Key Factors
- Tanzania’s financial system is booming, with GDP anticipated to develop 6% in 2025, pushed by infrastructure tasks, personal funding, and a robust tourism rebound.
- Mohammed Dewji, Tanzania’s richest individual, leads MeTL Group, a multibillion-dollar conglomerate spanning agriculture, manufacturing, and finance.
- Mohammed Dewji, Rostam Aziz, and Mentioned Bakhresa lead Tanzania’s industrial growth, shaping key sectors like manufacturing, telecom, and vitality.
Tanzania, East Africa’s second-largest financial system, is experiencing a interval of fast development, pushed by a mixture of private-sector growth and main government-led infrastructure tasks.
Whereas typically in comparison with its regional counterpart, Kenya, Tanzania is charting its personal course, attracting world capital into key sectors like manufacturing, banking, telecommunications, agriculture, and tourism. The nation additionally holds a novel distinction—it’s dwelling to East Africa’s solely greenback billionaire, Mohammed Dewji, whose MeTL Group spans industries from agro-processing to client items.
Regardless of financial challenges—from lingering post-pandemic results to fluctuating commodity costs—Tanzania’s financial system has remained resilient. GDP is anticipated to develop by 6 % this yr, supported by a rebound in tourism, large-scale infrastructure developments, and rising personal funding in finance, vitality, and agribusiness.
Behind this financial upswing are the nation’s wealthiest people—industrialists, financiers, and entrepreneurs who’re shaping Tanzania’s future. Mohammed Dewji, Africa’s youngest billionaire, continues to dominate manufacturing and commerce via MeTL Group’s huge operations. Rostam Aziz, recognized for protecting a low profile whereas making high-impact investments, has expanded past telecommunications into vitality, mining, and actual property, solidifying his affect in Tanzania’s industrial sector.
The monetary panorama can also be evolving, with digital banking and fintech improvements making monetary companies extra accessible. Platforms like NALA are streamlining transactions, whereas the Dar es Salaam Inventory Trade (DSE), now valued at Tsh19.22 trillion ($7.38 billion), stays a key driver of capital development and wealth creation.
As Tanzania’s financial system strikes ahead, its strongest enterprise leaders are on the helm—steering investments, reshaping industries, and driving long-term growth. Billionaires.Africa has compiled a definitive rating of the ten richest people in Tanzania, highlighting their investments, affect, and position within the nation’s ongoing transformation.
- Mohammed Dewji
Internet Price: $2.2 billion
Mohammed Dewji, CEO of Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania (MeTL) Group, is Tanzania’s richest man, with a web price of $2.2 billion. He owns a majority stake in MeTL, certainly one of East Africa’s largest industrial conglomerates, working in 11 nations throughout sectors starting from agriculture to monetary companies. Beneath his management, MeTL contributes 3 % of Tanzania’s GDP and generates greater than $2 billion in annual income.
Past enterprise, Dewji is a devoted philanthropist. By way of the Mo Dewji Basis, he funds scholarships and social applications aimed toward enhancing training and healthcare. In 2023, he launched a $4-billion agriculture undertaking, backed by growth banks, to strengthen Africa’s meals safety. The initiative, which may embrace soybean and sugar plantations, goals for long-term returns whereas serving to the continent turn out to be extra self-sufficient in meals manufacturing.
Dewji’s journey to turning into Africa’s youngest billionaire, as named by Forbes in 2015, started with remodeling MeTL from a buying and selling agency into a producing powerhouse. At the moment, the group owns property like twenty first Century Textiles, East Coast Oils and Fat, and A-One Merchandise and Bottlers, cementing his legacy as certainly one of Africa’s most influential enterprise leaders.
- Rostam Aziz
Internet Price: $700 million
Rostam Aziz, Tanzania’s first billionaire, has constructed a various empire spanning telecoms, vitality, aviation, media, and mining. After promoting his 35% stake in Vodacom Tanzania for almost $500 million, he turned his focus to increasing his holdings via Selous LLC, his Dubai-based household workplace.
His telecom property embrace MIC Tanzania, a three way partnership with Malagasy businessman Hassanein Hiridjee’s Axian Group, giving him stakes in Tigo Tanzania and Zantel. In vitality, he owns Taifa Fuel, the nation’s largest LPG distributor, with operations in Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan. He additionally controls Caspian Restricted, Tanzania’s dominant mining contractor, and has pursuits in media, aviation, and conservation. Aziz owns Swahili-language writer New Habari (2006) Ltd., Coastal Aviation, certainly one of Tanzania’s high safari airways, and Wembere Looking Safaris, which manages elite personal searching concessions.
