| Mohammed Dewji |
|
Dewji in 2017 |
|
Member of Parliament
for Singida Urban |
In office
December 2005 – October 2015 |
| Preceded by |
Jumanne Nguli |
| Succeeded by |
Mussa Ramadhani Sima |
| Personal details |
| Born |
8 May 1975 (age 43)
Ipembe, Singida, Tanzania |
| Nationality |
Tanzanian |
| Political party |
CCM |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Children |
3 |
| Parents |
Gulamabbas Dewji |
| Residence |
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania |
| Alma mater |
Georgetown University |
| Occupation |
Businessman and philanthropist |
| Net worth |
$1.4 billion (February 2018) [1] |
| Website |
mohammeddewji.com [2] |
Mohammed "Mo" Gulamabbas Dewji (born 8 May 1975) is a Tanzanian businessman and former politician. He is owner of MeTL Group, a Tanzanian conglomerate founded by his father in the 1970s. Dewji served as Member of the Tanzanian Parliament for Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) from 2005 to 2015 for his home town of Singida. As of February 2018, Dewji has an estimated net worth of US $1.5 billion [3], therefore positioning him as the 17th richest person in Africa and the continent's youngest billionaire. Dewji is also the first Tanzanian to cover Forbes Magazine in 2013.[4][5]
On 11 October 2018, Dewji was abducted by unknown gunmen in Dar es Salaam, and remains missing. [6][7]
Early life and education[edit]
Dewji was born on 8 May 1975 in Ipembe, Singida.[8] He is the second of six children of Gulamabbas Dewji and Zubeda Dewji.[9] They are part of the group of people with Indian origins in Tanzania who left Gujarat, India, in the late 1800s to become traders in East Africa.[10] 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 Salam, Tanzania.[11]
In 1992 his father enrolled him at the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy in Orlando, Florida, where Dewji also attended Trinity Preparatory School for 11th Grade. Dewji then moved for his last and final year of high school to the Saddle Brooke High School in Florida.[12]
Dewji attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., graduating in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in international business and finance and a minor in theology.[13]
Business[edit]
Upon graduation from university, Dewji returned home and assumed the management of Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited (MeTL), a commodities trading business founded by his father. After two years of working with company, he became Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at MeTL. In the early 2000s, when the Tanzanian government privatized loss-making companies, he acquired them inexpensively and turned them into profit centers by trimming personnel expenses. MeTL Group of Companies is the largest privately ownedconglomerate in Tanzania.[14][15]
Dewji is responsible for increasing MeTL's revenues from $30 million[16] to over $1.5 billion[17] between 1999 and 2018. MeTL Group has investments in manufacturing, agriculture, trading, finance, mobile telephony, insurance, real estate, transport and logistics, and food and beverages. The group is conducting business in 11 countries and employs over 28,000 people with the aim to target over 100,000 people by 2021. MeTL's operations contribute ~3.5% of Tanzania’s GDP.[18]
According to Forbes, Dewji has an estimated net worth of US$1.54 billion (2018), and is the 17th richest person in Africa[19] and Africa's youngest billionaire (2018). He was the first Tanzanian on the cover of Forbes Magazine, in 2013[20] and has been featured on three separate occasions. November 2015, Dewji was recognized as the Forbes Africa person of the year[21] In his acceptance speech, he dedicated the award to the youth of Tanzania.[22]
Politics[edit]
Former President of Tanzania, H.E. Jakaya Kikwete and Mohammed Dewji during a political rally in 2010.
In 2000, Tanzania hosted its second multiparty elections where Dewji, at the age of 25 competed to become the Member of Parliament (MP) for Singida Urban. Despite winning the preliminary votes for the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) with overwhelming majority, Dewji was deemed too young to hold the parliamentary seat.[by whom?]
Tanzania held its third multi-party elections in October 2005 and 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.[23] Dewji served for ten years before resigning from politics in October 2015.[24]
Philanthropy[edit]
Mohammed Dewji is known for his commitment to the advancement of Tanzaniamost notably in Singida where he improved the number of people with access to clean water from 23% to 75% during his tenure as MP.
Dewji established the Mo Dewji Foundation in 2014, with the goal of alleviating Tanzanian citizens from poverty and hardship. The focus of his charitable activities covers education, health and community development projects acrossTanzania. Dewji has spent more than US$3 million on projects that have directly improved the lives of Tanzanians.[25]
Dewji joined the Giving Pledge, an effort to help address society's most pressing problems by inviting the world's wealthiest individuals and families to commit to giving more than half of their wealth to philanthropy either during their lifetime or in their will.[26] Dewji is the first Tanzanian and one of the three Africans that have made the pledge in this group of 150+ billionaires, including Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg, Strive Masiyiwa and Patrice Motsepe.[27]
Honours and awards[edit]
Personal life[edit]
In 2001, Dewji married Saira, his high school sweetheart with whom he has three children[36] together and reside in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Dewji is a Shia Muslim from the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Jamat as known as the 'Twelvers' sect.[12]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Dewji
