In Botswana, a sparsely populated southern African country with a slightly over 2.3 million population and an economy driven by its diamond mining industry, Satar Dada, an 83-year-old businessman, stands out as one of the country’s most prosperous men.
Dada is arguably the wealthiest businessman in Botswana. He is the founder of Associated Investment Development Corporation (AIDC), a conglomerate with interests in motor vehicle dealerships, printing and publishing, steel manufacturing, property, agribusiness, and telecommunications. He is also a long-serving treasurer of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party and has previously served as a member of parliament.
Dada is best known in Botswana for two key businesses: motor dealerships and his significant control over the country’s poultry industry.
Together with a South African company, Ross Africa, Dada controls almost the entire chicken production chain and market share in Botswana.
Billionaires.Africa highlights ten prized companies owned by Dada, the Motswana tycoon:
- Motor Centre Toyota Botswana: Satar Dada owns Botswana’s largest Toyota, Lexus, and Hino dealership. It accounts for over 15 percent of all brand-new Toyota sales in Southern Africa.
- Tswana Pride Chickens: Tswana Pride Chickens is Botswana’s largest producer of chicken and poultry products. The company operates a chicken abattoir with a cold storage facility for frozen chicken products. It has its brands and sells through private label products, generating revenues of more than $50 million (P500 million) annually.
- Mongala Mall Botswana: Mongala Mall is a shopping center in Kanye, Botswana. The mall covers an area of 9500 square meters and features tenants such as South Africa’s Ackermans, Debonairs Pizza, and Spar. It is constructed in a village in the southern part of Botswana.
- Master Farmer Feeds Proprietary Limited: Satar owns a 40-percent stake in Master Farmer Feeds Proprietary Limited, in partnership with a South African-owned company, Ross Africa. Master Farmer Feeds controls Botswana’s entire chicken value chain through three divisions: Nutri Feeds, Ross Breeders, and Oistens (Pty) Ltd. The company’s main businesses involve manufacturing and distributing animal feeds (Nutri Feeds Division), rearing breeders and selling day-old chicks (Ross Breeders Botswana Division), and rearing and distributing broiler chickens (Oistins Division).
- Dikoko Tsa Botswana: Dikoko Tsa Botswana is a poultry producer located in the northern region of Botswana.
- Molapo Motors: Satar Dada owns a significant stake in Molapo Motors, a car dealership representing Hyundai, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Jeep in Botswana.
- Naledi Motors: Naledi Motors is Botswana’s authorized Mercedes-Benz dealership. It provides full sales, after-sales, and service facilities. Dada has held this franchise for over three decades.
- Indaba Lodge: Indaba Lodge is a three-star, 84-bedroom hotel located in Gaborone, Botswana.
- Capital Motors: Capital Motors is the exclusive agent in Botswana for the high-performance German auto manufacturer BMW.
- Botswana Advertiser: Satar Dada owns The Botswana Advertiser, the country’s top-selling national newspaper.
