Ashish Thakkar

Ashish J. Thakkar is a celebrated serial entrepreneur and philanthropist, founder of Mara Group, Mara Foundation, co-founder of Atlas Mara and now the CEO of Y9K. Ashish is a fourth generation East African and was born in the United Kingdom, but he moved to East Africa as a teenager before founding Mara Group, a Pan-African conglomerate, at the age of 15. Mara Group's operations and investments span 26 African countries. He is the author of The Lion Awakes: Adventures in Africa's Economic Miracle. Ashish is a member of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders, and was included in Fortune magazine's list of the top "40 Under 40" in 2013. He was awarded the Base Leadership Award at the 2014 MTV Africa Music Awards event. He was appointed Chair of the United Nations Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurs Council. His business was also awarded the Boldness in Business award by FT and ArcelorMittal in 2015. Esquire named him Middle East Man of the Year in 2016. In 2017, he was appointed Chair of the Presidential Youth Advisory Group at the African Development Bank. Ashish was named African Leadership Person of the Year for Employment Generation in 2019 & in 2024 he was named as one of the Most Influential People of African Descent.