MOHAMMED DEWJI "MO" HONOURED AS THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM YOUNG GLOBAL LEADER.

Mohammed Dewji

Tanzania’s young entrepreneur Mohammed Dewji has been announced by the World Economic Forum as a 2012 Young Global Leader.

Mr. Dewji (pictured) who is famously known as MO is the CEO of one of the largest business corporation in Tanzania, MeTL Group and a member of parliament for Singida urban constituency.

The honour bestowed each year by the Forum, recognizes and acknowledges up to 200 outstanding young leaders from around the world for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.

The Selection Committee, chaired by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, chose Mohammed after carefully screening the profiles of thousands of young leaders from every region of the world and from a myriad of disciplines and sectors.

His nomination is in recognition of his record of professional accomplishments, his commitment to society and his potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world through his inspiring leadership.

Mohammed Dewji was born in 1975 in rural area of Singida, Tanzania. He received his early education at the International School of Tanganyika and then, in 1992, moved to the US for his High School diploma. It was Saddlebrook High School in Florida where he first exhibited signs of leadership by becoming the School President. They endearingly called him Mo, and the nickname has since stuck.

Mo then moved on to Georgetown University in Washington DC. He balanced this material academic pursuit majoring in International Business and Finance and a minor in Theology. Georgetown University’s ethos of pursuing excellence and embracing the community affected him in a momentous way. He grew determined to find a meaningful way forward by blending what Georgetown was giving him with what his motherland Tanzania needed.

He thereafter charted a careful course for his life. In 1998 it began with the family business where he rose to the key leadership role within two years. Under his leadership MeTL Group took shape as a conglomerate that grew 12 folds in less than a decade: That, incidentally, contributes to nearly 3% of the country’s GDP and employing 24,000 people. 

Mo applied the same aim-organize-achieve mantra to Tanzanian football and he is recognized as the key driver in the national team’s successes.

In Tanzania’s third multi party elections in 2005, Mo contested and won the Singida parliamentary seat with an overwhelming majority of 90 percent of the total votes and was sworn in as a member of parliament on the 29th of December 2005. In 2007, CCM (the ruling party) elected him to a seat on the elite National Executive Committee. He was re-elected as a member of parliament for Singida urban constituency for the period of 2010 to 2015.

The 2012 YGL honorees will become part of the broader Forum of Young Global Leaders community that currently comprises 866 outstanding individuals. The YGLs convene at an annual summit, which will be held this year in Mexico on 14-18 April. Young Global Leaders are actively engaged in the community, integrating into events organized by the WEF and organizing events of their own as well as launching and leading a number of innovative initiatives and task forces.