Ethiopian-Saudi billionaire businessman (born 1946)
Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi
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Born
| 1946
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Nationality
| |
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Occupations
| - Businessman
- investor
- billionaire
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Title
| Owner and manager of
Corral Petroleum Holdings
and
MIDROC
|
---|
Spouse
| Sofia Saleh Al Amoudi
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Children
| 8
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Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi
(
Arabic
:
???? ???? ??? ???????
; born 1946) is an
Ethiopian
-born
Saudi
billionaire businessman.
Born in Ethiopia to a Yemeni father from
Hadhramaut
and Ethiopian mother in
Amhara Region
being from
Wollo
, he migrated to
Saudi Arabia
with his brother Mauricet and becoming a Saudi citizen.
In 2016, his net worth was estimated by
Forbes
at approximately $10.9 billion and a relative fall in net value was linked to the global fall in oil and gold prices at the time of estimation.
[1]
He was also listed as Ethiopia's richest man, the second richest Saudi Arabian citizen in the world and the second richest person of African descent in the world.
[2]
Al Amoudi made his fortune in construction and
real estate
before branching out to buy
oil refineries
in Sweden and Morocco. He is the largest individual foreign investor in Ethiopia and a major investor in Sweden.
[1]
Business activities
[
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]
Al Amoudi owns a broad portfolio of businesses in construction, energy, agriculture, mining, hotels, healthcare and manufacturing amongst others. His businesses are largely to be found within two
conglomerate
holding
and operating companies,
Corral Petroleum Holdings
and
MIDROC
, both which he owns and manages. He employs over 70,000 people through these companies.
[3]
Al Amoudi's construction company consortium,
Mohammed International Development Research and Organization Companies
, also known as MIDROC, won a contract to build Saudi Arabia's estimated $30 billion nationwide underground oil storage complex in 1988. MIDROC acquired Yanbu Steel in Saudi Arabia in 2000.
[4]
In addition to his business interests in Ethiopia, he also owns oil refineries in
Morocco
and
Sweden
(
Svenska Petroleum Exploration AB
) and is engaged in energy exploration and production off West Africa and elsewhere.
[5]
His
Addis Ababa
Sheraton
is said to be among the finest hotels in Africa.
[6]
He has recently pledged US$275 million alongside other Saudi and South Korean investors through MIDROC to finance a factory to build Saudi Arabia's first car, to be called
Gazal-1
, in a project initiated by
King Saud University
[7]
[8]
and, in September 2011, it was announced that he planned to invest around US$1.07bn (4bn Saudi Riyals) in two major Saudi industrial projects (phosphate derivatives and sulfur) in
Ras Al-Khair
[Eastern Region] and
Jubail Industrial City
respectively.
[9]
Ethiopian investments
[
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]
Al Amoudi has invested in Ethiopia since the mid-1980s. He now has business interests there, largely operated through
MIDROC Ethiopia
which was created in 1994. In 2011, it made 1.4bn birr (US$70m) of profits.
[10]
[11]
Natural resources
[
edit
]
He has
gold mining
interests in Ethiopia
[12]
[13]
and it is reported that MIDROC Gold Mine (a subsidiary of MIDROC Ethiopia) has paid the Ethiopian government 100.1 million birr in royalties, the largest contribution of any mining company.
[14]
Midroc Gold is Ethiopia's sole gold exporter. Its
Lega Dembi Mine
has a yearly average production of around 4,500 kg of gold and silver.
[15]
He owns 70% of
National Oil Ethiopia
, which competes with
YBF
,
TAF OIL
and five other companies in the national petrol market
[16]
and is establishing a steel plant (Tossa) in
Amhara
. This latter is Ethiopia's first industrial steel production plant and in intended to meet a major increase in domestic demand, estimated to rise from 1.2m tonnes to 3.1m tonnes per annum between 2011 and 2014.
[17]
In February 2011, Al Amoudi acquired 69% of Ethiopia's sole tyre manufacturer
Addis Tyre
[18]
and he has a substantial investment in cement production through
Durba
Midroc which was founded in 2008.
[19]
His major cement plant near Chancho was backed in part by the World Bank's International Finance Corporation.
[20]
[21]
In July 2011, it was announced that the Ethiopian Electric Power Company (EEPco) would provide the Derba cement plant with 50 MW of electricity.
[19]
Agriculture
[
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]
The Al Amoudi-owned
Saudi Star Agricultural Development
Plc plans to
develop
up to 500,000 hectares (1,200,000 acres) of Ethiopian land for sugar,
edible oil
, and grain production.
[22]
In March 2011, Saudi Star announced a further investment of $2.5 billion in Ethiopian rice projects.
[23]
Some 10,000 hectares have been taken up in 60-year leases and the company plans to rent an additional 290,000 hectares.
[22]
The company had reportedly purchased $80 million in equipment from
Caterpillar Inc
.