Within the manufacturing sector, his $25-million Taifa Leather-based manufacturing facility in Morogoro is Tanzania’s largest leather-based processor. Whereas he retains a low profile, his strategic investments proceed to form Tanzania’s financial system. Although Forbes final estimated his web price at $900 million in 2015, Billionaires.Africa now values his fortune at $700 million.
- Mentioned Bakhresa
Internet price: $400 million
Mentioned Bakhresa, certainly one of Africa’s most profitable industrialists, constructed his fortune from humble beginnings. He began with a small restaurant within the Seventies and regularly expanded right into a enterprise empire that now spans greater than 40 firms throughout East and Southern Africa.
His flagship firm, Mentioned Salim Bakhresa & Firm Restricted, dominates Tanzania’s wheat milling and logistics sectors. He additionally owns Azam TV, a serious competitor to MultiChoice within the pay-TV market, and AzamPay, a fintech firm driving digital funds in East Africa. His pursuits prolong to hospitality with Resort Verde Zanzibar, in addition to marine and aviation transport via Azam Marine and Azam Aviation.
Forbes final valued his web price at $600 million in 2015, however Billionaires.Africa now estimates it at $400 million. Regardless of the dearth of a current Forbes replace, Bakhresa stays a serious power in Tanzania’s financial system.
- Ally Edha Awadh
Internet Price: $180 million
Ally Edha Awadh, the founder and CEO of Lake Group, has turned his firm into certainly one of East and Central Africa’s fastest-growing vitality and logistics conglomerates. Beginning with a small gas distribution enterprise in 2006, he has since constructed a diversified industrial empire.
Lake Group is a serious participant in petroleum buying and selling, storage, and distribution, with operations in Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, DRC, Rwanda, and Burundi. The corporate owns over 400 tankers and strategically positioned oil storage terminals, reinforcing its affect within the area’s vitality market.
Past vitality, Awadh has expanded into the liquefied petroleum fuel (LPG) sector with Lake Fuel and ventured into manufacturing with Center East Prepared Combine LLC and a metal manufacturing plant. His enterprise pursuits additionally prolong internationally, with investments within the UAE and Canada. From flipping burgers as a pupil in Canada to main a billion-dollar firm, Awadh’s success displays his sharp enterprise acumen.
- Edha Nahdi
Internet Price: $120 million
Edha Nahdi, the Managing Director of Amsons Group, has constructed a stable status in East Africa’s enterprise world, main one of many area’s most diversified conglomerates.
His journey as an entrepreneur began early—at simply 19, he based Camel Oil Tanzania, a petroleum firm that turned the muse for what would later develop into an enormous enterprise empire. Over time, he expanded Amsons Group into petroleum, cement manufacturing, actual property, and logistics, turning it into a serious power in East Africa’s financial system.
A defining second in Nahdi’s profession was the $182-million acquisition of Bamburi Cement, Kenya’s largest cement producer. The deal not solely strengthened Amsons Group’s presence within the development supplies trade but additionally bolstered Nahdi’s affect within the area’s industrial sector. By taking up Bamburi, the corporate secured a dominant place in East Africa’s cement market, benefiting from elevated manufacturing capability and an in depth distribution community.
With Nahdi on the helm, Amsons Group continues to develop, utilizing its various enterprise portfolio to broaden throughout a number of industries. His potential to navigate advanced markets and execute main acquisitions has established him as certainly one of East Africa’s most influential enterprise leaders.
- Seif Ali Seif
Internet Price: $90 million
Seif Ali Seif, the reclusive Tanzanian tycoon behind Tremendous Group, has constructed a sprawling enterprise empire with annual revenues exceeding $200 million. Although he avoids the highlight, his affect is felt throughout a number of industries, together with sugar manufacturing, logistics, and manufacturing.
His firm, Kagera Sugar Restricted, is Tanzania’s third-largest sugar producer, whereas Mtibwa Sugar Property is one other key participant available in the market. His logistics agency, Celebrity Forwarders, operates a fleet of over 200 vans, making certain a robust presence in regional commerce.
