Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi (Ge'ez: ሞሓመድ አልአሙዲ, Arabic: محمد حسين العمودي; born 1946 in Dessie,Ethiopia but grew up in Weldiya) [1] [2] is a Saudi Arabian/Ethiopian businessman who lives in Ethiopia and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Mohammed Al Amoudi is Ethiopia's richest person.
In 2006 his net worth was estimated as between $2.5 and $6.9 billion, causing Arabian Business to rank him as the world's 8th richest Arab [3] , and Forbes to rank him as the world's 77th richest person. [4] In 2008, Forbes ranked Mohammed Al Amoudi as the 97th richest person in the world with a net worth of $9 billion. [4] In 2009, Forbes ranked Mohammed Al Amoudi as the 43rd richest person in the world at a net worth of $9 billion. [4] In 2010, Forbes ranked Mohammed Al Amoudi as the world's 64th richest man with a net worth of $10 billion. [4]
Al Amoudi's father is Hadhrami Yemeni and his mother is Ethiopian. He immigrated to Saudi Arabia in 1965 and became a Saudi citizen. His wife is Sofia Saleh Al Amoudi who is a shareholder of Midroc Construction. [5] He has eight children, his eldest son and heir being Abdul Rahman Al Amoudi. Depending on different ethnic categorizations, and Al Amoudi's mixedEthiopian and Yemeni parentage, he is one of the richest Arabs or the world's richest black person. [6] [7]
Al Amoudi made his fortune in construction and real estate before branching out to buy oil refineries in Sweden andMorocco. He is said to be the largest foreign investor in both Sweden and Ethiopia. He holds an Honorary Doctorate inPhilosophy from the Addis Ababa University and has been honoured with the Order of the Polar Star by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
Contents:
1. Business activity
2. Charitable Donations
3. Commitment to East Africa
4. Popular culture
5. References
6. External links
1. Business activity
Al Amoudi owns a broad portfolio of businesses not only in oil but also in mining, agriculture, hotels, hospitals, finance, operations and maintenance. Although some critics[who?] have said he is gaining a monopoly on some businesses in Ethiopia, Ethiopia maintains a competitive free market economy. Despite losing bids to Al Amoudi, CEO Girma of Ethiopian Airlineshas said that Al Amoudi's work represents healthy competition. [8]
His businesses are largely to be found within two conglomerate holding and operating companies, Corral Petroleum Holdingsand MIDROC (Mohammed International Development Research and Organization Companies), which he owns and manages. He employs over 40,000 people through these companies.
2. Charitable Donations
Al Amoudi was named as one of the Clinton Foundation Donors, according to information released as part of an obligation placed on former President Clinton when he supported Hillary Clinton's nomination as Secretary of State. Al Amoudi is reported to have donated between $1,000,001 to $5,000,000. [9] He has also made donations to hospitals, NGOs and other causes in Ethiopia.
3. Commitment to East Africa
Al Amoudi has focused his East African investments on Ethiopia since the mid-1980s. MIDROC Ethiopia was created in 1994. He is very much committed to Ethiopia, especially to job creation and infrastructure capacity building, and is well known as a philanthropist in his country of birth. He has built a 140-bed health care facility and supports visual impairment, disabled, children's health and poverty alleviation programmes.
In the education arena, he provides overseas scholarships and is a patron of the Ethiopian arts. Al Amoudi has sponsored theCECAFA Cup, Africa's oldest cup competition for the last three years, during which time the football tournament has been known as the Al Amoudi Senior Challenge Cup. [10]
Al Amoudi is a frequent visitor to the UK and the US where he has business interests and was jointly honoured by the World Bank and State Department for his work in supporting African development. This was the first time that the World Bank had hosted such an event for a private sector investor.
In October 2009, Addis Fortune reported that the al-Amoudi-owned Saudi Star Agricultural Development Plc planned to develop up to 500,000 hectares (1,200,000 acres) of Ethiopian land for sugar, edible oil, and grain production. [11] The company had reportedly purchased $80 million in equipment from Caterpillar Inc. [11]
4. Popular culture
As of October 2007, Mohammed Al Amoudi had become the subject of e-mail spam, in which an ostensible ex-wife claims to have access to Al Amoudi's fortune. [12]
In 2010, the UK media claimed that a self-styled "saudi princess" had claimed to be his daughter [13] . There was no evidence of such a claim being made other than as media speculation and any such claim was forcefully denied by George Salem, lawyer for Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi, after a court case in London that was unrelated to the Sheikh had ended.
There have also been occasional unwarranted defamatory claims about the Sheikh on the internet which have been pointed out by the Sheikh's legal counsel to be fabrications, generated for political reasons or for other purposes.
Within African-American popular culture, the Sheikh is sometimes pointed out as a self-made man who offers a positive role model for black American youth.
5. References
- Ethiopian Sports
- "Weldiya"PDF (135 KiB), Local History of Ethiopia. The Nordic African Institute, 2005.
- Arabian Business
- ^ Forbes topic and news page on Mohammed Al Amoudi
- AllAfrica.com article
- The World's 50 Richest Arabs (Arabian Business)
- http://current.com/items/89881979_forbes-43-mohammed-al-amoudi-worlds-richest-black-man.htm
- Healthy business competition
- "Clinton Foundation Donors: Search". The New York Times. The New York Times Company.http://projects.nytimes.com/clinton-donors. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
- Cecafa Cup preview, BBC, November 25, 2005
- ^ McLure, Jason (October 12, 2009). "Saudi Billionaire Invests in Ethiopian Farms, Fortune Reports". New York:Bloomberg L.P.. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aIFZN6VBgYR4. Retrieved October 12, 2009.
- "I await your respond in my email asap". 419 Scam Email Repository. 2007-10-11. Archived from the original on 2007-12-25. http://web.archive.org/web/20071225221933/http://repository.izone.me.uk/repository.pl?action=read_email&email=20070911040443&month=October&year=2007. Retrieved 2007-12-11. "If you want to know more about my ex-husband Mohammad Al Amoudi visit this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Al_Amoudi"
- Daily Mail - Vamp and male model court case
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