The rise of Merali’s empire By Nick Wachira

For complete article see:

http://www.eastandard.net/financialstandard/news/fsnews01060404.htm


The rise of Merali’s empire
By Nick Wachira
How a simple accountant rose to become one of Kenya's leading corporate billionaires

It all started in December 2003, when Naushad Noorali Merali, a Kenya businessman was in a reflective mood while on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia to pay tribute to his God, Allah.

An official from Vivendi Telecoms placed a call to Merali and informed him that his French based business partners had signed an exclusive contract to begin the negotiations for the sale of KenCell Communications to South Africa’s mobile phone giant, MTN.

Though Merali, through his holding company, Sameer Group — which is named after his only son and child — owned 40 per cent of KenCell Communications, the call did not bother him much. At 53, Merali is at his prime and one of the richest businessmen in Kenya. Today, he controls companies with over Sh20 billion in assets. His personal wealth is also calculated to be over Sh20 billion.

In September 2002, he had received a similar call from Vivendi informing