In an industry built on colour, fizz, and constant visibility, billionaire industrialist Chris Kayoboke has chosen the opposite posture. He is reclusive, rarely quoted, and rarely photographed—an anomaly among Uganda’s…
Uganda’s millionaire class is quietly expanding. The country added 100 new dollar millionaires in the 12 months leading up to June 2025. The addition brings the total number of individuals…
In the Ugandan business world, a few people epitomize Warren Buffett’s timeless advice like Charles Mbire, a quietly dominant billionaire, cofounder and Board Chairman of MTN Uganda. In 2024 alone,...
In a region hungry for industrial transformation, one man is quietly forging a revolution. Sanjay Awasthi, the reclusive billionaire behind Tembo Steels, has built Uganda’s most advanced and environmentally conscious…
In a landmark moment for African enterprise, the continent’s wealthiest individuals have crossed the $100 billion threshold for the first time. The 2025 Forbes Africa Billionaires List shows that the...
Forbes Africa released its annual list of Africa’s billionaires with its 2024 class of 20 billionaires now worth $82.4bn. Collectively, these billionaires would be the 18th richest person in the world sandwiched between Indian Gautam Adani ($84bn) and Walmart heir Jim Walton ($78.4bn). For yet another year, Forbes does not feature any Ugandan. But Uganda isn’t the only country that is not represented here. The 20 billionaires come from just 7 countries. Forbes recognises that Africa is one of the “toughest places to build and hold onto a billion-dollar fortune” due to various factors like scepticism from global investors, strained…
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Name: Amos Nzeyi Source of Wealth: Carbonated Soft Drinks and Water, Hospitality & Tourism, Confectionaries & Real Estate Age: 75 years Estimated Worth: US$ 57 million (UGX200 billion) Amos is a Ugandan businessman, entrepreneur, and industrialist who started business at quite an early age. He has been in business for more than 50 years. Amos was born in 1947 in Kabale in what was then known as the Kigezi region. His father used to work at the White Horse Inn, the oldest and still one of the best hotels in Kabale, which the businessman has since acquired. He started selling…
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Twenty seven years ago, Anand Kapoor left an MBA course in India to take up a job on a treasury and forex desk at a Ugandan bank. After 18 months on the job, the entrepreneurial Kapoor considered his salary increase for the following year and concluded that being employed was not worth it. He quit the job to set up his own business, Midcom Group which dealt in forex. “I opened up a foreign exchange bureau because that was my experience; I used to manage risk and treasury. It made me a lot of money,” said Kapoor in a previous…
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Said Salim Awadh Bakhresa, one of the richest East Africans, dropped out of school at the age of 14 to become a potato mix salesperson. His proper business journey did not start until the 1970s, when he opened a restaurant in Dar-es-Salaam. From this restaurant, he has created a business empire that spans the African continent within three decades. Humble start The genesis of the company’s food and beverage operations began in 1983 with the formation of Said Salim Bakhresa & Co Ltd (SSB), the flag-ship company of the Group. Said Bakhresa started his business journey at the age of…
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At 15 years of age when most young people’s idea of having fun is clubbing, Ashish J. Thakkar, decided to start an IT company. In numerous media interviews Thakkar has said his motivation to start an IT firm was accidental. It started when he sold his personal computer to a friend and he made a handsome profit. That was in 1995, shortly after his family had relocated to Uganda having been victims of Idi Amin’s decree to expel Asians in 1972. Thakkar dropped out of school to pursue his entrepreneurial dream. Today he is the owner of Mara Group that…
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If businessman Robert Zikusooka walked on the streets of Kampala, not many people would identify him. In fact it is difficult to find a clear photo of him. Zikusooka is the founder of Royikems Industries Limited best known for its Rose Foam brand of mattresses. Said to be in his mid-40s, Zikusooka started his entrepreneurial journey in the early 1990s in Kamuli. He used to own a big wholesale shop that sold mattresses and general merchandise in Kamuli town. According to someone who knows him, Zikusooka was always a person of big dreams. “He used to say that he will…
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Pius Ngugi is one of the wealthiest Kenyans. He was born in Kiambu on March 8, 1944. He is a proud polygamist and is married to Josephine Wambui Ngugi and Kenyan politician Esther Passaris. He has four children. Ngugi is the owner of Kenya Nut Company which exports macadamia and cashew nuts to various parts of the world. The company was established in 1974 and has since diversified to include coffee, chocolates and oils. Kenya Nut Company employs over 4,000 people and has farms in excess of 8,000 acres. The company’s brands include Out of Africa nuts, Nassu Snacks, Aberdare…
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If your favourite beer is Nile Special or Club Pilsner or even Bell Lager, that sleek label on the bottle that you often like to tinker with is made by Graphic Systems Uganda Limited. Even if you are teetotaler who does not indulge in alcohol but at least takes bottled water that sticker on that Rwenzori mineral water bottle that you often flaunt is designed and made by Graphic Systems Uganda. Therefore it would not be inaccurate to describe Graphic Systems as the behemoth of designing, branding and printing in Uganda and probably at the regional level. It employs over…
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Let’s start from where it all started. Tell us about your childhood, growing up and early working days. My father’s dad Mr. Penn Blick was a British settler in Gomba, Central Uganda in the present day Gomba District. He had a coffee farm there. My mother’s dad, Captain Arthur Johnson had settled in Masaka District, where he married a Muganda lady. Therefore both my father, Mr. George William Blick and mother, Molly Johnson Blick were half Ugandan and half British. I was born in Fort Portal where my father was a district engineer for the Ministry of Works. My mother…
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In the late 80s, Sophie Nantongo, then in her early 20s set up a cosmetics shop in Makindye, a Kampala suburb. According to a friend, she was coming out of an abusive relationship and wanted to do something that would give her financial independence. The business took off well and in a short time she was regularly taking the bus to Kenya to source and buy cosmetic products. By 1993, the business had expanded exponentially and she decided to found African Queen (AQ) Limited. In the beginning AQ used to distribute cosmetics to dealers in Kikuubo but when she realized…
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