The history of the Mac Group can be traced back to the 1880’s when entrepreneur and explorer Kanji Jeraj Manek departed on a dhow from Jamjodpur, Gujarat, to the East African coastline in search of better prospects.
The history of the Mac Group can be traced back to the 1880’s when entrepreneur and explorer Kanji Jeraj Manek departed on a dhow from Jamjodpur, Gujarat, to the East African coastline in search of better prospects. Landing at the then small port of Dar-Es-Salaam, he saw a large business potential as the region was vibrant and local businesses were booming due to the Arab trade route.
Kanji bhai’s brothers soon followed his footsteps and upon arriving in Tanzania, the family set up a trading business called Kanji Jeraj & Company that was headquartered in Dar-Es-Salaam. By the 1920’s, the family decided to open a branch in the southern Tanzanian city of Lindi.
By the 1930’s young Maganlal Kanji Jeraj Manek (son of Kanji Jeraj), who had joined the family business in Dar-Es-Salaam, was asked to head the Lindi division with his wife Chandravati ben and three children, Pradip, Kirti, and Yogesh. The southern division participated in the exporting of cashew nuts and the importing of household and other food commodities. Maganlal headed the Lindi division until 1959 when commodity price volatilities in international markets gave the family reason to move.
Maganlal made the decision to close the division and begin a business venture of his own that was separate from the family business. So with three young children aged 5, 10, and 14, three tones of household and personal effects, and 5000 shillings (about US$714), the family began a one-way seven day journey to Dar-Es-Salaam. Due to the rainy season and blocked roads, they traveled the long route via Songea, which stretched over 1000 kilometers, to reach their final destination.
Maganlal, along with his family, arrived in Dar-Es-Salaam on 2nd December 1960 and he soon decided to independently start his own trading company. In 1961 he founded Manek Trading LTD in the busy Kariokoo area of Dar-Es-Salaam. However, with his shrewd business acumen and desire to grow, he moved his retail business in 1964 to the wholesale area of Kitumbini and began importing goods from Mombasa, Kenya.
As the wholesale family business succeeded, Maganlal decided to sell his shop and move into the city centre on Mosque Street where he bought a larger shop and increased his wholesale income.
By 1972, Maganlal’s two son, Yogesh and Pradip, joined the family business with a vision to expand beyond trading into fields such as transport, stitching baby garments, and cooking oil refilling. However, their initial efforts failed due to the lack of support from the family who felt their future lay in their trading business.
The brothers remained determined and in 1976 came across an opportunity to buy a cosmetic manufacturing company called Chemi Pack LTD. They quickly proceeded and continued to add to their acquisitions. In 1978 they bought a large industrial property called Tanzania Extrusion LTD and began manufacturing nails and school laboratory equipment. In 1980 they started another industrial venture called Papcot LTD where they started a bituminized paper lamination plant. The bituminized paper was used to pack tobacco to retain the freshness by reducing the humidity content. In the same year Yogesh also formed PolyPax LTD, an acrylic vacuum company that manufactured sanitary wear.
In 1981 Pradip moved with his family to Vero Beach, Florida and expanded the family businesses overseas. Meanwhile in Tanzania, Yogesh started Electrodes Tanzania LTD where he set up a welding electrode manufacturing plant and Industrial Chemicals LTD where he manufactured printing inks, blackboard chalks, detergents, polishes and other such chemical products. During this year he met and became closely acquainted with a very experienced and established businessman, Mr. Jalal Jamal. Many of the future expansions were jointly executed and a strong friendship quickly blossomed between the two men. Yogesh’s determination to succeed in the industrial sector only increased after his marriage in 1983 to Reeta and by 1984 he had made two more industrial acquisitions. The first being the industrial property of Cotex Industries (where much of the industrial business were later consolidated), and National Rubber Industries LTD, a Hawai slippers manufacturing plant in the city of Tanga. This was the beginning of Yogesh’s journey to regionalization.
By the mid 1980’s Yogesh continued to expand and see potential in the industrial business segment of the economy. In 1985 he started three more businesses: African Mosfly Industries LTD, which manufactured mosquito coils and incense sticks; Surgicot LTD, which manufactured surgical cotton and bandages; and Vitamin Foods LTD, which manufactured sauces, juices, pickles and other such food items.
