“I’ve been wanting to buy a bank for the last four, five years,” Dewji told CNN.
When the UK-based Barclays bank announced earlier this month that it was selling its Africa business, several stakeholders’ names came up as possible buyers including South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation, Atlas Mara’s Bob Diamond and National Bank of Abu Dhabi.
Dewji said: “I’m very interested, so we’re going to look into it. I don’t know how we will be positioned because I’m sure (Barclays) is looking for a buyer who can take the whole Africa. That I don’t have an appetite (for). I have an appetite to take over four or five country operations.”Specifically, Dewji (40) said he was interested in “Tanzania, Kenya, basically East Africa.”
“I haven’t engaged with Barclays yet,” he told CNN, adding: “I have a very good relationship with Barclays.”
Dewji could not be reached yesterday for comment as he was reported to have travelled outside the country.
Does he have the financial muscle?
Dewji is reported to have a net worth of about $1.1 billion, making him one of the richest people in Tanzania. He’s ranked No. 21 on Africa’s rich list, according to Forbes.
Dewji took over the conglomerate his father founded in the 1970s. It’s active in textile manufacturing, flour milling, beverages and edible oils in eastern, southern and central Africa.
Dewji served two terms in Tanzania’s parliament up to 2015.
“We’ve done reasonably well,” Dewji told CNN. “Our debt ratios are very low.”
How well has he done? Dewji claims that his business contributes almost 3 per cent of Tanzania’s gross domestic product (GDP). He says he employs almost 28,000 people - almost 5 per cent of Tanzania’s formal employment.
Dewji is up to the challenge. In 10 years he has grown his father’s $30 million business into a $1.5 billion business. The company deals in 31 industries in 11 African countries, including businesses in agriculture, manufacturing, consumer goods, finance, mobile communication and real estate, CNN reported.
MeTL does business in the following African countries: Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, DRC and Tanzania, according to the company website.
In April 2015, Dewji told Reuters that MeTL Group would invest $250 million to expand its business in Africa to capitalise on a growing middle class demand.
He said he was upbeat about prospects in Tanzania, whose economy has been growing at about 7 per cent a year and which he said could accelerate to 10 per cent as natural gas finds were exploited.
“Our vision is that by 2020/21, we want to be a $5 billion revenue company,” said Dewji.
Regarding plans to invest $250 million over two years, Dewji said: “Half of this ... will be our equity and the other half will be raised through banks.”
Tanzania's capital market authorities have been trying to encourage family-owned firms like MeTL Group to list, saying it would offer cheaper financing. But many such firms are reluctant to cede control to outside shareholders.
“I don’t see us listing on the stock exchange in the near future," said Dewji. "We are still building the company.”
Dewji said a growing middle class was driving demand.
“Over the last decade Tanzania, for example, has recorded an annual formal growth of 7 per cent. I think that, informally, we are growing at a much faster pace,” he said, a reference to the large number of unregistered businesses and informal workers.
He said large offshore gas finds could lift growth further.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
No comments :
Post a Comment