools. Digging wells, improving access to water for farmers, providing scholarships. Rehabilitating mosques and churches, installing street lights. And providing food support during periods of droughts.

Dewji served for ten years before resigning from politics in October 2015. The demands of business and the international travel involved did not leave him sufficient time to carry out his duties as an MP. Nevertheless he set up the Mo Dewji Foundation in 2014 to carry on the charity work.

His Ordeal with Kidnappers

Life and business rolled along remarkably smoothly for Mohammed Dewji as he made the cover of African Business and Forbes magazines among others. Collecting handfuls of awards for his contribution to business from organizations around the world. Until on one fateful day in 2018, everything seemed to change.

At approximately 5:35 am on 11 October 2018, Dewji was kidnapped and abducted by armed gunmen outside the Colosseum Hotel in Dar es Salaam, where he was arriving for a morning workout. He had been a familiar figure around Dar es Salaam. Exchanging jokes and greetings with passers-by as he jogged his regulation five miles every dawn.

The kidnappers allegedly fired shots into the air before kidnapping Dewji and driving off with the billionaire. Despite Dewji’s wealth, he did not commonly travel with a security detail, and had driven to the Colosseum gym on his own the morning of the attack.

His kidnapping sent shock waves across the country and was headline news in all major papers until he was finally released.

During his incarceration, millions rallied to the hashtag #bringbackMo and set up collective prayers for his safe release. He says he has never forgotten how “The poorest of the poor stood up for me, they prayed for me. It was unbelievable. It was the best feeling.”

By 13 October, at least 20 people had been arrested in the inquiry over Dewji’s disappearance. On October 15, the family held a press conference, where they offered TSh 1,000,000,000/= (US$440,000) as a reward for information that would lead to his rescue.

His release

At approximately 2:30 am on 20 October, Dewji called his family, saying that he was released at the Gymkhana grounds. At 3:15 am, a tweet was sent out on the METL Twitter account by Dewji, acknowledging his return and appreciation for the Tanzanian people’s support.

In a video release, Police Commissioner Lazaro Mambosasa was seen talking to Dewji, who acknowledged the efforts of the police. Mambosasa clarified that Dewji met them at his house and was not rescued by police.

In a 2019 interview to the BBC Dewji stated that no ransom had been paid. He believes the kidnappers gave up due to the massive media and political attention.

While he was a captive, he says he had ample time to reflect on his life and come to terms with the circumstances he found himself in. “I am very grateful to God for giving me a chance at a new life,” he said and that his priorities had changed. He was no longer driven by the ambition to become more wealthy personally, but to work harder for the common good and give back.

Philanthropy

Dewji established the Mo Dewji Foundation in 2014. In 2016 he joined the Giving Pledge, a movement of philanthropists who commit to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes, either during their lifetimes or in their wills. It was created by Warren Buffet, Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates. Other African pledgers include Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa, Mo Ibrahim and Patrice and Precious Motsepe.

While the kidnapping may have jolted Mohammed Dewji into acknowledging the fragility of life and reassessing his priorities. There is no doubt that a strong streak of community service ran through most of his activities well before the traumatic event.

Dewji is a member of the Shia Ithna Asheri community with its ancestral roots in Kutch and Gujerat in India. The enterprising community has a traditional sense of communal development and responsibility and low-key but generous philanthropy towards all in the country.

Honors and Awards

2012: Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum
2014: 10 Most Powerful Men In Africa, Forbes Magazine
2014: African Philanthropist of the Year Award by the African Leadership magazine
2014: Top 100 of young economic leaders
2015: Philanthropist of the Year Award for the East African region by All Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA)
2015: Business Leader of the Year Award by African Business Magazine
2015: Forbes Africa’s Person Of The Year 2015
2016: Choiseul 100 Africa 2016: Economic Leaders for Tomorrow
2022: Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University

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