Mohammed Dewji holds a number of impressive titles including being the youngest African billionaire (Image: Getty)
has released its Billionaires 2024 Rich List with some interesting results.
Africans’ net worths were calculated using currency exchange rates and stock prices after the close of business on January 8, 2024. The majority of billionaires were in the 60-90 age range category.
One business magnate, however, earned the coveted title of being the youngest among the continent’s billionaires with his impressive £1.44billion ($1.8billion) net worth.
At only 48, Mohammed Dewji lives in an African country loved by many .
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Mohammed Dewji lives in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which is an African spot loved by many tourists (Image: Getty)
Mr Dewji is a former politician and chief executive of a conglomerate known as Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited (MeTL).
The company was founded by his grandmother and later developed by his father in the 1970s, working in the flour milling, textile manufacturing, beverages and edible oils company industries.
Mr Dewji was born to humble beginnings in Singida, . Thanks to his family’s shop, which later became a thriving import-export company, wealth soon trickled to him.
He later enrolled at the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy in Orlando, Florida, and later attended Georgetown University in Washington DC, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in international business and finance and a minor in theology.
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Mohammed Dewji is the richest person in East Africa, as well as being the richest person in Tanzania (Image: Getty)
Upon graduation, Mr Dewji returned to Tanzania and assumed the management of MeTL. It later became so successful it began operating in 10 other African countries including Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya.
Mr Dewji is Tanzania’s only billionaire and Africa’s 17th-richest, including being the youngest billionaire.
Alongside his numerous accolades, Mr Dewji was also the first Tanzanian to appear on the cover of Forbes magazine in 2013.
Proving to be a hit, he appeared on three occasions thereafter, including for Forbes Africa, which recognised Mr Dewji as its Person of the Year back in 2015.
In 2018, Mr Dewji was abducted and kidnapped by gunmen but was fortunately released nine days later.
Today, he is married to his high school sweetheart Saira. The couple have had three children.
In 2016, he signed the Giving Pledge, a promise to donate at least half his fortune to philanthropic causes. With his impressive wealth, that will undoubtedly be a lot.
Since the inaugural Forbes Africa Rich List in 2011, Mr Dewji has been ranked as the richest in East Africa and Tanzania an impressive 11 times.
In 2024, Mr Dewji was the 1,764th richest person in the world, the richest in East Africa, and the richest person in Tanzania.