Mr. Mohammed Dewji
Mr. Mohammed Dewji is the youngest billionaire in Africa. In talking with him, I learned a lot of fascinating facts about him, his life, and his dreams for the future of Africa.
While running several businesses with 36,000 employees, he wakes up around 4:45 am to pray and exercise. He runs about 40/50 km every week, and makes sure she has lunch with his mother every day. He has a clear vision of how Africa can continue to grow at a fast pace and be the next prominent power in the world. Below is an excerpt of my interview with him earlier this year.
Maya: I thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk with you. The goal for my interview with you today is to learn about your background and your personal life as well as about your perspective about the present and future of Africa. So first tell me a little bit about your childhood, your motivation, your role models, and what made you be what you are now?
Mr. Dewji: I was born in Singida which is a small town in the central part of Tanzania. I then moved to Arusha, which is a larger town, so that I can receive a better education. I lived there with my grandmother until I was in 7th grade. Finally, I moved to Dar-es-Salam and attended the International School of Tanganyika (IST), where I had the chance to meet other students from around the world. For my 11th grade, I moved to the US and attended Trinity Prep of Florida in the suburbs of Orlando.
During my senior year, I was a keen golfer and thought about becoming a professional player. However, I realized that I wasn’t going to make it in golf because it was too competitive. I decided instead to focus on finance and business. I moved to Washington DC and attended Georgetown University, with a major in finance and a minor in theology. I remember I studied everything from Christian ethics to Buddhism to Islamic thoughts, to Jewish mysticism.
Maya: Who would you consider as your biggest role model through all those years of attending so many different schools?
Mr. Dewji: I think my biggest role model was my dad. He introduced me to business when I was a very young boy. He took me to China when I was eleven years old and exposed me to a whole new world. It was a vastly different China then (1986) than it is now. He got me excited about business and so every summer and every Christmas holiday, I joined him to watch him run his business. I kept on coming and working for him even when I was doing my undergraduate studies. Eventually, I decided to join his business.
Maya: So now that I know about your life’s experiences and about your dad as your role-model, I am curious to know what you would consider as some of your biggest challenges? What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome?
Mr. Dewji: The challenge I had as a child was to move from a tiny town to a large town like Arusha, and then move to an international school in the Capital. I constantly had to learn to adapt to new environments and make new friends. The bigger challenge for me was moving to the US by myself. I initially did not know anybody and had to learn to adjust to a whole new world. My situation was particularly tough in high school in the sense that I didn’t have much guidance at all. Today you have guidance counselors to help you with making decisions about your career. Back then, I was thinking of getting a scholarship and playing golf but was not sure if I could make it to the top of this sport. Then one day I said, “Forget golf, let me focus on finance.” And then of course Georgetown gave me the biggest exposure to people in my life. So the challenging part was moving around the whole time, and being on my own – without having a person who could guide me at each step of the way.
Maya: I totally understand. I definitely understand that adapting to new environments is never easy. Please now tell me a little bit about your family and kids.
Mr. Dewji: I have three children ages 12, 16, and 18. I prefer not to talk too much about my kids. Because I’m a public figure, I don’t want to expose them too much.
Maya: No problem. I definitely understand. But if you don’t mind, please tell me about your daily routine.
Mr. Dewji: I usually wake up in the morning around 4:45 am and start my day with a prayer. I then go to the gym and do some intensive aerobic exercises. Then I go home, shower, and wear my suit and go to work. I receive between 500-700 emails every day and usually respond to the important ones early in the morning. I then run back to back meetings most of the day. With projects in so many different cities and countries, I need to constantly keep up with budgets, finances, market fluctuations, auditors, and various engineering projects. Of course I take a break where I go back to the gym and do weights. I enjoy spending 30-35 minutes having lunch with my mom before I go back to the office again. I do work a lot. As you may know, I run an organization that employs around 36,000 people. Our revenue has jumped to 1.5 billion over the years. To be successful in Tanzania is difficult because per capita income per person is $1,100 a year; this means every person has about $50 disposable income a month. The challenge for my business is to target this small disposable income. So I have focused my business projects around things people need every day, including manufacturing food, the transport industry, and clothing. We cannot be selling high tech platforms. You know today 95% of billionaires are in high-tech fields. But I wanted to target the bottom of the pyramid in order to be successful in Africa.
