By Ben Ssebuguzi
Nigerian prominent businessman Aliko Dangote from Nigeria and Dr Sudhir Ruparelia from Uganda almost have the same attributes of devotedly believing and investing in their countries, unlike their counterparts who cause capital flight and take away their hard-earned dollars to invest in other countries like Dubai, the US and among others.
Dr Sudhir Rupaleria did not get a second thought when the government chose him to construct a convention centre at Commonwealth Resort, Munyonyo which cost an arm and leg. He forked out his money and did the meaningful. This conference centre which increased our capacity in holding MACE was meant to host the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The Sudhir Ruparelia Architectural marvel at Munyonyo up to now is still the talk of town given its beauty and class.
As if that was not enough, we woke up to the news again of Dr Sudhir acquiring the home of one of his tormentors, DFCU, previously known as Lotis Towers on plot 16, Army Avenue, Nakasero. He surprised us when he went ahead to named it after his granddaughter Arie, hence becoming Arie Towers. This means that he is a courageous hardworking man who works in silence to prove his critics wrong.
He must be having rare skills which other people lack in managing big buildings. It should be noted that he also acquired Simbamanyo which houses the Ministry of Gender in the same way.
For starters, Sudhir started his business journey in 1985 when he returned to Uganda from UK where he was doing odd jobs. He started in a humble way by starting up a liquor store until he metamorphized into one of the biggest entrepreneurs with an interest in education, hospitality, health, insurance, agriculture etc.
Dr. Sudhir was born in Kasese district which is currently his ascentral ground, but was raised in Jinja and studied in Kampala hence giving him a rich diversity and understanding of Uganda.
In the same way, Mr Aliko Dangote of the Dangote Refinery is the new baby of the Dangote group which was inaugurated on 22nd of May 2023 in Lekki, Nigeria. When in full capacity, it is expected to have the capacity to process about 650,000 barrels per day of crude oil making it the largest single-train refinery in the world. His achievements will help his country to stop the buying of fuel from other countries.
In conclusion, I urge other businessmen to emulate Dr Sudhir and to always believe and trust in their countries when deciding their investment destination because the citizens will uphold you and always remember your legacy when you’re no more.
Long live General Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Long live Hajjat Hadijah Uzeiye Namyalo.
The writer is the Head of Research at Office of the National Chairman (ONC)
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