Tanzania's Mohammed Dewji to Invest $275 Million in Graphite and Tourism
Tanzanian billionaire Mohammed Dewji plans to invest about $275 million through his MeTL Group in graphite mining for EV batteries, alongside luxury tourism projects near Zanzibar and Serengeti.
By BuzzyAfrica Staff
July 11, 2026 · 3 min read
Tanzania's richest man, Mohammed Dewji, is expanding his business empire into graphite mining and luxury tourism as global demand for electric vehicle battery minerals and high-end African travel continues to rise. According to a Bloomberg report, the billionaire plans to invest about $275 million in graphite mining through his diversified conglomerate, MeTL Group, with commercial production expected to begin within the next 18 months. The move forms part of a broader strategy to more than triple the group's annual revenue to $10 billion by 2035.
Chasing Battery-Grade Graphite for Export
Speaking to Bloomberg, Dewji said his company is already working with European partners to understand battery-grade graphite specifications, while members of his team are in China sourcing graphite processing technology. "I am already working very, very closely with some European partners to be able to understand what quality of a product they require," he said. The investment comes as governments and automakers seek to diversify critical mineral supply chains away from China, which currently dominates global graphite mining and processing. MeTL initially plans to produce graphite at around 94% purity for sale to Chinese refiners, before upgrading production to battery-grade material for direct export to Europe, Japan and South Korea.
A Market Bloomberg Says Faces a Looming Deficit
According to BloombergNEF, the global graphite market is expected to enter a supply deficit in the early 2030s as demand accelerates alongside the broader energy transition and rising electric vehicle adoption. Graphite is one of the key minerals used in lithium-ion batteries, and demand is projected to climb sharply as countries expand electric mobility and renewable energy storage, positioning early movers such as MeTL to capture a larger share of a market that is still dominated by Chinese supply.
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From Consumer Goods to Critical Minerals
The mining investment marks another diversification move for MeTL Group, one of East Africa's largest privately owned conglomerates, which manufactures more than 50 product categories, operates in 11 African countries and employs more than 40,000 people across agribusiness, food processing, fast-moving consumer goods, financial services and logistics. Nairametrics has previously reported that Dewji expressed interest in investing $100 million in Aliko Dangote's proposed oil refinery in Kenya, a project expected to become one of Africa's largest refining facilities as the Nigerian industrialist expands his footprint across East Africa.
Dewji is also increasing MeTL's investments in tourism as part of the group's long-term growth strategy. He has acquired a 150-hectare island near Zanzibar, where he plans to develop an ultra-luxury resort in partnership with an international hospitality operator, and has secured a concession in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park to build a luxury lodge aimed at affluent international tourists. Widely known as "Mo," Dewji is considered Africa's youngest billionaire and has built MeTL Group into one of the continent's largest industrial conglomerates over the past two decades, moves that now stretch from cooking oil and textiles to critical minerals and safari lodges. MeTL traces its roots to a trading business his family expanded over several decades, which Dewji pushed further into manufacturing and regional expansion well beyond Tanzania's borders after taking over day-to-day leadership of the group. The graphite and tourism investments extend that pattern of diversification, betting simultaneously on a critical mineral tied to the global energy transition and on a luxury travel market that has continued to draw visitors to East Africa's parks and coastline despite broader global economic uncertainty.
Source: Nairametrics
Source: Nairametrics
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