Face-to-face with Africa’s youngest billionaire

By The NewsDay | Apr. 2, 2014 | 10 Min read

TO be a billionaire or not to be could be the burning question.

Wisdom Mdzungairi

But how to become one is the biggest puzzle many entrepreneurs have faced over the years especially in a fluid economic environment that Zimbabwe finds itself in.

Hence, AMH Events will this Friday present Africa’s youngest billionaire Ashish J Thakkar, for its inaugural Game Changer debate series.

The maverick Ugandan entrepreneur has accomplished what only a few attain in their lifetimes. After starting a small trading company, it evolved into the Mara Group — a diversified conglomerate with millions of dollars in revenue.

Mara has tentacles in everything from real estate and tourism to financial services, information and communications technology, renewable energy and manufacturing. Interestingly, he says he did not inherit anything, but built his company from scratch.

According to Forbes, Ashish J Thakkar is also an astronaut-in-waiting after shelling out the $200 000 ticket fee for Virgin Galactic’s first flight to space. When the trip eventually comes through, he will be the second African astronaut after South African software millionaire Mark Shuttleworth.

The founder of Mara Group and Mara Foundation will recount his incredible story of starting out a business in Africa; his views on Zimbabwe as a prime business destination and China in Africa. He will also share his passion for entrepreneurship and youth mentorship at a half-day conference in Harare this Friday.

Keep Reading

Ashish J Thakkar (AJT) recently granted NewsDay Assistant Editor Wisdom Mdzungairi (WM) an audience and briefly recounted his amazing story. Below are the excepts:-

WM: Your story is incredible being Africa’s youngest billionaire at only 30. We are curious, did you inherit anything; how much are you worth today? AJT: I never like to talk about money in that way, because I truly believe that the true measurement of success is the impact that you have on the lives of people.

WM: In less than 20 years you have accomplished what only few achieve in a lifetime. You were able to build a viable commercial enterprise when you started your first company. What triggered you to start up the company? Take us back to your earliest beginnings as an entrepreneur, right to the time you founded the company. AJT: I’ve always had a love of computers, and when I was young, growing up in Uganda my parents owned a shop and one day, when I was about 15, I convinced them to let me open up a small computer parts shop next to them and they did. So, I would travel to Dubai once a week to buy parts and I would take them back to Uganda and sell them in that little shop. I did that for about four months, and the business grew from there. I have always had a passion for business and I am lucky that I had parents who, for a while at least, were willing to take the risk of allowing me to nurture that passion at such a young age.

WM:Tell us more about the Mara Group & the Mara Foundation. Walk me through the evolution of your group of companies and what they do. And how many people do you currently have in your employ? AJT: Mara Group spans a number of sectors including real estate, technology, agriculture and financial services. We operate throughout sub-Saharan Africa, in over 20 countries. The Mara Foundation is our social enterprise which I founded in 2009. It was an ideal way for me to enable, empower and inspire young entrepreneurs on the continent. Being a young entrepreneur in Africa, I have a great deal of experience in terms of the obstacles that young people face in starting and growing a business and the Foundation allows me to help other ambitious young people overcome these obstacles. It is an organisation that is very close to my heart and I spend a great deal of my time on it.

WM: You are indeed the lion of the business jungle. What has been the catalyst for your success? AJT: Thank you. I’ve always tried to surround myself with good people, who are knowledgeable and who share my passion for Africa. At Mara we believe firstly that whatever we do should always have a positive social impact, secondly we always want to do something game-changing. We don’t want to do things the way they have always been done. We also always look to do things above-board in a legitimate way that we can be proud of and we put the Mara name on it.

WM: Do you believe in Africapitalism — an economic philosophy that embodies the private sector’s commitment to the economic transformation of Africa through long-term investments that create both economic prosperity and social wealth? AJT: Of course. And as I have said, we as an organisation place a lot of emphasis on the social impact of our work. But an important thing that needs to be emphasised is that Africa doesn’t need help. Africa is stable and Africa is growing. We have very capable and dynamic people right here on the continent who are ready to take Africa forward. Many things have changed, and I think that as Africans we need to become better at telling our own story because we really are the next big thing.

WM: Does investment in Africa need a different perspective altogether? What could that be? What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced in doing business in Africa? AJT: I think that the greatest challenge that is faced by those who are new to doing business in Africa is that they tend to treat Africa as a single entity, and so they apply a cut-and-paste method and this gets them into trouble. The most important lesson that needs to be learnt about Africa is that it is a diverse and dynamic continent with many different cultures, parliaments, regulatory systems etc. To succeed you need a nuanced approach that is sensitive to these factors. Part of Mara’s success is in our strategy of partnering with foreign companies who have industry expertise to merge with our specialised knowledge of African markets.

