Top 7 Ugandan Multi-Millionaires Listed By Forbes Revealed

BusinessFocus Reporter January 6, 2018 (Last updated: January 6, 2018)

A few Ugandans have built multi-million and billion dollar empires in industries as diverse as agriculture, food, construction, energy and distribution and earned multi-million dollar fortunes to boot.

Their names don’t ring with the African public, and you’ve probably never heard about them before, but they are very successful — and very wealthy.

Meet 7 Ugandan businessmen, who founded businesses with annual revenues of $50 million or more as listed by Forbes.

Abid Alam

Source: Steel

Ugandan tycoon Abid Alam is the CEO and controlling shareholder of the Alam Group, one of Uganda’s largest conglomerates. In 1965 Alam’s father, Manzur Alam, started a small business in Kampala manufacturing windows, metal doors, Louvers, and steel pipes. Over the last five decades, that operation has snowballed into the Alam Group, a $120 million (revenues) group that owns one of the largest steel rolling mills in Uganda, a sugar milling company, and a shoe-manufacturing outfit among other assets.

Emmanuel Katongole

Source: Pharmaceuticals

Katongole is a co-founder of Cipla Quality Chemical Industries, a large Ugandan pharmaceutical company. In 1997 Katongole founded Quality Chemicals to import generic human and veterinary medication. In 2015, Cipla, a leading global Pharmaceutical company, acquired a 51% stake in the company for $30 million, valuing the business at about $60 million. The company was renamed Cipla Quality Chemical Industries. Katongole serves as chairman of the company.

Habib Kagimu

Source: Oil distribution

Kagimu, an Ugandan of Somali origin, owns Uganda’s leading petroleum distributor, Habib Oil. His holding company, Habib Investments, has extensive assets in Real Estate Development, Telecommunication, Security and Agriculture.

Mohammed Hamid

Source: Food

Mohammed Hamid, one of Uganda’s leading entrepreneurs, is the Chairman and founder of Aya Group, a $300 million (annual revenues) Ugandan conglomerate with interests in milling, food manufacturing, commodity trading, transportation and hospitality. Aya Group recently launched Pearl Of Africa, a landmark hotel in Kampala which cost more than $200 million to build.

Lalani is the founder of Roofings Group, the largest manufacturer of steel construction materials in Uganda with installed production capacity of 72,000 metric tonnes annually. The company has revenues of more than $80 million annually and employs more than 3,000 people.

Indian-Ugandan tycoon Mukesh Shukla started off in business in 1984 trading soft commodities from a retail/wholesale outlet in Kampala. With his profits, Shukla started manufacturing Aluminum Utensils and opened a Forex bureau. Today, the Shumuk Group which he runs is one of East Africa’s biggest industrial conglomerates with tentacles in steel production, dairy production and hotels. The company has annual revenues of more than $80 million.

Uganda’s foremost hotelier got his start in business in the late 80s when he began trading in textiles and alcoholic beverages in Kampala’s Central Business District. Today he owns the Imperial Group of Hotels which owns a portfolio of some of Uganda’s most popular four-star hotels including the landmark Imperial Resort Beach Hotel. The 67-year-old former champion rally driver also owns automobile dealerships across Uganda.