3 days ago
This African country may have just gotten its first dollar billionaire
Across the large and resource-rich African continent, the number of dollar billionaires, people with net worths of more than $1 billion, remains remarkably low. Thom Mpinganjira from Malawi may have just added to this figure.
Thom Mpinganjira from Malawi may now be classified as the country's first dollar billionaire, with his assets exceeding $1 billion.
This positions him as the richest individual in Malawi, reflecting a significant elevation in his net worth through investments.
His indirect control over 40.73% of FDH Bank Plc contributed to this achievement, with the bank's shares escalating by 365% in 2024.
While Africa has a population of over 1.4 billion people, only a few nations have the distinction of producing billionaires.
According to global wealth indexes, Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe are the few countries in Africa that can boast of at least one billionaire.
However, a recent assessment issued by Billionaires Africa revealed that Malawi may have just joined this elusive club.
Estimates of Malawian native, Thom Mpinganjira, bank shares suggest that he may now have over a billion dollars in assets.
This would mean that the Malawian banker is now the richest person in the country and the only dollar billionaire in the Southern African country.
As of now, global rankings such as Forbes and the Bloomberg Billionaire Index have yet to categorize the Malawian banker as a billionaire.
Thom Mpinganjira's net worth surge
Mpinganjira's climb to the billionaire ranks is fueled by a stunning increase in the value of his indirect share in FDH Bank Plc, Malawi's largest and most valuable publicly listed corporation.
Through his investment business, M Development, he controls 55% of FDH Financial Holdings, which owns 74.05% of FDH Bank, as per BillionairesAfrica's estimates.
This arrangement provides him indirect control over more than 2.81 billion shares, or approximately 40.73 percent of the bank.
According to the most recent appraisal, Mpinganjira's stock is now worth MWK 1.94 trillion ($1.12 billion), a significant increase from MWK 416.6 billion ($240.5 million) at the beginning of the year.
The $878.9 million rise is directly related to FDH Bank's exceptional stock surge in 2024. Shares have risen by 365 percent, from MWK 148.23 ($0.085) in January to MWK 689.99 ($0.398) today, raising the bank's market value to MWK 4.76 trillion ($2 billion).
This dramatic ascent has been driven by exceptional financial success and strategic expansion. In 2024, FDH Bank had tremendous growth in all important parameters.
Customer deposits nearly quadrupled, reaching MWK 883 billion ($508.5 million), while total revenues increased by 90 percent to MWK 195 billion ($112.2 million). Profit after tax more than quadrupled, increasing 108 percent to MWK 74 billion ($42.6 million).
Along with these results, the bank took a daring step to broaden its regional presence, agreeing to buy virtually all of Ecobank Mozambique S.A. from the pan-African banking giant Ecobank Transnational Incorporated.
Ecobank Mozambique, which is regulated by the Central Bank of Mozambique, has been in operation since 2000, initially as Novo Banco SARL before rebranding in 2014, and has four locations in significant cities.
