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Dar es Salaam. The year 2019 will be remembered by Tanzanians as a year of bad luck for the cream of the country’s business community.
Tanzania lost two dollar millionaires: First Reginald Mengi in May and most recently Ali Mufuruki.
Both died while abroad with Mr Mengi, the IPP executive chairman, passing on in Dubai while Mr Mufuruki of Infotech Investment Group died in South Africa at the weekend.
Forbes Magazine previously put Reginald Mengi’s fortune at around $550 million (about Sh56 billion).
Mr Mufuruki was also ranked by Forbes and Ventures magazines among Tanzanians with a high net worth with his fortune estimated at $110 million (about Sh11 billion).
He fell ill while in Dar es Salaam and was rushed to The Aga Khan Hospital, then evacuated to South Africa on Saturday afternoon.
A businessman and author, Mr Mufuruki was until recently the board chairman of Vodacom Tanzania and Wananchi Group Holdings. He also served as a trustee of the Mandela Institute for Development Studies and was a co-author of the book: “Tanzania’s Industrialisation Journey, 2016-2056”.
Infotech has interests in property development and leasing, hospitality, advertising and mobile telecommunications. Mufuruki was also a co-founder and partner at East Africa Capital Partners, a technology, media and telecommunications sector investing in the greater Eastern Africa region.
Another influential business leader and media personality, Ruge Mutahaba, died in February at the age of 49.
He was one of the brains behind Clouds Media Group. He died in South Africa while undergoing treatment.
President John Magufuli and retired leader Jakaya Kikwete led Tanzanians in mourning his demise while hailing him as a great creative mind.
The country remembers him for tirelessly working to promote music talents across Tanzania, with a number of high profile artists reportedly going through his direct or indirect coaching in a number of ways.
A month after Mr Mengi’s death, Tanzania lost philanthropist and prominent doctor Dr Rajni Kanabar, who was also the founder and chairperson of Regency Medical Centre.
Dr Kanabar (78) died in Dallas, Texas, in the United States where he had been undergoing treatment.
Born in Mwanza, Tanzania, on November 9, 1940, Dr Kanabar was a third generation Tanzanian of Indian origin.