Meet Reginald Mengi , a Tanzanian conglomerate that owns 11 national newspapers (including Tanzania’s Financial Times, ThisDay and The Guardian), three of East Africa’s most popular television stations (EATV, Capital and ITV), and about ten radio stations. He also owns gold mines and Coca-Cola bottling plants in the country. His companies employ over 5,000 people in Tanzania and rank among the largest corporate taxpayers in Tanzania. Mengi grew up poor in northern Tanzania, studied accountancy and articles with Cooper Brothers in the United Kingdom, was accepted as a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales. He returned to Tanzania in 1971 and was employed by the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand Tanzania (now PriceWaterHouseCoopers) until 1989, when he left to concentrate on his own businesses.
Mengi was honored with Lions Clubs International (LCI) for his “selfless dedication to humanity and a determination to labour for the public welfare”. Reginald Mengi in accepting the award urged Tanzania’s wealthy class to devote more resources towards uplifting the poor in the society. “It’s wonderful for one to use part of one’s achievements to help God’s people. You will not be remembered by how much your bank account or business was a success but for your contributions and support to others in needy situation,” explained the IPP Executive Chairman. Every year, the media and mining tycoon sponsors at least 100 Tanzanian children with severe heart conditions to get surgeries in foreign hospitals as there are very few specialized medical institutions to handle such cases in Tanzania. He also finances a scholarship programme that pays the fees of hundreds of destitute Tanzanian children through primary to tertiary education.
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