Widely acknowledged as Africa's youngest billionaire, Ashish was appointed a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2012, and was included in Fortune magazine's list of Top 40 under 40 in 2013 for his business achievements. Here is his motivational journey of life.
Ashish Thakkar was born to Gujarati parents in Leicester, UK in 1981. His parents were children of Indian migrants, and ran their own business in Uganda. However, in 1972, Ashish’s parents had to leave the country and settle in the UK when Aashish turned 12, his parents decided to shift back to Africa, to Rwanda. However, in 1994, settle back in Uganda. Life had come to a full circle and the family had to start again from scratch. Around this time, Ashish sold his own computer, at a $100 profit. He learned the trading techniques at the age of 15 and he launched the Mara Group. Ashish soon left school and dedicated himself completely into his newly started business and engaged in visiting Dubai for imports of computer parts.
Ashish met more businessmen operating on the Dubai-Uganda trade route that struggled with credits and were finding it difficult to expand. He took the risk of lending money to these businesses and also expanded his own business into real estate, agriculture, manufacturing, and IT services over the next 10 years.
Mara Group currently operates across 25 African countries and three continents. With local expertise, the company partners with other foreign companies, and helps them expand business in Africa.