Rostam tops Tanzania’s Richest list- Forbes

Rostam Azizi, Reginald Mengi and Mohammed ‘Mo’ Dewji

TANZANIA takes the lead as the country with the most newcomers in the Forbes Africa's 50 Richest 2013 with three entrants according to data released by the financial publication.Rostam Azizi, Reginald Mengi and Mohammed ‘Mo’ Dewji while Salim Bakhresa features on the list of Africa’s richest bringing Tanzania’s total entrants to four.

The wealthiest newcomer to Forbes’ list of Africa’s 50 Richest is Algerian-born food tycoon Issad Rebrab, who debuts with a fortune estimated at $3.2 billion. Rebrab is the founder of Cevital, a majority family-owned company that produces sugar, vegetable oil and margarine. Cevital also owns steel manufacturing and distribution assets.

Rostam Azizi is the richest man in Tanzania with a fortune that Forbes pegs at $1 billion.  Key assets include a 35% stake in Vodacom Tanzania, the largest mobile phone company in Tanzania, with over 9.5 million subscribers; Caspian Mining, a contract-mining outfit; and a minority interest in a Tanzanian container terminal controlled by Hutchison Whampoa  (which is in turn controlled by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing). Azizi also owns real estate in Dubai and Oman.

Reginald Mengi is Africa’s second richest media mogul after South Africa’s Koos Bekker. Mengi’s privately held IPP Group owns 11 prominent national newspapers, three television stations and ten radio stations. Other assets include gold mines, several mining concessions and a Coca-Cola bottling plant. He is worth $550 million by FORBES estimates.

Mohammed ‘Mo’ Dewji is one of Africa’s most successful young businessmen. He is the CEO of METL, a large Tanzanian conglomerate with activities in distribution, textiles, manufacturing, agriculture and real estate. His father, Gulam Dewji, started it as a commodities trading business. After Mo finished studying business at Georgetown University, he returned home and took the reins of the business, transforming it into a manufacturing player. He is also a Member of Tanzania’s parliament and has a net worth estimated at $500 million.

As of November 2013, Said Salim Bakhresa had a net worth of $500 million. He founded and chairs the Bakhresa Group, a conglomerate that employs over 2,000 people and has interests in grain milling, beverages, packaging, ferry services and petroleum trading. Bakhresa dropped out of school at 14 to sell a potato mix, then opened a small restaurant and later moved into grain milling. The Citizen could not independently verify these figures.