Ashish J. Thakkar is a Rwandan-based entrepreneur. He is the founder of

Mara Group Mara Corporation is a multi-sector business services company. It operates in the technology, financial services, manufacturing, real estate & agriculture industries. The company was founded by Ashish J. Thakkar, in 1996, and is now active in 24 ...

and Mara Foundation, and he is a co-founder of

Atlas Mara Limited Atlas Mara Limited, formerly referred to as Atlas Mara Co-Nvest Limited, is a financial services holding company formed to undertake the acquisition of target banks in Africa. The Group's headquarters are located in Tortola, British Virgin Island ...

. Thakkar was born in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, but he moved to East

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

as a teenager before founding Mara Group, a Pan-African conglomerate, at the age of 15.

's operations and investments span 22 African countries. He is the author of ''The Lion Awakes: Adventures in Africa's Economic Miracle''. Thakkar is a member of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

's Young Global Leaders, and was included in ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...

'' magazine's list of the top "

40 Under 40 ''Fortune'' magazine's 40 Under 40 is a list of individuals the publication considers to be the most influential young leaders for the year. The list has existed in two phases: First, from 1999 to 2003, the list was presented purely as a numeric ...

" in 2013. He was awarded the Base Leadership Award at the 2014 MTV Africa Music Awards event. ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' named him Middle East Man of the Year in 2016. In 2015, Thakkar was appointed Chair of the United Nations Foundation's Global Entrepreneurs Council and in 2017, he was appointed Chair of the Presidential Youth Advisory Group at the African Development Bank

Early life and education

Thakkar's family emigrated from the Indian state of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

to Africa in the 1890s. Thakkar was born in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

in 1981. He spent his childhood at Rushey Mead School as part of Belvoir S form group. His parents had moved to the

in 1972 when

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

enforced the

expulsion of Asians from Uganda In early August 1972, the President of Uganda, Idi Amin, ordered the expulsion of his country's Indians in Uganda, Indian minority, giving them 90 days to leave the country. At the time of the expulsion, there were about 80,000 individuals of India ...

. Thakkar and his family returned to Africa to live in

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

before they were again forced to leave due to the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...

in 1994. The Thakkar family then fled to Burundi before settling in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

as refugees. At 15 years old, Thakkar dropped out of school to start his own business with a $5,000 loan.

Career

Thakkar founded his own company,

, in 1996 at the age of 15. He began by importing computer parts including

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, mouses, and desktops from weekly trips to

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

. After Thakkar had received a $5,000 loan to start his company, he opened the small IT business in a shopping mall across the street from his father's shop in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

. Over the next ten years, Thakkar expanded Mara Group into manufacturing, real estate, agriculture and IT services. Thakkar later relocated the company headquarters to

, but kept business in Africa. In 2013, Thakkar announced a partnership with Bob Diamond to launch Atlas Mara, a company that invests in commercial banking institutions across Africa. Diamond, the former chief executive of

Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

, and Thakkar met at a conference through their foundations, Mara Foundation and the Diamond Family Foundation. Thakkar and Diamond raised $325 million in funding in December 2013, before listing the company on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

. The stock price has continued steadily declining and has lost 95% of its IPO price. The ticker symbol in London is ATMA.LN, while in the United States, the ticker is AAMAF.

Other activities

Thakkar founded Mara Foundation, a non-profit company that mentors and supports young African entrepreneurs, in 2009. Mara Mentor, a mobile application that connects young entrepreneurs with business professionals, was launched through Mara Foundation. In June 2014, Thakkar participated in the "Global Accelerator" event hosted by the

United Nations Foundation The United Nations Foundation is a charitable organization headquartered in Washington, DC, that supports the United Nations and its activities. It was established in 1998 with a $1 billion gift to the United Nations by philanthropist Ted Turner, ...

and the United Nations Office for Partnerships to discuss entrepreneurships in UN objectives. Thakkar presented and worked at the event of over 100 entrepreneurs and UN officials including

Michael Dell Michael Saul Dell (born February 23, 1965) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies, one of the world's largest technology infrastructure companies. He is ranked the 2 ...

Barbara Bush Barbara Pierce Bush (June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of President George H. W. Bush, and the founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. She previously was ...

and

Arianna Huffington Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington (née Ariadnē-Anna Stasinopoúlou, el, Αριάδνη-Άννα Στασινοπούλου ; born July 15, 1950) is a Greek-American author, syndicated columnist and businesswoman. She is a co-founder of ''Th ...

. In August 2014, Thakkar participated in the US-Africa summit, hosted by the White House, alongside former U.S. President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. He has also participated in the UN Women Initiative, and was a guest speaker at the

Emirates Foundation Emirates Foundation is a charity set up by the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Emirates Foundation (EF) was launched in April 2005 as an initiative from General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy ...

Youth Philanthropy Summit in November 2014.

References

External links

*
Harvard Business School Mara Group Case Study
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thakkar, Ashish 1981 births Living people British chief executives Emirati company founders Emirati chief executives British company founders British people of Indian descent Gujarati people British philanthropists British male writers Rwandan businesspeople

Early life and education

Career

Other activities

See also

References

External links