WM: You’re coming to Zimbabwe, how do you view the country especially the business environment? Would you be interested in doing business here? AJT: I wouldn’t be coming to Zimbabwe if I didn’t think that this is a very exciting place with tremendous potential. I am confident that the business environment is improving and will continue to do so.

WM: What is your philosophy in business and in life? AJT: My philosophy and that of the company stems from three core principles, which are love, truth, compassion. Everything we do is informed by these three basic principles.

WM: In a nutshell, what is the most important piece of advice you will give to young, entrepreneurial inclined individuals in Zimbabwe? AJT: Never give up. Don’t take “no” for an answer. Learn from your mistakes. Learn from others around you as well. I would also encourage them to sign up for Mara Mentor by going to www.mentor.mara.com. This is one of the projects run by Mara Foundation, and it is an online facility that encourages knowledge-sharing and interaction between young and ambitious entrepreneurs and business leaders from all over the world. It is a kind of social network with a purpose, where you can follow other entrepreneurs in your field, but you can also access training materials on building a successful business; participate in thought-provoking discussions; and they can also get valuable advice from business leaders from across Africa and the world.

WM: Sometime back you were appointed a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. How did you feel? AJT: That was a great honour for me. I see it as a great platform for me to firstly give back to Africa, and secondly to tell the world that Africa’s time has come.

WM: What is the worst business decision that you ever made in our career? AJT: Being a successful entrepreneur is all about making mistakes and being able to learn from them. I’ve made my share of mistakes, but the key is that I try not to repeat them.

WM: Tell us about your expected trip to space. AJT: I’m very excited about becoming the second African person to travel to space. I want to take as many African flags with me as I can and plant them up there.

WM: Given your contribution to Africa’s economic wellbeing, what will your African legacy be? AJT: I think that the work of Mara Foundation will be the ultimate legacy. I’m very passionate about what the Foundation does and I am spending a great deal of my time on the Mara Foundation ensuring that we meet our objective, which is to empower, enable and inspire Africa’s future business leaders.

Mara: Factsheet

Mara: Overview Mara is a Pan-African multi-sector business with operations and investments in 19 African countries, and 21 countries worldwide.

Mara’s current investments and operations span technology, financial services, manufacturing, real estate and agriculture, employing more than 8 000 people.

l Mara’s wide-ranging portfolio of businesses includes Riley Packaging (a leading East African packaging company), Mara Ison (a Pan-African IT services company) and Ison BPO (a Pan-African business process outsourcing company).

l In 2013, Mara announced the formation of Atlas Mara Co-Nvest Ltd — a joint venture with Atlas Merchant Capital — a firm founded by Bob Diamond, former CEO of Barclays. The entity raised $325m ahead of its London Stock Exchange listing and intends to acquire and build a trading African financial services business.

lIn 2013, Mara also established Mara Capital Partners to source and execute growth equity investments in Africa on behalf of third parties.

lMara believes that being a successful business does not preclude a principled and socially positive investment approach. To this end, in 2009, Mara established Mara Foundation — a social enterprise that focuses on encouraging and supporting young entrepreneurs in Africa.

Mara’s first business was founded in Uganda in 1996. Mara Group: Business Mara Group is a Pan-African multi-sector business with operations and investments across 19 African countries and 21 countries worldwide.

Mara’s current investments and operations span the technology, financial services, manufacturing, real estate and agriculture sectors.

Mara’s businesses include: Technology — Mara Ison: Joint venture between Mara and Ison Group to provide IT services and solutions totelecom operators. — Ison BPO: Business process outsourcing (i.e., customer care call centres and related activities) with a presence in ten African countries, in which Mara is currently a shareholder in seven of them. — Mara Online: Online and mobile platforms designed to connect African youth across the continent.

Financial services — Atlas Mara: Joint venture between Mara and Atlas Merchant Capital to acquire and build a trading African financial services business.

Manufacturing — Riley Packaging: Uganda’s largest corrugated cardboard packaging company, which is in the process of merging with its Kenyan counterpart, Dodhia, thus becoming the largest company in its sector in East Africa. — Riley Media: Large format digital printing facility. — MJG Egi Glass: Joint venture between Mara, JS Group, Ghani Group and the Egi Community, which is set to be the first float glass manufacturer in Nigeria. Construction is expected to commence in 2014.

