Tanzanian billionaire Mohammed Dewji, Kenyan president meet to advance economic partnership

On Sunday, Tanzanian billionaire Mohammed Dewji met with Kenyan President William Ruto to discuss economic partnerships between Kenya and Tanzania.

Dewji, who is the CEO of MeTL, a conglomerate involved in textile manufacturing, flour milling, beverages, and edible oils in Eastern, Southern, and Central Africa, took to Twitter to express his enthusiasm for a strong economic partnership between the two countries.

The meeting comes after Dewji called out African governments in a tweet earlier this year, asking what had been done to mitigate the risks posed by food insecurity, which he identified as the biggest threat facing Africa.

In the tweet, Dewji emphasized the need for drastic measures to ensure food security on the continent, as households continue to struggle with declining real incomes and rising food and energy prices. These concerns are supported by recent data from the World Bank.

According to a report released in October, the number of people facing severe food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa has significantly increased, with more than one in every five people experiencing hunger and over a quarter of a billion people suffering from undernutrition

The World Bank also stated that food security crises are becoming more frequent, with 140 million people in the region expected to be severely food insecure in 2022, up from 120 million in 2021. In East Africa alone, an estimated 55 million people will be severely food insecure in 2022, up from 41 million in 2021.

In response to these challenges, Dewji announced plans earlier this year to list an agriculture company in New York or London in 2023 through a $4-billion blank check arrangement backed by development banks.

The company, which is still in the early stages of development, will launch next year as a special purpose acquisition company, with the Tanzanian billionaire contributing $400 million, or 10-20 percent of the total funding.

It is clear that Dewji is committed to addressing the issue of food insecurity in Africa and promoting economic partnerships between African countries. In addition to his efforts in the agricultural sector, Dewji has also signed the Giving Pledge, committing to donate at least half of his fortune to philanthropic causes.