East Africa’s richest man, Mohammed “Mo” Dewji, is expanding aggressively across the continent, with disclosed projects and commitments worth as much as $680 million in 2026 across Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique, while Botswana could become his next destination.
The Tanzanian billionaire is pursuing the expansion through Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited (MeTL), the diversified conglomerate he leads, with interests ranging from beverages and critical minerals to tourism, energy and manufacturing.
The strategy reflects Dewji’s long-standing approach to business growth.
“Business as usual will never lead to growth and development. Only through innovation and change will you see real progress!” Dewji once said.
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Dewji spent this week in Gaborone meeting Botswana President Duma Boko and senior economic officials as he explored investment opportunities in the diamond-dependent economy.
He also held discussions with Vice President and Finance Minister Ndaba Gaolathe, Bank of Botswana Governor Cornelius Dekop and Botswana Stock Exchange chairman Neo Mooki.
The meetings covered private-sector participation, capital markets and possible investments in renewable energy and financial services.
Botswana is trying to reduce its dependence on diamond revenues and attract more regional and international capital into new industries.
No investment has yet been signed or valued, so Botswana is not included in Dewji’s disclosed 2026 investment total.
The Botswana visit came days after Dewji pledged more than $250 million in Mozambique following talks with President Daniel Chapo, with the proposed investment expected to create about 20,000 jobs.
MeTL has not yet disclosed how the money will be divided among individual projects, but the group already operates across manufacturing, agriculture, energy, logistics, trade and financial services.
The pledge gives Dewji another potential foothold in southern Africa and adds to a growing wave of intra-African investment led by large regional business groups.
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Kenya is another key market in Dewji’s 2026 expansion plans.
In May, MeTL announced plans to invest $50 million in a soft drinks factory in Mombasa, targeting Kenya’s large and growing consumer market.
Dewji has also offered to invest $100 million in Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote’s proposed $17 billion oil refinery project in Kenya.
If both investments proceed, Dewji’s disclosed commitments in Kenya would total $150 million.
Dewji is also investing heavily at home, with MeTL planning to spend about $275 million on graphite mining to tap rising demand for minerals used in electric-vehicle batteries and energy storage.
The group expects to start commercial production from mines it has acquired in Tanzania and ultimately target higher-value battery-grade graphite markets.
Separately, MeTL subsidiary 21st Century Food & Packaging signed a deal worth more than €2 million, or about $2.3 million, for Italian-built silos and industrial equipment to expand grain-storage capacity in Tanzania.
The billionaire is also expanding into luxury tourism, acquiring a 150-hectare island near Zanzibar for an ultra-luxury resort and securing a concession for a lodge in the Serengeti, although investment figures have not been disclosed.
Based on publicly disclosed figures, Dewji’s 2026 projects and commitments total about $577.3 million, including $277.3 million in Tanzania, $250 million in Mozambique and the $50 million Kenya beverage plant.
Including his conditional $100 million pledge towards Dangote’s proposed Kenya refinery takes his potential investment pipeline to about $677.3 million.
Botswana and Dewji’s tourism projects could push that figure higher once firm investment amounts are disclosed.
Forbes values Dewji at about $2.1 billion, ranking him 14th among Africa’s richest people in 2026 and making him Tanzania’s only billionaire and the only East African on the list.
Much of his fortune is tied to MeTL, which operates across 11 African countries and employs tens of thousands of people.
Dewji has set his sights on building MeTL into a $10 billion business by 2035, with his latest investments showing an increasingly pan-African route towards that target.
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