We grab a table and an (excellent) espresso. No one disagrees about the comfortable global dominance of East African arabica. So far, so normal.
Dewji started life on the kitchen table: his mother caught short, the hospital in the rural area of Singida too far. His early years did not, he says, isolate him from the realities of rural life in Tanzania.
After a stay in the US, first with the ambition to be a golf pro, then studying theology, then working on Wall Street, he returned home to join MeTL, the trading company launched by his grandmother and run by his father. “My dad’s business was doing well, but I didn’t realise that it wasn’t managed very well,” he says, after paying due deference to his family.
Micromanager in the making
This turned him into a micromanager, but was also the making of him, forcing him to rethink the corporate governance of the entire enterprise.
Initially,
There's more to this story
Get unlimited access to our exclusive journalism and features today. Our award-winning team of correspondents and editors report from over 54 African countries, from Cape Town to Cairo, from Abidjan to Abuja to Addis Ababa. Africa. Unlocked.
cancel anytime
Already a a subscriber Sign In