Maya: It looks like your hard work has definitely paid off. It is wonderful that you are so successful. I am curious to know what you consider to be the most important factor for success.
Mr. Dewji: Success requires hard work and having a vision. You must have a plan of how you’re going to execute your goals. Many people have a lot of ideas, but are not necessarily successful. The problem is that ideas aren’t that important, so we need to build a good team and execute well and in a timely fashion.
I think I got this work ethic from my dad. He was a hardworking man and he pushed us when we were younger. Some of my work ethic is also related to playing sports. Competitive sports teach you how to win and how to lose; you need to keep your head up and move forward. I feel God also helps me a lot. A lot of prayers from my mother and my younger siblings who have a high respect for me always open new doors for me.
Finally, I surround myself with people I trust. For example, my sister, Ms. Fatema Dewji, is director of marketing and my brother, Mr. Hussein Dewji, is director of sales. My other brother, Mr. Hassan Dewji, is director of Human Resources. There are also many other bright and strong people around me who support me and help me execute. I have learned that one big thing is to surround yourself with the right people.
Success also comes at a price. When you run an organization this big you definitely make compromises. Compromises with family, compromises with children, compromises with friends, compromises with personal life.
Maya: Now that I have learned about your past and present life, I would love to learn about any dreams you are still chasing.
Mr. Dewji: We are actually growing into about 8 different countries in east central Africa including Mozambique, Rwanda, Madagascar, Uganda, and Kenya. Big regional expansion plans are all underway. Of course we’ve been taken back with the covid situation. Our progress has been just delayed a little, but will continue well. All in all, the hunger is still there but the appetite is reduced a little.
The future of Africa is bright. Africans are some of the best people in the world. I’m originally Indian. My family immigrated from India over 100 years ago but being elected a members of parliament show that you don’t have any racial tension between minorities here in this country. I believe Africa is the land of opportunity. It is the fastest growing in terms of population growth. I think we’ll have a billion or so people in the next 20 years. The population is young. We have a vast amount of natural resources. We have got land, we’ve got coal, oil, gas. These are all good things for success. But of course we also have some countries that have issues of corruption. Not in Tanzania; here we have more accountability and checks and balances than many other countries in Africa. Throughout Africa, new younger leaders are passionate about growing their economy and reducing poverty. They are fighting corruption and promoting transparency and individual freedom. And it is working.
To grow faster, Africa needs more capital; we have natural resources but to get to natural resources we need capital. And we are running behind in terms of infrastructure, healthcare, education, and water accessibility. We hope to get more of the Western investors to come and help us grow faster.
Maya: Very interesting. So how do you think Africa will change in the next 20 years?
Mr. Dewji: In 20 years, I believe there will be more checks and balances, stronger institutions, and a clear separation between different branches of government. This will attract foreign investment. Because the population is increasing, you’re talking about more than a billion, you can look at Africa as a perfect place to see growth and development.
I believe that we have the manpower, the natural resources, and the market. So things are going to change and change will be for the better. I feel that somebody wants to invest in Africa, now is a good time to invest.
Maya: Yeah, I definitely see where you’re coming from and I agree a lot Africa has so much in store for it and taken the right way it can be really powerful. So now I know your thoughts on Africa, is there any advice you would give to someone my age to be the way you are now?
Mr. Dewji: You appear to be a lot smarter than would be expected for a 14-year-old. You also seem to be quite calm and a good clear thinker. If you are interested in working in Africa, you can consider joining the UN or UNICEF, they’re doing an amazing job in Africa.
If you are interested in investment or philanthropy, you can create impact investments in Africa. If you are interested in the economy, you can focus on statistics in Africa and help us with exact data so that we can make the right decisions. You need to do what you feel in your heart and what inspires you.
Maya: Thank you so much. I learned so much, and it’s such an honor to speak with you for so long.
I will definitely be in touch with you in the future.