In 1986 Yogesh and Pradip saw the need to create an umbrella holding company that was able to manage and participate in all the existing companies and hence Mac Group LTD was formed. Soon after, Yogesh experienced his first ‘big break’ when his Group acquired Tanzania Bottlers LTD, a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Dar-Es-Salaam. To cover the upcountry routes he renovated and restarted a closed down factory in the city of Mtwara and opened another bottling plant in Mbeya. With a total of 3 independent bottling operations by 1988, the Group had spread its reach throughout Tanzania. In the same year Yogesh also realized the potential to vertically integrate and the Group began a crate manufacturing company called Plastimac LTD, which produced plastic crates to carry Coca-Cola and beer bottles. This integration was made possible by the Group’s 1987 acquisition of the movable assets of a household plastics manufacturing company called Tanzania Plastic LTD. In 1989 the Mac Group established its final industrial venture with the start up of a surgical disposal syringe manufacturing plant called Pharmaplast Tanzania LTD.
Yogesh and Pradip believed in the importance of changing their businesses with the changes in the Tanzanian economy and they incorporated these visions into the Mac Group. This philosophy brought many successes and the Group of companies was not left behind in the growth of the Tanzanian economy. Therefore, in 1994 when the Group was presented with the opportunity to exit the Coca-Cola bottling operation to a South African company, they gladly accepted and explored various other areas of business. The Group formed Nufaika Distributors Ltd with the vision of putting in place a formal distribution company for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG ). This unexplored niche made the company successfully grow and they soon became the exclusive National Distributors of Procter and Gamble (P&G), The Private Sector Initiative (PSI), Wrigley, Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) and many others multinational companies.
The Group made a strategic decision to merge two of its manufacturing companies, Chemi Pack LTD and Cotex Industries LTD, to create Chemi and Cotex Industries LTD (CCIL). The aim was to group together Mac Group’s industrial companies and create a manufacturing company located in one premises to benefit from economies of scale and share common costs. Today CCIL is one of Tanzania’s largest FMCG manufacturing companies with an extensive distribution network and manufactures popular products such as Whitedent Toothpaste and Sweet Heart Lotion.
In 1994 the Mac Group of companies continued to explore different business opportunities and in partnership with Union Trust LTD opened up Union Trust Bureau de Change. In 1996, as the Tanzanian banking and insurance sector began to liberalize, the partners applied for a banking license and by 1997 began Tanzania’s first private commercial bank, Exim Bank LTD. The liberalization of this financial sector encouraged Mac Group to start a general insurance company called Heritage Insurance Tanzania LTD in partnership with Heritage Insurance Kenya LTD. In 2001 the partnership aligned with Strategis International to set up a specialized health insurance company by the name of Strategis Insurance LTD. Furthermore, in 2004 Heritage acquired a shareholding in Alliance Insurance (T)Ltd.,a company that concentrated on a different segment of the insurance market giving the company a greater market presence.
The Group also got the opportunity in 1998 to enter the automobile sector and began Incar Tanzania LTD, which had the exclusive distributorship for Iveco trucks, Ashok Leyland trucks, IFO Power Generator Sets, Fiat Agricultural Tractors, and JR Tires.
During this period the Mac Group also diversified into the mining sector of the economy as it was also liberalized. In 1999 the Group bought Nyanza Mines LTD near Kigoma, a formally nationalized salt mine that was up for privatization.
In 2004 the Group had the opportunity to invest in a pharmaceutical manufacturing company in Moshi and through a joint venture acquired Interchem Pharmaceutical LTD. They began manufacturing liquid, tablet, and powder medications. During the same year the Group acquired Milcafe LTD that specialized in the blending and packaging of tea along with the curing, grinding, and packing of coffee.
In the effort to expand The Group companies regionally, Anfi LTD was purchased in Nairobi, Kenya to manufacture color cosmetics such as nail polishes and lipsticks. In 2005 the Group became the majority shareholder of another Kenyan company by the name of Oasis LTD and began manufacturing aerosol cans and more cosmetics.
To further diversify their portfolio in 2005, The Group took over the Pacific International Lines (PIL) agency in Tanzania and began investing in the quickly growing property market in Tanzania. In 2006 Mac began building Exim Towers in Dar-Es-Salaam, a high-end commercial office building of 14 stories.
In 2005 the Group also ventured into the agribusiness arena with the acquisition of the East Usambara Tea Company (EUTCO) and began growing and processing tea.
In 2008 the Mac Group added yet another company to its financial portfolio. Exim Advisory Services LTD is one of the first Tanzanian financial services company to set base in Dar-Es-Salaam. The company deals in Corporate Finance, Structured Finance, Stock Broking, Dealer and Market Making, and Wealth Management.
The Mac Group has evolved in partnership with the changing market trends in the last 130 years. Through these years, the Group adapted its mantra “Deep Roots; Limitless Sky” and has strongly abided by this statement. We continue to aim at diversifying our portfolio and investing within the Tanzanian and East African markets to maximize the benefit for our shareholders and The Group.
