Africa has lost one of its richest men. Reginald Mengi, a billionaire from Tanzania died aged 75 According to one of his radio stations (Radio One), the businessman died in Dubai Forbes Magazine says Mengi owned one of the largest media conglomerates in Africa. The tycoon leaves behind a wife, Jacqueline Ntuyabaliwe-Mengi and two sons.
His IPP Media Group owns 11 newspapers, radio and television stations, and internet properties. He also owns Bonite Bottlers, the sole bottler of Coca-Cola products in the northern region of Tanzania. His Kilimanjaro brand of bottled water is the biggest selling in the country. His IPP Resources mines gold, uranium, copper, chrome, and coal.
A devout philanthropist, he sends hundreds of Tanzanian children with heart ailments to India for treatments. Information from Tanzania’s Media Ownership Monitor says Reginald Mengi returned to Tanzania in April 1971 after qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in Scotland and joined the audit firm of Cooper Brothers.
He is credited with promoting business lobby power in Tanzania. He has held several public positions including Chairperson of Tanzania Standard Newspapers Ltd; Commissioner of the Salaries Review Commission and Chairman of the National Board of Accountants and Auditors Tanzania (NBAA).
The Media Ownership Monitor also says he was the Chairman of the National Environment Management Council of Tanzania (NEMC); Chairman of the Tanzania Chapter of the Commonwealth Press Club (CPU); Board Director for LEAD (Leadership for Environment and Development International) and Chairman of the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI).
Source: standardmedia.co.ke
