AL SHARPTON
JF-Expert Member
- Feb 6, 2014
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Mohammed Dewji
After studying business atGeorgetown University, Mohammed ‘MO' Dewji returned to Tanzania, took over his father's commodities trading business and transformed it what he describes as a $1.3 billion (revenues) manufacturing empire . He plans to become the richest man in Africa by 2023.
Since 2003 when he took full control of Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited (METL), a medium-sized commodities trading business his father helped found, Dewji has transformed the company into one of the largest industrial conglomerates in East Africa, with interests in manufacturing, distribution, trading, haulage, storage and real estate, annual revenues he says are $1.3 billion and a workforce of over 20,000 people.
After getting a bachelors degree in International Business and Finance from Georgetown University, ‘Mo', as he is called, got a job on Wall Street where he worked 100-hour weeks and earned roughly $60,000 a year. But 60 grand is hardly enough when you're paying rent in Manhattan and over 30% of your earnings go to Uncle Sam. Within a few months of working in Wall Street, Dewji realized he needed extra financial support from his father.
Dewji is keen on building Africa's biggest conglomerate, and promises he will be the continent's richest man in a few years time. "Just give me 10 years. I'll be the richest man in Africa. Dangote will have nothing on me," he says.
FORBES AFRICA