Real estate — Mara Oysterbay City: State-of-the-art mixed-use development of 3,5 million square feet in Dares Salaam, Tanzania. — Kingdom Kampala: A 610 000 square foot development located in the heart of Kampala, Uganda. — Kensington: High-end housing project in Kampala, Uganda, comprising two developments, ‘Luxury Heights’ and ‘Signature Homes’.

Agriculture — Two plots of land totaling 23,000 acres located in eastern Uganda, acquired with the aim of planting both rice and maize.

Mara Capital Partners — In 2013, Mara established Mara Capital Partners whose emphasis is to identify opportunities in growing businesses across Africa, often unexplored by traditional private equity investors.

Through its investments and operations, Mara currently employs over 8 000 people.

Mara uses a partnership approach in selecting and participating in new ventures. Its current partners include JS Group, Ghani Group, Dodhia Packaging, Dhabi Holdings, ISON Group, Mukwano Group and Atlas Merchant Capital.

lMara is currently present in 21 countries: Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, Zambia.

First African to make Fortune 40 Under 40 ASHISH J. Thakkar, the 32-year-old founder and CEO of Mara Group, has emerged the first African ever to be named in Fortune Magazine’s prestigious annual 40 Under 40 list which features young hotshots around the globe who are leading businesses as diverse as air travel, natural gas, and genetic coding, as well as government.

Thakkar was featured on the 19th spot in the 2013 edition of the list, sandwiched between Catherine Lacavera, Google’s 38 year-old Director of Litigation, and American music phenomenon Will Adams, popularly known by his pseudonym Will.i.am, who also doubles as Chairman of I.am.plus, a technology accessories company.

Other prominent entrepreneurs and corporate executives who made it to the list include Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, Jack Dorsey of Square and Twitter as well as Daniel Ek, founder of music streaming service, Spotify.

VENTURES AFRICA 40 Under 40 Rank Name Age Company 1.Marissa Mayer 38 Yahoo 2. Jack Dorsey 36 Square 3. Mark Zuckerberg 29 Facebook 4. John Elkann 37 Fiat 5. Rob Goldstein 39 Blackrock 6. Brian Chesky 32 Airbnb 6. Joe Gebbia 32 Airbnb 6. Nate Blecharczyk 30 Airbnb 7. Chris Weideman 38 US Treasury Department 8. Jun Wang 37 BGI 9.Tracy Britt Cool 29 Berkshire Hathaway 10.Liv Garfield 38 BT Group’s Openreach 11. Ben Silbermann 31 Pinterest 11. Kevin Systrom 29 Instagram 12.Chuck Myers 37 Fidelity Investments 13. Travis Kalanick 37 Uber 14. Aaron Levie 28 Box 15. Ryan McInerney 38 Visa 16. Jeremy Stoppelman 35 Yelp 17.Ross Martin 39 Viacom Media Networks 18. Catherine Lacavera 38 Google 19. Ashish Thakkar 32 Mara Group 20. Will Adams 38 i.am.plus 21.Avani Davda 34 Tata Starbucks Limited 22. Sam Yagan 36 Match Inc. 23. Lyndon Rive 36 SolarCity 23. Cyrus Massoumi 37 ZocDoc 24. David Karp 27 Tumblr 25. Ben Hulburt 39 Eclipse Resources 26. Jonah Peretti 39 BuzzFeed 27. Jeremy Bird 35 270 Strategies 28.Daniel Ek 30 Spotify 28. Max Levchin 38 Glow 29. Lani Hay 38 Lanmark Technology 30. Claudia Sender 38 TAM Airline 31. Hayley Barna 30 Birchbox 31.Katia Beauchamp 30 Birchbox 32. Niraj Shah 39 Wayfair 33. Rachel Shechtman 36 Story 33. Alli Webb 38 Drybar 34. Danae Ringelmann 35 Indiegogo 34. Slava Rubin 34 Indiegogo 34. Eric Schell 35 Indiegogo 35. Kristin Groos Richmond 38 Revolution Foods 35. Kirsten Saenz Tobey 35 Revolution Foods 36. Rachel Haot 30 City of New York 37. Dhiraj Rajaram 39 Mu Sigma 38. Andrew Ng 37 Coursera 39. Tamara Ralph 31 Ralph & Russo 39. Michael Russo 33 Ralph & Russo 40. Kat Cole 35 Cinnabon