One of East Africa’s richest men Sudhir Ruparelia has met former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo in London where the two discussed business, media reports said.
The two met at a wedding at Raju Thakrar daughters’ Sabre and Ronak wedding at Hilton Hotel park lane London.
The parents of the girl are friends to both Obasanjo and Sudhir.
Sudhir is diversifying his business and of late, as he has been scouting around for land to venture into large scale farming.
In October last year, Sudhir’s two floriculture companies in Entebbe, Wakiso district — Rosebud Limited and Premier Roses were officially granted a free zone developers license by Uganda Free Zone Authority (UFZA), implying that they now export flowers without paying any taxes.
Obasanjo is credited for turning around Nigeria from failed military junta to number one economy in Africa. Before Obasanjo’s administration, Nigeria’s GDP growth had been painfully slow since 1987, and only managed 3 percent between 1999/2000. However, under Obasanjo, the growth rate doubled to 6 percent until he left office, helped in part by higher oil prices. Nigeria’s foreign reserves rose from $2 billion in 1999 to $43 billion on leaving office in 2007.
