The story of Ashish Thakkar is one of building and rebuilding, earning and giving back. He was just 13 when he and his family had to leave everything they had in Africa to escape the Rwandan genocide. But just a year later, resettled in Dubai, Thakkar set himself on the path of entrepreneurship when he sold his own computer to a family friend. At 15, he took out a US$6000 loan and started his first company. Thakkar would go on to found the Mara Group, an African conglomerate that includes one of the largest IT companies in Africa, and he’ll also be the first East African astronaut when he flies on a Virgin Galactic flight.

Nowadays, 31-year-old Thakkar focuses roughly 40% of his time on the Mara Foundation, which fosters African entrepreneurship with mentoring, incubation space and venture capital. Thakkar recently spoke about his motivation and core beliefs, which includes a strong faith in maintaining business ethics and giving opportunities to the less fortunate. "It’s important to give back and genuinely; that’s how I believe wealth should be measured" he says. Ashish is a serial entrepreneur who founded his first business in 1996 at the age of 15 with a $6,000 loan. Since then, he has driven the growth of the company from a small IT business in Uganda to the globally recognised multi-sector investment group that exists today.

Through its investments, Mara Group now employs over 8,000 people across 19 African countries in sectors spanning IT services, manufacturing, real estate and agriculture.

 Ashish continues to drive the business development and strategy of Mara.

In 2012, Ashish was appointed a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in recognition of his success and leadership in driving social and economic change in Africa. Ashish advises several heads of state in Sub-Saharan Africa and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Africa.



Ashish is passionate about enabling, empowering and inspiring youngmale and female entrepreneurs. Consequently, in 2009, he founded the Mara Foundation to foster and support emerging entrepreneurs through mentorship and venture philanthropy. 

Ashish is based in Dubai and Kampala, Uganda.