With a long migration history to various African countries, Indian immigrants have established successful enterprises across diverse industries.

Some of these immigrants arrived in Africa with limited resources and often faced significant challenges, including cultural differences, language barriers, and limited access to capital.

However, their determination, resilience, and willingness to adapt enabled them to overcome obstacles and thrive in their adopted countries.

To date, Indians especially in East Africa have excelled in the trade, manufacturing, retail, real estate, and hospitality sectors. They have leveraged their knowledge, skills, and networks to identify opportunities, establish large multi-million-dollar and billion-dollar businesses, and drive economic growth.

Below, we look at the top 10 Indian entrepreneurs who own multi-million and billion-dollar businesses and are making fortunes on the African continent.

1. Manu Chandaria (Est. NW: $1.7bn)
Nationality: Kenyan / Company: Comcraft Group

Chandaria, 93, built Comcraft Group into one of the most prosperous groups in East Africa. The conglomerate, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, produces steel, plastics, and aluminium products from its manufacturing facilities in 16 African countries and employs more than 30,000 people. 

2. Sudhir Ruparelia (Est NW: $1.2bn)
Nationality: Ugandan / Company: Ruparelia Group

Sudhir Ruparelia is the founder of Ruparelia Group, the largest conglomerate in Uganda. His influence in Uganda is unmatched. The group owns an extensive collection of hotels, country clubs, thousands of residential apartments, a flower exporting business, educational institutions, insurance companies, and a leading construction company, among many other assets.

Ruparelia started his empire by importing beer and salt from Kenya in 1985 after returning from the United Kingdom, where he went after being expelled from Uganda by then President Idi Amin in 1972, along with other Asians in the country.

3. Bhimji Depar Shah (Est NW: $900m)
Nationality: Kenyan / Company: Bidco Group

Bhimji Depar Shah, 91, was born in Egypt but settled in Nyeri in the central highlands of Kenya, where he built his first significant business, a petrol station. In 1970, he founded Bidco Industries to manufacture affordable clothing for lower and middle-class Kenyans. The company began producing soap in 1985 and edible oils in 1991. Bidco is now East Africa’s largest manufacturer of fast-moving consumer goods, churning everything from noodles and fruit juices to beauty soaps and animal feed. Annual revenues of the group exceed $400 million. 

4. Narendra Raval Guru (Est NW: $800m)
Nationality: Kenyan / Company: Devki Group

Born in India, Raval once served as an assistant priest at a Swaminarayan temple before relocating to Kenya with his family as a teenager. The “man of steel,” fondly referred to as “Guru” in Kenyan political, business, and social circles, sits on top of the largest steel manufacturing company in East Africa.

Narendra’s Devki Group, which has over $600 million in annual revenues, manufactures all kinds of steel and cement products. The company recently opened a $300 million raw steel production plant in Kwale County, Kenya’s coastal region.

5. Mayur Madhvani (Est NW: $700m)
Nationality: Ugandan / Company: Madhvani Group

Mayur Madhvani is the youngest son and child of Muljibhai Madhvani, the family patriarch who founded the Madhvani Group in 1930. Madhvani, 78, is widely credited with growing the family empire into one of the largest diversified private-sector groups in East Africa today.

With strong operations in Uganda, Madhvani Group is best known for its dominance of the sugar business in the country. Its flagship company, Kakira Sugar Works, is the largest sugar manufacturer in Uganda, producing an estimated 165,000 metric tonnes of sugar annually. It also owns Kinyara Sugar Works, the second-largest sugar producer in the country.

The Madhvani Group also has interests in power generation, hotels and resorts, and security services, among other things. The group has annual revenues of over $500 million. 

6. Naushad Merali (Est NW: $500m)
Nationality: Kenyan / Company: Sameer Group

Naushad Merali died in July 2021 at the age of 70. Until his death, he was one of the wealthiest Kenyans and most influential people in East Africa.

Merali founded Sameer Group in 1983 and built it into a leading economic force with significant investments and successful operating companies in all key sectors of the Kenyan economy – agribusiness, automobile and distribution, construction, energy and power, finance, property development and real estate. 

7. Amirali Karmali (Est NW: $400m)
Nationality: Ugandan/ Company: Mukwano Group

Amiral Karmali, who died in 2019, founded the Mukwano Group in East Africa. This industrial conglomerate produces everything from cooking oils, fats, toilet soaps, and cosmetics to industrial plastics and detergents.

The company’s yearly revenue exceeds $230 million, and most of its products are industry leaders. Karmali was also a significant landowner in Uganda, owning 17,000 acres of property in the Masindi district. Alykhan Karmali, his son, is currently in charge.

8. Vivian Reddy (Est NW: $315m)
Nationality: South African / Company: Edison Group

Vivian Reddy, a South African Indian of South Indian descent, founded the Edison Group, which is involved in the power, casino, and hotel sectors. Edison Power, the group’s flagship business, is one of the largest electrical engineering service providers in South Africa.

beyond business, Vivian Reddy is known for his extensive philanthropic work; funding education and healthcare initiatives across South Africa. He also owns the multimillion-dollar Ocean Mall in Durban. 

9. Vinay and Ratan Mahtani (Est Combined NW: $350m)
Nationality: Nigerian / Company: Churchgate

Vinay and Ratan Mahtani’s father, Ishwardas Mahtani, founded Churchgate Group in 1968 as a textile manufacturer, large-scale importer, and distributor of essential commodities. In 1995, the company shut down its textile business after the Nigerian government removed protections for the local textile industry, allowing the importation of all textiles.

Churchgate changed its focus to leasing excess space in its office and warehouse properties and real estate development. It has completed several large-ticket residential, commercial, and mixed-use projects. Churchgate owns The World Trade Center Abuja, among several other properties.

10. Ramesh Hathiramani (Est. NW of $300m)
Nationality: Nigerian / Company: Dana Group

Ramesh Hathiramani is the founder of Dana Group, a large Nigerian conglomerate that has interests in aviation, pharmaceuticals, importation of industrial chemicals, and automobile distribution. Dana Group also owns a steel rolling mill in Katsina state in Nigeria’s northern region. Hathiramani started trading general merchandise in the early 1970s in Nigeria before venturing into the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals in the mid-1980s.   

Dana Motors, the group’s auto distribution subsidiary, is the sole distributor of Kia in Nigeria. It also owns the popular Dana Air, a commercial airline.