THE UNPARALLELED ACHIEVEMENTS OF EAST AFRICAN INDIANS

The former UK Home Minister Priti Patel's parents hail from Uganda, and the current PM Rishi Sunak's parents hail from Kenya.

- NITIN MEHTA

The year was 1962. News of the Chinese invasion into India was filtering into East Africa's Indian community. There was an appeal for donations to help the war effort. Indians, mainly from Gujarat and Punjab, had settled in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. At the time, from 1900 onwards, there was extreme poverty in India, and young people left to go abroad. Life was hard in East Africa, and most people just made a living. However, the Indian community responded to the war appeal by donating whatever jewellery they had. The ladies donated their golden ornaments. By the 1970s, Indians were controlling the economies of the three countries. As soon as they were well-off, they started sending money back to their hometowns and villages in India. They financed schools, orphanages, and helped their relatives. The founder of the famous Madhvani Group of Companies, Muljibhai, came to Uganda in 1908. They are the leading producers of sugar in Uganda. They also have two tea estates on over 500 hectares of land. From its humble beginnings in 1914, the Mehta Group was valued in 2010 at more than US $350 million, with 15,000 employees spread out over the group's operations in Uganda, Kenya, India, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. The Madhvani Foundation promotes scientific and technical education in Uganda. The Foundation also gives scholarships to university students. Nimisha Madhvani of the Madhvani family is the Ugandan High