Bishop Chris - Africas Billionaires

Published by Penguin Books
an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd
Reg. No. 1953/000441/07
The Estuaries No. 4, Oxbow Crescent, Century Avenue, Century City, 7441
PO Box 1144, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa
www.penguinbooks.co.za

First published 2017

Publication Zebra Press 2017
Text Chris Bishop

Cover illustration: iStock by Getty

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owners.

PUBLISHER: Marlene Fryer
MANAGING EDITOR: Ronel Richter-Herbert
PROOFREADER: Genevieve Adams
COVER DESIGNER: Sean Robertson

ISBN 978 1 77609 121 8 (print)
ISBN 9 78 1 77609 122 5 (ePub)

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. The African roots of Forbes: Bertie Charles Forbes

2. The richest man in Africa: Aliko Dangote

3. The young Tsar of Dar: Mohammed Dewji

4. The $600-million-a-year rent collector: Sudhir Ruparelia

5. The Capitalist Crusader: Herman Mashaba

6. Oh lucky man!: Tim Tebeila, mining millionaire and barefoot dreamer

7. The sage elder of Africa who studied with Mick Jagger: Pascal Dozie

8. The Three Wise Men: Brey, Robertson and Brozin

9. From barefoot to a $500-million African media empire: Reginald Mengi

10. How the mouse ate the elephant: Stephen Saad

11. The king of diamonds: Nicky Oppenheimer

12. The immigrant priest who became a steel baron: Narendra Raval

13. From cheap clothes to diamonds: Christo Wiese

14. Of wine, women and wrong: Wendy Appelbaum

15. Court battles and no to corruption a Tour de Strive: Strive Masiyiwa

16. Right place, wrong business, right time: Patrice Motsepe

17. A voyage of discovery: Adrian Gore

18. I wanna be a billionaire tonight!: Abdulsamad Rabiu

Epilogue: Days of demons and angry elephants

To Tony and Sheila Bishop the shining people who inspired me to dream

THE LIFE OF an entrepreneur can never be fully understood until you have experienced it yourself. There is a misplaced notion that entrepreneurship means freedom. On the contrary, the journey of an entrepreneur is, ironically, one of infinite bondage the result of an inordinate desire to succeed. This journey is a maze of responsibilities, not only to your family, but to the families of the staff who work with you, and to the stakeholders who are related to your business. I know this path only too well I have traversed it for the last 28 years since leaving the Indian Army.

While entrepreneurship is never easy in any place in the world, it has additional encumbrances in emerging markets. Over a lifetime, I have worked in almost every emerging economy, including but not limited to the former CIS countries (Commonwealth of Independent States, the association of Soviet states created by Russia in 1991), the Middle East, South and South East Asia, and Africa. It does not matter which geography, the path is littered with uncertainty and volatility that can test the resolve of even the toughest.

My African journey started in 2004, when my partner Zafar Siddiqi and I decided to establish a business-news channel in franchise collaboration with CNBC. What appeared to be a straightforward business case turned out to be a mammoth task, putting together the building blocks in a continent that was immature from a media perspective, both in advertising and distribution, as well as geographically fragmented into 54 diverse countries. Global markets were in chaos from 2008 to 2010, which left the business fraternity in ruins. For start-ups, it was a nightmare. If ever there was a time when I have lost sleep, it was during this period, as the roller coaster of inconsistencies in government actions compounded our woes.

During this tumultuous economic cycle, when the media industry was being battered, I decided to do the unthinkable. I pushed home another franchise opportunity that had been on the back burner for a few years. While print media was collapsing around the world, we launched yet another franchise Forbes Africa.

The opportunity followed my undying belief that the spirit of entrepreneurship in Africa needed to be harnessed and celebrated. After boardroom battles and navigating legal agreements, the magazine was born in October 2011.

A vision will only be a dream until it is successfully implemented. A lot of resources go into implementation, but the most critical one is having the right people who share your vision and are prepared to take a leap of faith and toil to bring the dream to reality. Finding these rare jewels is a journey of a lifetime. I was fortunate enough to find them in our own midst: Chris Bishop as managing editor, and my son, Sid Wahi, as executive director. A soul of a magazine is enshrined in the ethical values of its managing editor and its success in the able hands of an astute business leader who can conceptualise the future. With these two at the helm and a band of loyal soldiers working relentlessly, I was not surprised when Forbes Africa rose to become the number-one magazine in its genre on the African continent.

So what does it take to go through stormy waters and bring a ship home safe after a successful mission?

To my mind, there are a lot of factors that play a role. Other than having good people, these include the need for patience, the ability to stay calm through the worst crises and, above all, building interdependence with others. Business has inherent risks, and while we attempt to mitigate these through proactive deeds, you cannot foresee everything. Murphys Law plays its part again and again and, when you think its over, it plays it again. The greatest risks of all are those created by man. These can neither be mitigated nor avoided; they need to be managed. To manage risk efficiently, you need to learn how to navigate through apparent irrational conduct through a mastery over the science of human behaviour and emotional intelligence.

We tend to idolise people as role models when we see what they have achieved; often, this is measured by material success. What is never apparent, however, is the journey of blood, sweat and tears. Over the last five years, Forbes Africa has covered the inspirational journeys of several business leaders, but, in the process, has also uncovered their trials and tribulations. Those moments of compassion from unexpected quarters, the presence of a sons shoulder, the unscientific hand of Lady Luck, the loyalty from your brothers in arms, and the unwavering belief and faith from your partner, are all summarised in these personal journeys of hope.

And as we get to the pinnacle of our journey and reflect, we must be able to look back not only on the positive influence weve had on the lives of those with whom we have worked, but also on what we were able to give back to those less fortunate than ourselves. Giving back is an integral path of humanity; big or small, this empathetic cord must inherently become our conscience.

Chris Bishop has undertaken to compile the journeys of a number of entrepreneurs through their vicissitudes and how they coped with challenges and adversity to achieve success. To my mind, this compilation is a valuable benchmark and a must-read for all would-be entrepreneurs who want to give up living in a comfort zone and pursue dreaming and building a better future for themselves, their families and for those they have the good fortune to lead.