Ali Mufuruki: Architect of Tanzania’s private sector

Ali Mufuruki, who held a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and Design, was the Founder and Executive Chairperson of Infotec Investment Group. He was the embodiment of Tanzania’s entrepreneurial spirit and business vision. Observing his approach, one might conclude he was a born businessperson, despite his personal sentiment that "business was never my choice." Mufuruki's diverse business portfolio spanned several sectors: telecommunications and entertainment, hospitality, IT and retail clothing (operating Woolworths stores in Uganda and Tanzania), and real estate.

He was one of a select few highly successful entrepreneurs. His entrepreneurial flair led to numerous directorships and chairperson roles across various companies, foundations, and forums. He served as Chairperson of Tanzania Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) Roundtable, a key forum for top executives in the country, and was a board member for several companies throughout East Africa.

Rising to prominence from a humble background, Mufuruki achieved success through sheer hard work and determination. He was known for his humility, kindness, and strong networking skills. An iconic business mentor, he possessed many widely admired virtues. This piece serves as a tribute, featuring an exclusive, archived interview with him from Who’s Who Tanzania. Excerpts:

QUESTION (Q): Readers of Who’s who Tanzania want to know who Ali Mufuriki is. Could you give us a belief background of yourself?

ANSWER (A): I was born in a small village called Kanyinya, not very far from Kemondo Bay on the shores of Lake Victoria. I spent the first 13 years of my life with my grandmother who we loved calling Ma Spina. The youth like my children will never understand what it was like back then. Village life was interesting because people lived in an active communal life with active participation in celebrations and in mourning. In general, social life in the village was like a family living as one.

Q: Becoming an engineer calls for hard work as a student at another level. How was it possible for a boy from the shores of Victoria to be able to make it?

A: I began formal education at the age of six. I joined Kahororo Secondary School in Kahohoro in 1972 aged 13 years. At that time, it was common for people to study old and I remember some of my classmates were aged 18 years and above. I later joined Lake Secondary and it was there where I completed my Form four. From Lake Secondary School, I went to Old Moshi High School for my Advanced Level education. I took Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics (PCM) as my combination. I was good at those subjects and like at my O-Level, I passed my advanced exams with flying colours. I was one of the top 3 students in the whole country. After high school, I received an offer through National Development Corporation (NDC) to be interviewed for a scholarship from the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany as it was awarding scholarships to five or six high school exceptionally performing students. On June 4, 1980, I landed in Germany to start a seven-year course in Mechanical Engineering. After graduation, I worked with Mercedes-Benz and was actually about to get a full-time contract, but I preferred to return home and practise engineering. I returned in 1987 and reported directly to NDC, the official sponsor of my scholarship and it found me an engineering job at National Engineering Company (NECO).

Q: Most young Tanzanians wish for nothing more than become engineers. What made a Germany trained-engineer like you turn to business for earning a living?

A: For economic reasons, salaries in the 1980s were too low, and life was so expensive. As Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Design I was earning just about Sh6,800 and there was no way I could survive on that. Imagine I had a small car that I had bought while I was still in Germany and I had to refuel for Sh20,000 every month and yet my salary was only Sh6,800. So, I used the savings I had made while in Germany. Being so disappointed and desperate I decided to resign from NECO and find sustenance elsewhere.

Q: Many people fear to leave a job on their own, how easy was it for you to leave NDC?

A: As I said earlier, starting a business was a matter of desperation. I was looking at the possibility of starvation, not being able to service my car the next time it broke down, right up to not getting treatment the next time I fell ill. I had many dependants I was supporting at the time. I remember having to discuss it with some of my colleagues, very good friends, some of whom were working at NECO and told me it would be a crazy decision to quit my job to join business. I set up a computer services company which wasn’t exactly my specialisation, but it was the technology I had been exposed to while working as a salesperson in Germany.

