Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi
Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi (Ge'ez: ሞሓመድ አልአሙዲ, Arabic: محمد حسين العمودي; born 1946 in Dessie, Ethiopia but grew up in Weldiya).[1][2] is a Saudi Arabian /Ethiopian business magnate who lives in Ethiopia and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In 2006 his net worth was estimated as between $2.5 and $6.9 billion, causing Arabian Business to rank him as the world's 8th richest Arab, and Forbes to rank him as the world's 77th richest person.[3] Al Amoudi's father is Yemeni and his mother is Ethiopian. He immigrated to Saudi Arabia in 1965 and became a Saudi citizen. Depending on disparate ethnic categorizations, and Al Amoudi's mixed Ethiopian and Yemeni parentage, he is considered to be the richest black person in the world[4] and/or one of the richest Arabs.[5]
Al Amoudi made his fortune in construction and real estate before branching out to buy oil refineries in Sweden and Morocco. He is said to be the largest foreign investor in both Sweden and Ethiopia. He holds an Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy from the Addis Ababa University and has been honoured with the Swedish Royal Order of the Polar Star by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
Business activity
Al Amoudi owns a broad portfolio of businesses not only in oil but also in mining, agriculture, hotels, hospitals, finance, operations and maintenance. Some have said he is gaining monopoly on businesses in Ethiopia, but there seem to be other wealthy Ethiopians to challenge some of his companies. Despite losing bids to Al Amoudi, CEO Girma of Ethiopian Airlines said Al Amoudi's work is a healthy competition, saying "growth and competition, it is good for everybody."[6]
His businesses are largely to be found within two conglomerate holding and operating companies, Corral Petroleum Holdings and MIDROC, which he owns and manages. He employs over 40,000 people through these companies.
Commitment to East Africa
Al Amoudi has focused his East African investments on Ethiopia since the mid-1980s. MIDROC Ethiopia was created in 1994. He is strongly committed to Ethiopia, especially job creation and infrastructure capacity building. He is also well known as a philanthropist in his birth country and has built a 140-bed health care facility and supports visual impairment, disabled, children's health and poverty alleviation programmes. In the education arena, he provides overseas scholarships and is a patron of the Ethiopian arts. Al Amoudi has sponsored the CECAFA Cup, Africa's oldest cup competition for the last three years, during which time the football tournament has been known as the Al Amoudi Senior Challenge Cup.[7]
Al Amoudi is a frequent visitor to the UK and the US where he has further business interests and was jointly honoured by the World Bank and State Department for his work in supporting African development. This was the first time that the World Bank had hosted such an event for a private sector investor.
Further Information
References
- ^ Ethiopian Sports
- ^ Template:PDFlink, Local History of Ethiopia. The Nordic African Institute, 2005.
- ^ Arabian Business estimates his worth at $2.5 billion, Forbes at $6.9 billion.
- ^ Mohammed Al Amoudi is the 77th Richest Person in the World, Nazret.com
- ^ The World's 50 Richest Arabs (Arabian Business)
- ^ Healthy business competition
- ^ Cecafa Cup preview, BBC, November 25, 2005