Mohamed “Mo” Gulamabbas Dewji is the richest man in Tanzania. The only dollar billionaire was born in Singida. He has a net worth of $1.5 billion.
Between 2005 and 2015, he served as a member of parliament for two terms under the Chama Cha Mapinduzi political party.
Mo Dewiji is the owner of Mohamed Enterprises Tanzania Limited (MeTL) which in turn operates more than 126 businesses in textile, edible oils, flour milling, trading, detergents, bicycles, sugar, seeds, palm oil, cotton, sisal, tea, logistics, real estate, soap production, maize, rice, and beverages. The company is engaged in commodity trading.
MeTL owns over 40 manufacturing industries in 11 countries. The company has a mission to become a leading provider of essential goods across Africa. They own 40 depots across Tanzania and contributes 5 percent of Tanzania’s Gross Domestic Product.
Mohamed has been setting up factories everywhere in Tanzania. He has also built schools, drilled wells, installed street lights provided food support and scholarships to children in Tanzania.
MeTL owns a total of 8,000 hectares of tea farms. Out of which 2,350 hectares of tea plantations named Tukuyu Tea Estates and . They also have additional 1,200 hectares of tea under contract farming by small scale farmers. At least 95% of all the tea produced by the billionaire is exported through Mombasa auction or directly. His tea factories have a processing capacity of 250,000 kilos of green leaf every day.
Tea factories owned by Mo Dewji:
- Chivanjee
- Arc Mountain
- Dindira
In 2014, MeTL announced that they produce four(4) million kilos of tea every year. That is a lot of tea from one company.
Sisal Farms
MeTL runs 11 sisal farms which covers 34,500 hectares of land. Together they produce 10,000 metric tonnes of sisal every year. The company process sisal leaves into fibre. Sisal waste is used to produce electricity. The 21st Century Holdings Limited is Mo Dewiji’s sisal milling company. The company produces ropes, yarns and twines for the market. They are used to make floor coverings and carpets among other products.
The billionaire acquired TPM Ltd in 1998 which is a factory focused on production of sisal bags. These bags are used for packaging agricultural commodities all over Tanzania. The company produces 10 million sisal bags every year. They also export the bags to other countries.
Tanzania is the second largest producer of sisal in the world. Brazil is number one. The plant is nick named “white gold”. The crop is well adapted for hot and dry environments. Sisal is quickly replacing fiberglass in auto industry.
Sugar business
MeTL aims to produce 1 million metric tonnes of refined sugar per year from sugarcane grown in Tanzania. Mo Dewji’s group of companies is in the process of acquiring 25,000 hectares of land to establish their sugarcane plantation. They also plan to set up a sugar refinery in Tanzania.
Cashews nuts
Mo Cashews plant was established in 2002 and it is located in Dar es Salaam. The company supports more than 1,000 farmers and employs 450 people.
Milling Factories
The 21st Century Food and Packaging Limited have a total of 1250 metric tonnes of wheat milling capacity per day and 300 tons of maize milling capacity. The mills by products (maize bran, wheat bran and wheat pollard) are also exported mostly to Middle East for animal feeds.
The company’s brands are Mo Safi, Mo Poa, Mo Zembe, and Mo Maisha. These brands are available all over Tanzania. The company has a storage capacity of 50,000 metric tonnes of grains.
Supply of farm tractors and implements
MeTL Agro Tractors and Implements Ltd supplies farmers with tractors and other farm implements. The company stocks disc ploughs, disc ridges, tipping trailers, non-tipping trailers, slashes, boom sprayers, subsoilers, and cultivators. They also supply farmers with fertilizers. MeTL Agro operates 200 centers and 100 trained technicians in Tanzania ready to support farmers. MeTL has sold over 500 TAFE tractors and supplied 10,000+ farmers in the country.
Other farming activities
MeTL has 80 hectares of Macadamia, 80 hectares of avocados and 1580 hectares of Cashew nuts grown on their farms. The company exports cocoa, soya beans, tea, honey, beeswax, sunflower seeds, maize, castor seeds, groundnuts, coriander seeds, gum Arabic, red beans and sesame seeds among other products.
Textiles business
MeTL produces products such as Kitenge, Khanga, linens, Kikoi, canvas fabric, cotton yarn for export, school uniforms, Polo T-Shirts, security and hospital uniforms. The textile arm of the company employees 2,300 employees.
