Ashish Thakkar is a young and successful entrepreneur from Africa. He founded the Mara Group in 1996 when he was only 15 years old. The company has grown rapidly to operate in over 25 African countries with over 7,000 employees. Ashish’s business focuses on investing in Africa’s high growth potential in technology, financial services, manufacturing, real estate and agriculture. His investments demonstrate forward-looking insights and localization strategies. Ashish combines global best practices with local knowledge and expertise. His investments aim to drive Africa’s economic growth and make a positive impact. This article analyzes Ashish’s investment strategies and business philosophies in Africa.
Investing in high potential industries in Africa
Ashish invests selectively in industries and sectors with high growth potential in Africa, such as technology, infrastructure, financial services, manufacturing, agriculture and real estate. For example, his technology investments include e-commerce, fintech and communications platforms like Nimbuzz. Infrastructure investments include power plants, airports and commercial real estate. Manufacturing investments include phone assembly plants in Rwanda. These industries have huge upside in Africa’s fast growing consumer markets.
Localization and partnerships
Ashish partners extensively with multinationals and local experts to drive localization and on-the-ground execution. For example, Mara Group partnered with Google to launch Mara Phones, which are designed and assembled in Africa using global expertise along with local manufacturing capabilities. Partnerships enable knowledge transfer and creation of local capabilities and jobs.
Investing in youth and social impact
Ashish focuses on investing in African youth and driving social impact through education and entrepreneurship programs under the Mara Foundation. By empowering young entrepreneurs, he aims to create scalable and sustainable local companies and solutions for African problems. The impact investments create both social and economic value.
Leveraging global hubs
Although Mara Group is focused on African investments, its headquarters are based in Dubai. This enables access to global capital, expertise and markets. However, the operations and focus remain strongly African. The global hub model allows scaling more easily across Africa.
Understanding local context
Despite being based in Dubai, Ashish emphasizes deeply understanding local African context, cultures and on-ground realities. This enables customizing global best practices to fit local needs. His African roots provide valuable local knowledge and networks.
In conclusion, Ashish Thakkar’s investment strategies in Africa demonstrate savvy combination of global expertise and local knowledge, selective sectoral investments, partnerships, social impact, and leveraging global hubs. His local understanding and African roots provide unique advantages. Ashish represents a new generation of forward-looking, globally connected African investors and entrepreneurs.