Karim Hirji


Karim Hirji is a businessman, hotel owner, and entrepreneur in Uganda. He is reported to be one of the wealthiest individuals in that country, with an estimated net worth of about US$800 million.

History

During the 1960s and 1970s, Hirji was a champion automobile race driver. During the late 1980s and early 1990s,
he began trading in textiles and alcoholic beverages from a shop on Luwum Street in central Kampala. His first company, Dembe Enterprises, has since expanded into the Dembe Group of Companies, a conglomerate that includes a radio station, an automobile dealership, a finance and insurance business, an amusement park, and a chain of hotels under the Imperial Hotels Group. He also owns the former Uganda Commercial Bank Towers, which he renamed Cham Towers.