In 2011, MeTL established a cotton ginnery with an installed capacity of 300 bales per day.
Soft Drinks business
MeTL’s A-One Products and Bottlers Ltd is responsible for beverage production. They employee an excess of 15,000 people in this arm of business. The company was established in 1997. The company produces 3 bottled water brands (Just Chill, Maisha and Masafi).
Mo Extra is the most consumed drink in Tanzania.The company also produces other brands such as Mo Vanilla, Mo Cola, Mo Lemon, Mo Apple, Mo Passion, Mo Tangawizi, Mo Malto and Mo Portello among others.
A-One Products and Bottlers Ltd production capacity is 60 million cartons of drinks per year. An excess of 300 trucks deliver products to customers across the country. The company has several other bottling plants in Mozambique and Uganda. The MeTL makes approximately $150 million in revenues per year from this line of business. Mo Dewji is giving Coca Cola a run for their money in Tanzania.
Edible Oil business
East Coast Oil and Fats Ltd is the subsidiary responsible for edible oil refinery under MeTL. The company produces cooking fat, bread spread, cosmetics, liquid and powdered detergents, soap and margarine. The company has an installed capacity of 750,000 metric tonnes per year. The company has a 60% market share of edible oil sales.
The company operates 3 oil refineries which employ over 2,000 permanent employees and exports their products to 11 countries.
Some of the brands produced and sold are Mo Body lotion, Mo Dish wash, Mo Safi, Mo Premium Cooking Oil, Mo29, Mo Super wash, Mo Pure Glycerine, Mo29 Handwash and Mo Multipurpose cleaner among others.
Oil and Gas business
MeTL owns Star Oil Tanzania Ltd which was established in 2010. The company has capacity to store 38 million liters of petroleum products. They supply their products to manufacturing plants and petrol stations in Tanzania, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia and Malawi.
The company operates 14 retail pump stations across Tanzania. They sell 20 million liters of fuel every month. This arm of business generates $150 million in annual revenues and has 90 full time employees.
Transport and Logistics Company – Glenrich Transport
Glenrich Transportation owns more than 1,000 different types of vehicles to offer logistics business for MeTL and other clients. The vehicles are procured from various companies such as Scania, DAF, MAN, and Renault. These trucks are maintained and serviced by 120 well trained mechanics. They own a fully equipped workshop in Dar es Salaam.
Import and Export Solutions
East Coast Liquid Storage Limited operates a Container freight station (CFS) and an inland container depot since 2008 to ensure fast cargo movement to and from the port. Over 1,000 import containers are handled by the company every month. In future the company plans to process 5,000 containers every month.
Financial Services
MeTL is engaged in insurance business known as Mo Assurance. According to MeTL company profile, they have various products such as “travel and health insurance. ire, allied & special perils, burglary, consequential loss insurance, accident, theft and fraud, product liability, public liability, marine cargo, workmen’s compensation, motor insurance, domestic package for homeowners, and contractor’s all risk
insurance.”
Real Estate Business
MeTL owns prime properties in Dar es Salaam and its environs.
People employed
MeTL employes over 37,000 people in their business operations.
Global Trading activities
MeTL imports various products such as electronics, dry cell batteries, cement, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, vehicle spare parts, trucks, sewing machines, hurricane lanterns, consumer goods, air conditioners, electricals, palm fatty acid, crude palm oil from around the world.
MeTL BAJAJ
MeTL is the leading distributor of BAJAJ products in Tanzania. BAJAJ is the largest manufacturer of three-wheelers in the world. MeTL Bajaj was established in 2018 to manufacture bodabodas in Tanzania. The company imports all products in Complete Knock Down Conditions. These are assembled at the MeTL Bajaj assembly factory in Dar es salaam. A total of 6,000 motorcycles are assembled every month.
Electronics and electrical Business
MeTL operates in the electronics business through Mo Electro. The company has been the authorised distributor of LG products in Tanzania since 2014.
MeTL Sundries
MeTL imports the items that it does not produce. MeTL Printers Limited prints 38,000 cartons of exercise books every month. Tanzania Matchbox Industries Ltd is reported to produce 25,000 cartons of matchbox monthly. These products are manufactured as white-labels only. This means MeTL imports the products from other trusted companies and only brands them for sale.
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