Tanzania’s wealthiest man Mohammed “Mo” Gulamabbas Dewji has handed Sh20-billion ($8.6 million) cheque to Simba Sports Club (Simba SC) for a 49-percent equity stake in the business, The Citizen reported.
Although the stake went for Sh19.6 billion ($8.4 million), Dewji decided to make it a round figure.
Simba SC is a leading football club in East Africa and one of the two biggest clubs in Tanzania alongside cross-city rivals, Young Africans. Dewji serves as the chairman of the board of directors and is a significant investor in the Msimbazi-based football club.
According to the report, the tycoon mentioned that he has already spent Sh21.3 billion ($91.86 million) to support Simba. The funds were used to run the club, scout for outstanding players and pay salaries.
“This is largely why Simba have dominated the Mainland Premier League, winning and holding onto the title for the last four consecutive years,” he said
In April, he expressed dissatisfaction with the Fair Competition Commission’s (FCC) decision to restart negotiations regarding his efforts to restructure Simba SC.
The FCC had earlier launched a probe into the restructuring efforts on allegations that Dewji was attempting an “unnotified merger.” Still, the tycoon insisted that the regulator was simply delaying his plans to restructure the club.
However, he has finally received clearance from the regulator as all procedural rules and regulations governing the investment have been completed.
Dewji is a former politician and the owner of MeTL Group, a diversified Tanzania-based conglomerate founded by his father in the 1970s.
The group employs more than 24,000 people across the country. It has diverse interests in trading, agriculture, manufacturing, energy and petroleum, financial services, mobile telephony, infrastructure and real estate, transport and logistics and distribution.
