Said Salim Awadh Bakhresa (born 1949 in

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

), is a Tanzanian business tycoon. 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.''Said Salim Bakhresha''
career information at Forbes.com 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.

Career

After getting into the potato mix industry, Bakhresa got involved as a restaurant operator in the 1970s and then went into

grain mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...

ing. Even today, the main products from Bakhresa's company comes from the Kipawa Flour Mill where various rice and grain products are being processed. 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 Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices have an impact on producers and consumers of food. Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing ...

in a country which approximately 52% of households don't have an adequate level of food security.Multilateral Invested Guarantee Agency for ''Bakhresa Grain Milling (Rwanda) Limited''
at MIGA.org This is a major concern according to the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

's Country Assistance Strategy. Bakhresa's projects in Rwanda are also expected to create jobs and help to increase national corporate tax revenues. His group employs more than 2000 people and is Tanzania's largest conglomerate. Other specialties produced through Bakhresa's conglomerate includes:

confectioneries Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

, frozen foods, various kinds of drinks, and packaging. The ''Azam'' brand is Bakhresa's most successful

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

and

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

manufacturer in Tanzania. While the company is managed by his sons, Bakhresa owns the company itself. Its daily capacity for manufacturing is 2100 metric tons and made sales of $800 million in 2011. Bakhresa's ''Azam Marine'' division is providing international tourists with quick ferry services as more people discover Tanzania.Azam Marine - Sea Bus Fast Ferries Profile
at Azam Marine In addition to Zanzibar, riders can also experience Lake Victoria and Mount Kilimanjaro. Bakhresa is helping to reduce the effects of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

on his employees by preventing the spread of the disease at his workplaces.
''Malaria prevention at Said Salim Bakhresa improves employee health, cuts company malaria-related costs by two-thirds'' at rbm.who.int As a result, Bakhresa's firm only spends about US$3400 a month for malaria medication as opposed to US$10000 per month to heal its sick workforce. They stopped using ''

Fansidar Sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine, sold under the brand name Fansidar, is a combination medication used to treat malaria. It contains sulfadoxine (a sulfonamide) and pyrimethamine (an antiprotozoal). For the treatment of malaria it is typically used a ...

''; a monotherapy drug in favor of more effective

artemisinin Artemisinin () and its semisynthetic derivatives are a group of drugs used in the treatment of malaria due to '' Plasmodium falciparum''. It was discovered in 1972 by Tu Youyou, who shared the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her ...

-based therapies that utilizes polytherapy. Other companies are united with the Bakhresa Group to stop malaria in their region. Residents of Tanzania who work outside of Bakhresa's company have also benefitted from Bakhresa's crusade against malaria in Africa.Advocacy for a Malaria Free Future
at MalariaFreeFuture.org

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakhresa, Said Salim 1949 births Living people Tanzanian businesspeople People from Dar es Salaam