Sudhir Ruparelia is a Ugandan business magnate and investor. He is the chairman and majority shareholder in the companies of the Ruparelia Group. His investments are mainly in the areas of banking, insurance, education, broadcasting, real estate, floriculture, hotels, and resorts. According to Forbes in 2019, he was the wealthiest individual in Uganda, with an estimated net worth of US$1.2 billion. On 20 October 2016, the Bank of Uganda, which regulates all banks in Uganda, took control of Crane Bank, the largest subsidiary of the Ruparelia Group, due to a significant decline in capital and potential run on the bank.
Background
Ruparelia was born in Kabatoro, Kasese District in the Western Region of Uganda to an upper-middle-class Indian Gujarati family. His great-grandfather reached Mombasa, Kenya in 1897 from India and set up a trading store there before coming to Uganda in 1903. His grandfather was born in Uganda in 1918 and his father in 1932. Ruparelia has two sisters and one brother. He attended Bat Valley Primary School in Kampala, from P1 to P6, then JinjaMain StreetPrimary School in Jinja for P7 and Jinja Secondary School. In 1971, he joined Kololo Senior Secondary School. He fled to the United Kingdom with his parents in 1972 at the age of 16, when the dictator Idi Aminexpelled all Asians from Uganda. He returned to Uganda in 1985, with US$25,000 earned from several casual jobs including working in supermarkets, factories, and butcheries. Ruparelia started selling beer and spirits imported from Kenya. In 1989, beer importation was banned to encourage local brewing of alcohol and he realized he could not make beer. But since his customers, who were mainly foreigners, paid him in foreign currency, he started Crane Forex Bureau, the first in Uganda. With his profits, Ruparelia ventured into other businesses, including forming Crane Bank in 1995. Later, he organized his businesses under the umbrella of the Ruparelia Group. In 2007, Sudhir Ruparelia was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in business, by the Uganda Pentecostal University, in recognition of his contribution to Uganda's economic growth.
Family
Ruparelia is married to Jyotsna, since 1977. Together, they are parents to three children. Meera Ruparelia, the oldest, is married to Ravi Kotecha since 2014. Rajiv Ruparelia is their only son, and Sheena Ruparelia is the younger daughter.
