The quiet tycoons powering Africa’s rise
IN SOME WAYS Mo Dewji is an anomaly. The charismatic tycoon is currently the only billionaire in east Africa, and the youngest on the continent. By the reticent standards of Africa’s corporate titans, the 51-year-old is comfortable in the limelight. Mr Dewji readily gives interviews, including recently to The Economist. He posts frequently to over 2m followers on X. Mr Dewji owns MeTL Group, (X/moodewji) In other respects Mr Dewji, who owns MeTL Group, a Tanzanian conglomerate founded by his father in the 1970s, is typical. Most large African firms fit this mould of diversified, family-owned businesses. Domestic champions are on the rise. “We are starting to see bigger and bigger conglomerates controlled by Africans,” says Acha Leke, McKinsey’s chairman for Africa. The consultancy says two-thirds of companies on the continent with annual revenues exceeding $1bn are now locally owned and headquartered; the subsidiaries of foreign multinationals that once dominated African business account for barely 30%. Large domestic conglomerates have accompanied industrial growth everywhere from Gilded Age America to post-war South Korea and contemporary India. …