Only a few government offices and a few donor-funded projects had computers, and even then, they were not using them because people were not trained in using them. I neither had a big office nor a big team. Actually, I didn’t need a lot of capital to get started. I just needed Sh20,000 for opening a bank account. After a year, I started talks with Siemens of Germany about the possibility of representing them here (in Tanzania) and because of my German connections and because Siemens was not represented here, they gave me the dealership. I remember, in the first year in 1989, the turnover was Sh900,000. It was not a lot of money because rent was Sh150,000 a month for the office. By 1999 (10 years later), we had grown so many times almost a 1,000-times, and our turnover was in access of Sh1 billion and the company was employing more than 30 people. We had fully-fledged departments of training, service and customer care.

Q: Did you see a business deal with Siemens as a turning point in your business career?

A: I wouldn’t say so, but they helped me a lot because all other big brands were taken - IBM and Wang Computers - if you remember. Those were big names back then and that was before Compacq Dell, and before Mac. It was not easy to get a brand that was credible to become a dealer. So, when they allowed me to use that brand and become their representative here, I felt that they were doing me a favour.

Q: Could you take us through the growth of your business in the last 20 years from the one-man show to hundreds.

A: We started doing retail business in 1999 and we opened the first Woolworth store in this country. Before that, we never had a department store where you could walk and simply pick what you want, go to the fitting room and pay. We didn’t have that kind of culture in this country. We wanted to add a few more stores then, but we realised that most of the cities in the country were not ready. They didn’t have the right kind of buildings. So, we opted to go to Uganda. Nairobi already had a Woolworth store owned by the Kibaki Family.

Our first store was at workers house along Pilkington Avenue in Central Kampala. Unfortunately, it didn’t do quite well. We had to shut it down within the next two years. Fortunately, in Uganda there was a proliferation of shopping malls so we opened another store in a shopping mall at Garden City and now we have another shop if not the biggest store at Metro Place Mall.

That is how we were able to expand our business, otherwise we were constrained because we were not able to expand horizontally, by adding more trading stakes in Tanzania and that was why we had to expand vertically. We are constantly working and now we look forward to expanding to Mwanza, Moshi, and Dodoma. We work with real estate developers and there is a bit of real estate development going on.

Q: Is there any serious challenges in the course of doing business?

A: Yes, there is one major problem and that is human resources. Human resources’ capability is a big challenge especially in this country. When you grow a business, it outstrips your capacity to manage it yourself and you have to rely on other people to help manage it for you. I cannot be here in Dar es Salaam and still want to manage the business in Arusha, Mwanza and Kampala directly. I have to be able to put together a team that can run that business for me in a very transparent and efficient way. We have struggled in the last 14 years as a business, especially in Tanzania to get capable people to help run this business.

The Uganda business since we established it had been under the management of Ugandans from day one to date. It has been growing very well, it has addressed a lot of challenges, but I don’t worry much about Uganda as I do about Tanzania. The Tanzanian business is headed by a foreigner. We have tried to develop our own people, but they just don’t take up the challenge and schools are not producing good quality graduates.

Q: What is your advice to people in this country, especially young

ones?

A: Today’s young people are often driven by success. I see people who want to succeed at any cost. They have no regard for morality or ethical questions that they face in their chosen direction. My advice to them is that success requires three things: the first is hard work. You have to be able to work very hard and there is no limit to how hard it can be. So, one has to be prepared for it. The other is discipline. Hard work can always produce results, but to sustain those good results you have to be disciplined and being disciplined means the way you behave, the way you manage your life and the financial discipline and how you use your money. The other intangible thing, but in my opinion is probably the most important thing, is integrity. This s the biggest asset a human being can have, and I have found it to be true in my life. People should be able to trust you with their money, secrets and life. I find that incredibly powerful because people will come to you with money, looking for a business partner, but they can only work with somebody they trust.

Q: We believe you have someone who has inspired you. Who are the most inspirational figures in your life?

A: There are many people who have made a difference in my life. Friends and family members, but the most important is my wife. She’s the only person I know, who I have been with during the last 20 years, and a lot of things have happened during the last 20 years. She has greatly supported me emotionally.