24 Facts About Mohammed Dewji

Mohammed "Mo" Gulamabbas Dewji was born on 8 May 1975 and is a Tanzanian billionaire businessman and former politician.

Mohammed Dewji is the owner of MeTL Group, a Tanzanian conglomerate founded by his grandmother, developed by his father in the 1970s.

Mohammed Dewji was the first Tanzanian on the cover of Forbes magazine, in 2013.

Mohammed Dewji is the second of six children of Gulamabbas Dewji and Zubeda Dewji.

When Mohammed Dewji was born, the family was still of modest means; Mohammed Dewji was born with the help of a neighbouring midwife in a house built from sand and mud.

Mohammed Dewji attested that he almost died at birth due to having the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, a condition known as nuchal cord.

Mohammed Dewji received his primary education in Arusha at the Arusha Primary School and continued his secondary education at the International School of Tanganyika in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

In 1992 his father enrolled him at the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy in Orlando, Florida, where Mohammed Dewji attended Trinity Preparatory School for 11th grade.

Mohammed Dewji then moved for his last and final year of high school to Saddle Brook High School in Saddle Brook, New Jersey.

Mohammed Dewji attended Georgetown University in Washington, DC, graduating in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in international business and finance and a minor in theology.

Mohammed Dewji is responsible for increasing MeTL's revenues from $30 million to over $1.5 billion between 1999 and 2018.

Mohammed Dewji was the first Tanzanian on the cover of Forbes magazine, in 2013 and has appeared on three occasions.

Tanzania held its third multi-party elections in October 2005 and Mohammed Dewji stood for the parliamentary seat again and was chosen by CCM to stand as a candidate for Singida Urban.

Mohammed Dewji served for ten years before resigning from politics in October 2015.

In 2001, Mohammed Dewji married Saira, his high school sweetheart with whom he has three children.

Mohammed Dewji is a Shia Muslim from the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Jamat known as the 'Twelver' branch of Islam.

At approximately 5:35 am on 11 October 2018, Mohammed Dewji was kidnapped and abducted by armed gunmen outside the Colosseum Hotel in Dar es Salaam, where he was arriving for a morning workout.

The kidnappers allegedly fired shots into the air before kidnapping Mohammed Dewji and driving off with the billionaire.

At 3:15 am, a tweet was sent out on the METL Twitter account by Mohammed Dewji, acknowledging his return and appreciation for the Tanzanian people's support.

Mohammed Dewji reported that Dewji informed them that his kidnappers were speaking in a South African language.

Mohammed Dewji believes the kidnappers gave up due to the massive media and political attention.

Since the inaugural ranking of Forbes list of Africa's richest in 2011, Mohammed Dewji has ranked richest in East Africa as well as richest in Tanzania 11 times.

Mohammed Dewji joined the Giving Pledge, committing to give at least half his wealth to philanthropy either during their lifetime or in his will.

Mohammed Dewji is the first Tanzanian and one of the three Africans that have made the pledge.