Billionaire Mohammed Dewji vows to strengthen his Simba SC squad after ending trophy drought

Mohammed Dewji, the Tanzanian billionaire who bankrolls Simba SC, has pledged to strengthen the club's squad for the coming season and set his sights on the CAF Champions League, days after the team ended a four-year wait for a major trophy.

Dewji made the commitment after Simba beat Azam FC 1-0 in the Federation Cup final at Gombani Stadium in Pemba, Zanzibar. The win handed the Dar es Salaam club its first major competitive silverware since 2022, a long gap for one of Tanzania's most successful sides, and lifted a mood soured by four barren seasons.

The pledge was about the future, not just the celebration. Dewji said the club's leadership was fully committed to reinforcing the squad in line with the recommendations of head coach Steve Barker and his technical staff, and that Simba would keep backing the bench in the transfer market to stay competitive through a demanding campaign.

His ambition, as he framed it, runs well beyond Tanzania. Simba's goal, Dewji said, is to keep performing at home while building toward winning the CAF Champions League, Africa's premier club competition, and doing that requires a squad deep and talented enough to compete at the highest level.

The season ahead is crowded. Simba have qualified for the Champions League, aim to reclaim the Tanzanian Premier League title and will defend the Federation Cup, and they return to the regional CECAFA Kagame Cup in Kigali, Rwanda, from July 24 to Aug. 8 for the first time since 2018.

Dewji also turned to the supporters. He thanked fans for standing by the team through one of the toughest stretches in its recent history, saying they kept filling stadiums despite the trophy drought, and cast the Federation Cup win as a reward for their patience. The unity among fans, players, staff and management, he said, has laid a foundation for future success.

Owning Simba is one of the more visible pieces of Dewji's public life. He took control of the club, one of the two giants of Tanzanian football alongside rivals Young Africans, and has poured money into it as a personal project, using his fortune to chase the continental prizes that have long eluded Tanzanian clubs.

The money comes from a far larger enterprise. Dewji is the head of MeTL Group, one of the biggest industrial conglomerates in East Africa, founded as a trading business by his father, Gulamabbas Dewji, and built into a sprawling operation spanning agribusiness, consumer goods, textiles, logistics, energy and distribution. It operates in about 11 African countries and employs tens of thousands of people.

His personal wealth places him among the continent's most recognisable business figures. Forbes estimates his fortune at about $1.9 billion, and he has often been described as the youngest billionaire in Africa. A former member of Tanzania's parliament for Singida, he signed the Giving Pledge, committing to give away at least half his wealth.

His life has not been without drama. In October 2018, Dewji was kidnapped by armed men outside a Dar es Salaam hotel gym and held for nine days before being released, an ordeal that gripped the country and drew international attention. He returned to public life and has remained one of Tanzania's most prominent entrepreneurs and philanthropists.

Football has become a signature part of that public profile. Club ownership gives a businessman like Dewji visibility and goodwill that few other investments can match in a football-mad country, and Simba's continental ambitions align his money with national pride.

What the Federation Cup win buys him is momentum. Simba enter the new campaign with silverware back in the cabinet, a manager in Barker they are building around, and an owner promising to spend. Turning that into the Champions League title Dewji keeps talking about is the harder task, and the transfer business he has just pledged will be the first test of how serious the push really is.