Rostam Abdulrasul Azizi was born on August 21, 196O, in the Igunga District of Tabora Region, Tanzania. He grew up in a family that majored in business and community service.
He completed his primary and secondary schooling in Tanzania’s Tabora region, specifically Igunga District, before pursuing higher education abroad.
Later, Rostam Aziz earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.
In the early 1990s, Rostam Aziz entered business through his family’s trading firm before launching independent ventures in Tanzania’s agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
Aziz entered politics in 1994 when he was elected Member of Parliament for the Igunga constituency in Tanzania’s Tabora Region under the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party. He served in the position until 2011 when he resigned.
Between 2005 and 2007, he rose within the party ranks and was appointed CCM National Treasurer.
During this period, he also became a member of the party’s Central Committee positions he held until 2011.
Business Career and Networth
In the 2000s, Rostam Aziz expanded into telecommunications and co-founded Vodacom Tanzania, where he held a significant stake estimated at between 18 and 35 per cent.
The company grew into one of the leading mobile network providers in East Africa.
In 2011, Aziz stepped down from his parliamentary position to focus on expanding his family business interests.
Two years later, in 2013, Forbes recognised Azizi as Tanzania’s first dollar billionaire, estimating his net worth at over $1 billion.
Investments in telecommunications, energy, and manufacturing largely drove his wealth.
In 2014, he sold a 17 per cent stake in Vodacom Tanzania through Cavalry Holdings in a deal valued at approximately $250 million.
Business Expansion and Entry into Kenya
From the 2010s onward, Azizi diversified his investments across multiple sectors.
He developed Taifa Gas, which became one of the leading liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) companies in the region.
His portfolio also includes interests in MIC Tanzania, which acquired telecom operators TIGO and Zantel in 2022 for about $100 million, as well as investments in Caspian Mining, Ace Leather and real estate holdings in Dubai and Oman.
In 2022, Rostam Aziz announced plans to establish a Taifa Gas liquefied petroleum gas plant at the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone in Mombasa, a project valued at about $130 million.
The facility was later commissioned in 2023 by Kenyan President William Ruto and was described as the largest private foreign direct investment in Kenya since 1977.
In 2025, a court upheld the development of the Mombasa LPG terminal project following legal challenges.
In 2026, Taarifa Limited, a company associated with Azizi, acquired a 54 per cent stake in Nation Media Group from the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development.
