How Mohammed Dewji Became the Youngest Billionaire in Africa

 How Mohammed Dewji Became the Youngest Billionaire in Africa

The story of how Mohammed Dewji, a Tanzanian man became the youngest billionaire in Africa with a net worth of $1.6 billion dollars as at the time of writing this article is not one of rags to riches. Dewji might have been privileged but it is of no doubt that becoming the youngest billionaire in Africa is no mistake as he has maintained this position for 6 years straight.

Who is Mohammed Dewji

Mohammed Dewji fondly called Mo is a Tanzanian man born on the 8th of May, 1975. He owns MeTL Group. Although, the group of company was founded by his father in the 70s, Dewji later became the CEO. He also served as member of parliament for Singida Urban for almost a decade under the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party. His time in office spanned from 14 December 2005 to 9 July 2015. Although the richest youth on the African continent, he prides himself as the 17th richest overall in Africa and the only billionaire in Tanzania as reported by Forbes Africa. He was the first person in Tanzania to cover Forbes magazine in 2013.

Mohammed Dewji: Early life

Dewji was born on the 8th of May, 1975 in Ipembe, Singida, Tanzania. His family's origin can be traced to India. It is believed that his ancestors migrated to East Africa as traders in the late 18th century. The second of 6 children born to 

Gulamabbas Dewji and Zubeda Dewji who were not rich at the time Dewji was born. According to him in an interview, his birth was a miraculous one as he did not make it to the hospital. He further revealed that the umbilical cord was around his neck which made it difficult for him to come out. His dad started an import and export business few years after Dewji's birth. His elementary education was in Arusha at the Arusha Primary School and his secondary education at the International School of Tanganyika (IST) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Before Dewji completed his secondary education, his dad's import and export business had began to thrive. This made it possible for him to be enrolled at the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy (APGA) Orlando, Florida in 1992. He also attended Trinity Preparatory School for 11th Grade in Florida. He later traveled to finish his high school education in Saddle Brook high school, New Jersey. His tertiary education was completed in 1998 at the Georgetown University where he graduated with bachelors in International business and finance.

What is MeTL?

It is an acronym that stands for Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited. It is the largest group of company privately owned in Tanzania. This company was founded by Dewji's dad. Although after graduating from Georgetown University, he went back to his home country, Tanzania to join the company. After working in the company for 2 years, he assumed the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO), a strategic position which will test his business acumen. Eventually, in the year 2000, Tanzanian government privatized certain failing companies. Dewji saw this as an opportunity to amass wealth for MeTL. He bought these companies and revamped them. Between the years 1999 to 2018, Dewji expanded the company's revenue from $30 million dollars to $1.5 billion dollars. MeTL has investments in Agriculture, transportation, trading, insurance, real estate, manufacturing, mobile telephone, food and beverages, to name a few. This company contributes about 3.5% to Tanzania's GDP.

Some Fun Facts about Dewji

1. He is the President of MeTL.

2. He was kidnapped at gunpoint in Dar es Salaam on the 11th of October, 2018 after arriving the colosseum hotel where he had gone for a work out. He drives alone with no security detail. He was released with no ransom paid on the 20th of October, 9 days later. The political and media pressure was responsible for his release as his kidnappers were terrified at the campaign.

3. He is Tanzania's only billionaire in US dollars at the time of writing this article.

4. He swore an oath in 2016 to part away with half of his wealth to philanthropy inspired by Bill Gates Initiative.

5. He retired from Tanzania's parliament in 2015 after completing two terms.

6. He owns a football club.

16 Quotes of Mohammed Dewji

1. A healthy body is a healthy mind.

2. Wealth is a step by step process.

3 You cannot have success without working hard.

4. As you get wealthier, do not increase your standard of living, rather increase your standard of giving

5. Life is very short and when we die, we are all going to be accountable of what we did in this world.

6. Do good. If God gives you wealth, you are an ambassador. You should share it.

7. Your perception of yourself affects your ability to envision success. Focus on the positive and everything will eventually fall into place.

8. How you manage and embrace chaos will always be one of your greatest strength.

9. You can’t focus when you are impatient.

10. Too many people are great at planning, but terrible at execution. Great Ideas die in notebooks.

11. Success will always come to those that put in hard work.

12. With shortcuts, you’ll never truly appreciate your accomplishments in life.

13. Life is too short to get derailed by people that do not contribute to your growth.

15.The time to invest in Africa’s Development is now. We need to seize the opportunities in front of us and make it happen

16. If I had one regret in this life, it’s that I didn’t spend enough time with my family.

Writer's contact information 

Instagram handle  @elijaholuwagbemigga

Email: elijaholuwagbemiga@gmail.com

Phone number: +2348032119397