[24]
In August 2011, President
Girma Wolde-Giorgis
of Ethiopia stated that “a substantial investment in agricultural development was key to improving the quality of life across Africa” and that Saudi Star's investment programme would benefit both Ethiopia and its important trading partner, Saudi Arabia.
[25]
Al Amoudi also owns
land used to produce coffee
. Of the 2,295 hectares (5,670 acres) of land acquired by Ethio Agri-CEFT (which he owns) in the
Sheka Zone
of Ethiopia, it has only covered 1,010 hectares with coffee and shade trees, with the rest remaining as natural vegetation.
[26]
In 2011, he donated 10 million birr (US$500k) to the proposed Ethiopian National Coffee Museum in Ethiopia's Kaffa Zone.
[27]
In September 2011, in response to an appeal from Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi
for popular support for the financing of the
Renaissance Dam
in North West Ethiopia which will triple the country's hydro-electric power, Al Amoudi pledged a donation of 1.5bn birr (around US$88m).
[28]
Arrest and captivity
[
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]
On 4 November 2017, Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi was arrested upon the orders of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman (MBS) and held captive in
Saudi Arabia
in a "corruption crackdown" conducted by Mohammed Bin Salman's "royal anti-corruption" committee.
[29]
[30]
[31]
[32]
[33]
[34]
[35]
[36]
Ethiopian Prime Minister
Abiy Ahmed Ali
tried to secure his release, but was unsuccessful. Finally, he was released on January 27, 2019 after 14 months of detention.
Philanthropy
[
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]
Al Amoudi has committed funds to support healthcare and sport in Saudi Arabia, the US, Europe and Africa.
[37]
[38]
He funded a
breast cancer
research centre at
King Abdulaziz University
.
[39]
In 2008, Al Amoudi funded King Saud University's an
enhanced oil recovery
research chair.
[40]
He also fully funded the King Abdullah Institute for Nanotechnology at
King Saud University
.
[41]
Al Amoudi was named as one of the
William J. 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. He is reported to have donated between US$5m and US$10m to the foundation.
[42]
Al Amoudi sponsored the
CECAFA Cup
, Africa's oldest football cup competition, in 2005 and 2006, the tournament was named the Al Amoudi Senior Challenge Cup as a result in those years.
[43]
He also supports Ethiopian Premier League Club
Saint George S.C.
[44]
and covered the medical expenses of one of Ethiopia's most celebrated footballers,
Mengistu Worku
,
[45]
before his death in December 2010. In 2011, he pledged 100 million
Ethiopian birr
for a stadium and access road in
Mek'ele
.
[46]
In January 2017, The Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al-Amoudi Stadium was opened.
[47]
The Stadium reportedly cost more than $22 million, and took four and a half years to complete.
[47]
Defamation actions
[
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]
In December 2010 Al Amoudi initiated a claim in the English
High Court
against
Elias Kifle
of the Washington, D.C.-based
Ethiopian Review
claiming damages for
libel
. In July 2011 Kifle was ordered to pay £175,000 in damages for publishing false information.
[48]
The
Ethiopian Review
had also repeated unwarranted material relating to his family and to matters previously dealt with in the
Al Amoudi v. Brisard
case of 2005. M. Brisard had made serious and unwarranted allegations concerning engagement in the funding of terrorism in the wake of 9/11 but had subsequently apologised for the accusation. The judge found the statements to be untrue and stated that Al Amoudi "is implacably opposed to terrorism in all its forms”.
[49]
Honors and recognition
[
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]
Al Amoudi has been ranked among the 100 richest people by
Forbes
since 2006, being ranking 82nd on the list in 2015.
[1]
He was awarded an
honorary doctorate
from
Addis Ababa University
and has been honoured with the
Order of the Polar Star
by
King Carl XVI Gustaf
of Sweden.
[50]
Al Amoudi was honoured for his achievements in economics and philanthropy at the 19th Arab Economic Forum Summit in 2011, with special reference to his commitment to sustainable development.
[51]
Personal life
[
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]
Al Amoudi was born in the north-central Ethiopian city of
Dessie
and brought up in the nearby town of
Weldiya
. He was born to a father of
Hadhrami
Yemeni origin and an Ethiopian mother.
[1]
He grew up in Ethiopia, before emigrating to Saudi Arabia with his brother Mauricet and becoming a Saudi citizen.
According to the
BBC
, Al Amoudi splits his residence between central London, Surrey and Saudi Arabia.
[48]
He is married to Sofia Saleh Al Amoudi who is a Saudi citizen and shareholder of MIDROC Construction.
[52]
[53]
They have eight children.
[1]
References
[
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]
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a
b
c
d
e
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.
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- ^
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.
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[
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[5]
[
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]
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[
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]
- ^
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.
- ^
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- ^
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b
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.
- ^
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.
- ^
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- ^
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- ^
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.
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External links
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