Business & Enterprise
Landmark
Mohammed Dewji
born 1975
Chief executive of MeTL, and Tanzania's best-known businessman
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Tanzania Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
He runs MeTL, a conglomerate spanning agriculture, manufacturing and property that employs tens of thousands of Tanzanians, and is the most prominent businessman in the country.
Mohammed Gulamabbas Dewji took over Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited from his father in the 1990s, having studied in the United States, and turned a trading company into an industrial group.
MeTL manufactures and distributes across agriculture, textiles, flour milling, edible oils, beverages, logistics and property, operates in a string of African countries, and is among the largest private employers in Tanzania with a workforce in the tens of thousands. Its strategy has been deliberately industrial — buying and restarting the plants the state privatised rather than importing finished goods — which is why it is cited in arguments about African manufacturing.
He served two terms as member of parliament for Singida Urban, and has pledged to give away the majority of his wealth, signing the Giving Pledge.
In October 2018 he was kidnapped at gunpoint outside a Dar es Salaam hotel by armed men including, according to witnesses, people in police uniform, and held for nine days before being released unharmed on the outskirts of the city. The case has never been satisfactorily resolved.
MeTL manufactures and distributes across agriculture, textiles, flour milling, edible oils, beverages, logistics and property, operates in a string of African countries, and is among the largest private employers in Tanzania with a workforce in the tens of thousands. Its strategy has been deliberately industrial — buying and restarting the plants the state privatised rather than importing finished goods — which is why it is cited in arguments about African manufacturing.
He served two terms as member of parliament for Singida Urban, and has pledged to give away the majority of his wealth, signing the Giving Pledge.
In October 2018 he was kidnapped at gunpoint outside a Dar es Salaam hotel by armed men including, according to witnesses, people in police uniform, and held for nine days before being released unharmed on the outskirts of the city. The case has never been satisfactorily resolved.
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