Seif additionally has a stake in manufacturing, proudly owning Superdoll Trailer Manufacture, Pipes Industries Co. Ltd., and Superretread Tyres Co. Ltd. His low profile contrasts together with his far-reaching affect on Tanzania’s industrial panorama.
- Michael Shirima
Internet Price: $45 million
Tanzanian entrepreneur Michael Shirima is the founder and key shareholder of Precision Air Providers, one of many nation’s main airways. He began the corporate in 1993 as a small personal constitution service, regularly increasing it right into a full-fledged business airline. At the moment, Precision Air connects main cities in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and past, taking part in an important position in East Africa’s aviation trade.
Because the airline’s largest particular person shareholder, Shirima holds a 42.91% stake. Whereas the corporate has confronted challenges, together with fluctuating gas costs and regulatory hurdles, it stays a necessary a part of Tanzania’s transport community, serving each enterprise and leisure vacationers.
Past aviation, Shirima has prolonged his investments into the commercial sector. He owns a 2.92 % stake in TOL Gases, Tanzania’s main producer and distributor of business and medical gases resembling oxygen, nitrogen, acetylene, and carbon dioxide. The corporate provides important gases to hospitals, beverage firms, and manufacturing industries, making it a key participant within the nation’s healthcare and industrial sectors.
By way of his ventures in each transportation and industrial manufacturing, Shirima has established himself as an influential determine in Tanzania’s enterprise panorama, contributing to the nation’s financial development and infrastructure growth.
- Ketan Patel
Internet Price: $25 million
Ketan Patel, a Tanzanian gold magnate, has established himself as a serious power in East Africa’s mining trade. He’s the founding father of Shanta Gold Restricted, a London-listed gold producer with a robust foothold in Tanzania’s mineral-rich areas. Since its launch in 2001, the corporate has secured exploration licenses overlaying 1,100 sq. kilometers, making it a key participant within the nation’s gold sector.
Patel owns a 4.22 % stake in Shanta Gold, totaling 44,274,017 shares, with an estimated market worth of $8.33 million. His affect within the trade is anchored in Shanta Gold’s flagship operation, the New Luika Gold Mine in southwestern Tanzania, which has persistently delivered tens of 1000’s of ounces of gold yearly. The corporate has additionally expanded its footprint with the Singida Gold Challenge, additional strengthening Patel’s presence within the sector.
Regardless of market fluctuations, Patel stays a driving power in Tanzania’s mining trade, leveraging his experience and strategic investments. Past gold, he has diversified into actual property and personal fairness, additional rising his wealth. With a web price of $15 million, he’s amongst Tanzania’s most distinguished enterprise figures.
- Patrick Schegg
Internet Price: $20 million
Patrick Schegg, a former hedge fund supervisor, is likely one of the most influential traders on the Dar es Salaam Inventory Trade (DSE). With a pointy eye for market alternatives, he has constructed a robust portfolio via strategic stakes in Tanzania’s high monetary establishments, making him a key participant in East Africa’s inventory market.
Schegg owns a 1.94 % stake in CRDB Financial institution, amounting to 50,754,057 shares with an estimated market worth of Tsh38.07 billion ($14.61 million). CRDB, certainly one of Tanzania’s largest banks, has seen robust development in recent times, pushed by an increasing banking sector, elevated digital adoption, and regional growth efforts.
Along with CRDB, Schegg holds a 0.99 % stake in NMB Financial institution, one other main monetary establishment in Tanzania. With these two main holdings, his whole portfolio is valued at $23.5 million, reinforcing his standing as one of the crucial important personal traders on the DSE.
Although he retains a low public profile, Schegg’s funding strikes mirror a deep understanding of Tanzania’s monetary sector. His confidence within the nation’s banking trade speaks via his holdings, positioning him as a serious power available in the market.
- 10. Hans Aingaya Macha
Internet price: $15 million
Hans Aingaya Macha is certainly one of Tanzania’s wealthiest traders and a key participant on the Dar es Salaam Inventory Trade. He has gathered his fortune by strategically investing in high-growth firms, significantly within the monetary sector.
Macha holds a 1.3-percent stake in CRDB Financial institution, proudly owning 32,764,200 shares, making him certainly one of its largest particular person shareholders. He additionally has a two-percent stake in Maendeleo Financial institution, a monetary establishment that helps micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in Tanzania.
By way of these investments, Macha has strengthened his place in Tanzania’s banking sector. His monetary affect continues to develop, with Billionaires.Africa estimating his web price at $15 million.
