Said Salim Bakhresa
Said Salim Awadh Bakhresa (born 1949 in Zanzibar), is a Tanzanian business tycoon.
Said Salim Bakhresa | |
---|---|
Born | 1949 (age 70–71) (Zanzibar) |
Nationality | |
Occupation | Businessman |
Known for | Operating numerous business ventures. One of Tanzania's richest men. |
Spouse(s) | Mrs Fathiya Bakhresa |
Children | Mohamed Said Salim Bakhresa Omar Said Salim Bakhresa Abubakar Said Salim Bakhresa Mariam Said Salim Bakhresa Yusuf Said Salim Bakhresa Khalid Said Salim Bakhresa(deceased 2007) |
He is the founder and the chairperson of the Bakhresa Group Of Companies. He is a well-known industrialist in the mainland of Tanzania and the island of Zanzibar. With a humble beginning as a small restaurateur in the seventies, he created the business empire within a span of three decades. At the age of 14, he dropped out of school to become a potato mix salesperson and would later go on to become a successful African businessman.[1] Bakhresa Group; is a conglomerate of various companies and is the largest milling company in East Africa with operations in Tanzania and five other countries.[2]
Currently, his net worth is $10.5 Billion according to what he is invested added up. Said Salim Bakhresa has been investing a lot of money in his industry and opened the most greenest hotel in Zanzibar recently with a Water Park and a Marina.[3] The name of the hotel is Hotel Verde Zanzibar.
Career
After getting into the potato mix industry, Bakhresa got involved as a restaurant operator in the 1970s and then went into grain milling.[1][4] Even today, the main products from Bakhresa's company comes from the Kipawa Flour Mill where various rice and grain products are being processed.[5] The neighboring country of Rwanda is dependent on Bakhresa's mill to provide 120,000 tons of wheat flour per year; which is expected to ease pressure of food prices in a country which approximately 52% of households don't have an adequate level of food security.[6] This is a major concern according to the World Bank's Country Assistance Strategy.[6] Bakhresa's projects in Rwanda are also expected to create jobs and help to increase national corporate tax revenues.[6]
His group employs more than 2000 people and is Tanzania's largest conglomerate.[1] Other specialties produced through Bakhresa's conglomerate includes: confectioneries, frozen foods, various kinds of drinks, and packaging.[1] The Azam brand is Bakhresa's most successful chocolate and ice cream manufacturer in Tanzania.[1] While the company is managed by his sons, Bakhresa owns the company itself.[1] Its daily capacity for manufacturing is 2100 metric tons and made sales of $800 million in 2011.[1] Bakhresa's Azam Marine division is providing international tourists with quick ferry services as more people discover Tanzania.[7] In addition to Zanzibar, riders can also experience Lake Victoria and Mount Kilimanjaro.[7]
Bakhresa is helping to reduce the effects of malaria on his employees by preventing the spread of the disease at his workplaces.[8] As a result, Bakhresa's firm only spends about $3400 USD a month for malaria medication as opposed to $10000 USD per month to heal its sick workforce.[8] They stopped using Fansidar; a monotherapy drug in favor of more effective artemisinin-based therapies that utilizes polytherapy.[8] Other companies are united with the Bakhresa Group to stop malaria in their region.[8] Residents of Tanzania who work outside of Bakhresa's company have also benefitted from Bakhresa's crusade against malaria in Africa.[9]
References
- Said Salim Bakhresha career information at Forbes.com
- Millers gather in Tanzania at DavidMcKee.org
- "Profile: Said Salim Bakhresa". Forbes. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- Management information at Bakhresha Group
- Said Salim Bakhresa & Co. Ltd at 21Food.com
- Multilateral Invested Guarantee Agency for Bakhresa Grain Milling (Rwanda) Limited at MIGA.org
- Azam Marine - Sea Bus Fast Ferries Profile Archived 2012-01-14 at the Wayback Machine at Azam Marine
- http://www.rbm.who.int/ProgressImpactSeries/docs/report6/SSB-en.pdf Malaria prevention at Said Salim Bakhresa improves employee health, cuts company malaria-related costs by two-thirds at rbm.who.int
- Advocacy for a Malaria Free Future at MalariaFreeFuture.org