Who is Alykhan Karmali? Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, wife, family, tribe, relationship with Mr. Karim Karmali, Ms Rukshana Karmali, Ali Mohamed Karmali and non-executive director of Exim Bank (Uganda), Mukwano Group, Club Silk’s owner Elvis Sekyanzi, early life and education of the current managing director of Mukwano Industries Uganda Limited.
Alykhan Karmali is an entrepreneur, businessman, industrialist, and philanthropist from Uganda.
Alykhan Karmali is the managing director of Mukwano Industries Uganda Limited, a subsidiary of the Mukwano Group.
He previously held the position of non-executive director of Exim Bank (Uganda), a commercial bank in which the Mukwano Group controls 36.5 percent.
Early Life and Education
Alykhan Karmal was born in Uganda in 1968 but is of Indian origin.
He is the son of Mukwano Group founder Karim Karmali and the brother of Ms Rukshana Karmali.
Alykhan’s paternal grandfather, Ali Mohamed Karmali, was an entrepreneur of Indian heritage who immigrated to Uganda around 1904.
Before moving to Mbarara in Uganda’s Western Region, he worked as a store assistant in Jinja. Later, he settled in Bukandula, now in the Gomba District of Uganda’s Buganda Region, where “he did a roaring trade in cotton and coffee in partnership with other Asian families.”
He had so many friends that he was dubbed “Mukwano gwa Bangi” (Many Friends). The family condensed it to “Mukwano” and named their family business after him.
The family relocated to Fort Portal, Kabarole District, where the young Amirali Karmali, born in the 1930s, purchased a used vehicle and began hauling produce to Kampala. Amirali afterwards relocated to Kampala, Uganda’s capital city, to expand the firm.
When Ugandan Asians were exiled by Idi Amin Dada in 1972, Amirali Karmali remained in Uganda but sent his children abroad.
He established Mukwano Industries Limited, the flagship company of the Mukwano business empire, in 1986.
Following his declining health, Amirali Karmali moved to his house in Fort Portal in 1995, leaving the firm to his children, overseen by his son Alykan Karmali.
Amirali Karmali, Alykhan’s father, died of heart difficulties on July 10, 2019, in Kololo, an upmarket neighbourhood of Kampala. On Saturday, July 13, 2019, he was laid to rest in a cemetery in the same neighbourhood.
Alykan Karmali studied business administration at Makerere University.
Career and Professional Work Experience
Alykan Karmali worked in the private sector for a few years after graduating from Makerere before joining the Mukwano Group in 1997.
He is the current Group Managing Director and Group CEO of the Mukwano Group of Companies, which was created by his father, Amirali Karmali, and is one of Uganda’s largest conglomerates.
Mukwano is a fast-growing consumer foods firm with a diversified portfolio that includes agricultural, logistics, real estate, and banking. Mukwano Enterprises Ltd, Gulf Stream Investments Limited, A.K. Transporters Ltd, A.K. Oils & Fats (U) Ltd, A.K. Plastics (U) Ltd, A.K. Detergent (U) Ltd, Mukwano Sweets & Confectioneries (U) Ltd, Rwenzori Commodities Ltd, and Mukwano Forex Bureau Ltd are among its subsidiaries.
Mukwano built Kampala’s first contemporary retail mall, the Acacia Mall, as well as a number of other malls in the city.
Achievements and awards
Amirali Karmali and Alykhan Karmali of Mukwano are one of the most successful father-and-son business partnerships in the world today.
Alykhan Karmali has a net worth of $700 million as of 2023, making him one of Uganda’s wealthiest persons.
As managing director of Mukwano Industries Uganda Limited, Alykhan has managed the company’s expansion into new markets and product development. He has also been instrumental in the company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility.
According to Group statistics, Mukwano presently employs 7,000 people directly and indirectly through the numerous firms it owns.
It has also been named multiple times as one of the top taxpayers in the country. The group’s annual income is expected to be up to $300 million.
Alykhan Karmali is an outspoken supporter of Uganda’s private-sector development.
Alykhan is also a member of the Uganda Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Uganda Manufacturers Association. He also dubs as a patron of Makerere University Business School (MUBS).
Alykhan owns 17,000 acres of land in Masindi, Uganda.
Alykhan Karmali was honoured for his humanitarian work by the United Graduate College and Seminary in Tennessee, USA, in December 2013.
On June 3, 2022, Brand Africa, in cooperation with Publics Africa Communications, conducted an enthralling live event at the beautiful Protea Hotel Kololo, where Mukwano was named the No. 1 most admired Ugandan brand and Mukwano Industries was awarded the coveted Grand Prix title.
Mukwano Industries has emerged as a shining example of business excellence in Uganda.
Controversies
In May 2016, Alykhan sued Club Silk’s owner Elvis Sekyanzi for failing to pay rent of UGX 500 million.
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