Who is Charles Mbire? Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, wife, family, tribe, achievements, and relationship with MTN Uganda, the late Ponsiano Mbire, Tereza Mbire, Nadia Kabahita Mbire, Thandiwe Mbire, late Franca Sozzani, Bayport Uganda, and the early life and education of the current MTN Uganda’s Chairman and Non-Executive Director
Charles Mbire, sometimes known as Charles Magezi Mbire, is a Ugandan entrepreneur, businessman, and industrialist.
He was believed to be the wealthiest indigenous Ugandan, with a net worth of more than $400 million as of January 2019.
Charles Mbire is MTN Uganda‘s current Chairman and Non-Executive Director.
He is also the chairman of the Uganda Securities Exchange and the Uganda Stock Exchange’s richest investor.
Early Life and Education
Charles Mbire was born on January 1, 1959, in Mparo, Rukiga District, Uganda, to the late Ponsiano Mbire, who died in 1985, and Tereza Mbire, famously known as Maama Mbire.
He is the third of six children in the family, with three sisters, two of whom are older than him, and two younger brothers, one of whom is the late John Baptist Mbire.
He is a Mukiga by tribe. He has two daughters, Nadia Kabahita Mbire and Thandiwe Mbire.
Charles Mbire was married to the late Franca Sozzani, the long-time Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Italia. Sozzani later died on December 22, 2016, sometime after she and Mbire had divorced. She is the mother of Mbire’s daughter, Nadia Kabahita.
Mbire received his primary education at Kabale Primary School and Kitante Primary School.
For his O-Level studies, he attended St. Mary’s College Kisubi (SMACK) and then went to Namasagali College for his A-Level studies.
Mbire studied business and economics at Essex University in England, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree with honours.
He later earned a Master of Business Administration from Leicester University in the United Kingdom.
Career and Professional Work Experience
Charles Mbire began his career in 1985 as the managing director of Pop-In Industries Limited.
Four years later in 1989, he became the Hyundai Corporation’s Uganda resident agent which role he played for 6 years.
Mbire was then made the chairman of Uganda Inflight Service Limited, a joint venture between Uganda Airlines Corporation, Fecis (Pty)Ltd, Efforte Corporation and Sunco Limited.
This was before becoming Chairman of the Board of Directors of MTN Uganda in 1998 in a joint venture between MTN (Pty)Ltd, Telia AB (Sweden), Tri-Star SARl and Mbire’s investment company, Invesco (Uganda) Limited.
Charles Mbire, who has interests in financial management, transport, ports, telecommunications, power, banking, and real estate, prefers to keep a low profile.
He is known as the “King of Energy in Uganda,” as he owns investments in Eskom Uganda, Aggreko, and Jacobsen, among other energy companies. He is also involved in the oil industry in Kazakhstan, as well as ventures in South Africa and Tanzania, among other countries.
Charles Mbire previously held the positions of Chairman of Makerere University Holdings Ltd. and Council Member of the Forum Mondial de L’Economie.
Mbire was named chairman of the Uganda Securities Exchange at the 99th USE governing council meeting in November 2010. He took over from Sam Njuki, who stood down after serving one term of his three-year renewable term.
He also serves on the Presidential Investor Roundtable, an elite group of business leaders that advise Uganda’s President on ways to improve the country’s business competitiveness and business climate.
Mbire is the Board Chairman of Bayport Uganda, and he also has a share in the RVR railway concession with Citadel and TransCentury of Kenya.
He operates a facility in Kabale that manufactures artemisinin, a component of anti-malaria drugs.
He is also the chairman of MTN Uganda, as well as Eskom Uganda, a South African hydroelectric generating power firm (managers of Uganda Electricity Generation Ltd).
Achievements and Awards
According to Forbes, Charles Mbire is one of Uganda’s most respected boardroom gurus. Mbire is also one of the main stockholders in MTN Uganda’s business.
His Bomi Holding Company controls 15% of the profitable Rift Valley Railways.
Mbire has stocks and serves on the boards of the following Ugandan businesses:
East Africa Fish Farming Limited (a fish farming company in East Africa), Afro Alpine Pharma Limited, Uganda Electricity Company Limited, Invesco (Uganda) Limited, a Ugandan investment firm, Uganda MTN Limited, Polino Holdings Ltd, Sunco Investments Limited (an investment company), Bomi Holdings Ltd, Rift Valley Railways, Chui Investments Limited (a Ugandan investment firm that specialises in the construction, operation, and ownership of small and medium-sized power plants), and Baroda Bank (Uganda).
In December 2008, Charles Mbire’s net worth was reported to be more than US$65 million. In January 2012, his net worth grew to more than $200 million and worth $400 million by January 2019.
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