Naushad Merali

Early life and education Merali was born in January 1951 in Mombasa. Merali's grandfather emigrated from India in 1883 settling along Kenya's coast. His family later moved to Moshi Tanzania where Merali attended primary school with his three brothers and three sisters. Upon introduction of Socialist principles in Tanzania that were then unfavourable, Merali later moved to Nairobi in 1969 and completed high school at Highway Secondary School.

Bharti Airtel Kenya In 2004, he managed to purchase 60% ownership of the business from Vivendi for $230 million. while owning 5% of Bharti Airtel's Kenyan wireless phone operations.

Sameer Group Merali spent his time steering the affairs of the Sameer Group. Merali's purchase of the Grand Regency Hotel during that year was later tethered to a controversy surrounding the hotel and its ties to proceeds of corruption. The President of Kenya has appointed him to positions such as membership in the Kenya Export Promotion Council, membership in The National Poverty Eradication Commission of Kenya, and membership in The Presidential Committee on Employment. As of September 2011, Kenya Data Networks – one of his business ventures – was facing financial problems and the shareholders were ready to cause a shakedown in the entire management team. These financial problems came to fruition by 2013 when Merali relinquished control of the company.

In 2012, Merali invested in construction. Two of Merali's former firms, Kenya Data Networks and Swift Global were in the process of being merged into Great Britain's Liquid Telecoms as of February 2013. Many executive positions were declared redundant as a result of this multinational merger. Both retail and wholesale services for the lower end of the consumer spectrum were provided by both of these firms as individual companies; as rival Internet service provider Safaricom already had a firm grasp on the upper end of the market.

In June 2015, Forbes reported that Merali sold, a Ugandan milk processing subsidiary company of Sameer Group to Kenya's largest milk processor, Brookside Dairies.

In October 2016 Merali was set to open a $30 million milk processing factory in Nakuru to rival Kenya's largest milk processor Brookside Dairy Limited estimated to employ by 500 people by June 2017. In September 2016, another company controlled by Merali which was then Kenya's sole tyre manufacturer announced it would cut more than 600 jobs following closure of its factories in favour of imports from China. In December 2016 Merali invested $4 million in a macadamia plant in Kiambu through another of Sameer group's listed subsidiaries that is one of the largest producers of coffee in Kenya.

Personal life Family Merali's ancestors were believed to have emigrated from the state of Gujarat in what is now known as India. His mother's maiden name is assumed to be Patel; a surname occupied by famous Indian businessmen and 33% of all American mid-sized hotel owners.

His wife was Zarin Merali, who is a director of the Kenyan Paraplegic Organisation. She is also an interior design consultant.

Philanthropy Through the Zarina and Merali foundation, Merali gave $1.75 million to $2.92 million yearly to various communities and caucuses. His biggest donation was a $1.17 million donation to Kenyatta National Hospital to build a day care centre.

During his lifetime, Merali received Kenyan state commendations of Elder of the Burning spear (EBS.) in 1986 and Chief Order of the Burning Spear (CBS.) in 2001 In December 2015,Kabarak University awarded Merali a Honorary Doctorate in Business leadership. He previously served on boards of Kenya Export Promotion Council,the International Who's Who of Professionals, National Investment Council of Kenya, The National Poverty Eradication Commission of Kenya and The Presidential Committee on Employment

Merali is regarded as a pioneer in establishment of private-sector export-processing infrastructure in Kenya through the development of Sameer Industrial Park, which was Kenya's earliest private EPZs and is described by the Export Processing Zones Authority as the first private EPZ to be gazetted in Kenya in November 1990.