Nigerian Billionaire, Dangote, may buy Ranger Safaris as he enters into Tourism Business in Tanzania
Africa’s richest person, Aliko Dangote, is on a continental shopping trip.
This time the Nigerian Billionaire is buying tour companies, in his latest quest to invest in the fast-growing East African tourism industry.
Dangote has already paid cash in acquiring Pollman’s Tours and Safaris in Kenya, to the tune of USD 31 Million.
According to sources from his empire, Dangote is also inching towards Tanzania’s tourism enterprise.
Ranger Safaris, an Arusha-based, big tour company, which is affiliated with Pollman’s Safaris, through the ARP Africa Travel Group, may just be in the Billionaire’s next check list.
This is due to the fact that the Nigerian tycoon is seriously planning to make a big splash into the East African Tourism sector.
But Dangote and Company are not starting from scratch, they are going about it through the already established entities, with the older and the more experience entities taking their fancy.
Kenya and Tanzania, countries where all foreign tourists seem to go at the moment feature heavily in Dangote’s expensive radar.
After acquiring Pollman’s Tours and Safari the oldest leisure travel company Kenya, this Africa’s richest individual from Lagos, seems to be drawing a similar blueprint for Tanzania.
Now, a tour company in Tanzania which is connected with Pollman’s and also featuring a long track record is definitely in Dangote’s shopping list, if not already in the billionaire’s basket.
The 48-year-old Ranger Safaris, based in Arusha, which is one of the oldest in Tanzania, automatically tops the bill among the tour companies that Dangote and his American associate could be taking over.
The Nigerian industrialist, Aliko Mohammad Dangote and his business partner, the American billionaire, David Mark Rubenstein, are acquiring these tour companies in East Africa through their private equity firm, Alterra Capital Partners.
Aliko Dangote from Kano Nigeria, is the wealthiest black person in the world, with Forbes estimating his net value to be USD 23.8 Billion as of March 2025, while Dave Rubenstein, the man behind the Carlyle Group Inc, in the United States, is worth of over USD 3.7 billion.
ARP Africa Travel Group
Now their joint outfit, the Alterra Capital Partners, made an investment in ARP Africa Travel Group, the global travel company that runs Pollman’s Tours, in their first attempt to tap into one of Kenya’s largest sectors, tourism.
ARP Africa Travel Group has been serving as the umbrella entity for the two leading tour companies in East Africa, that is Pollman’s Tours of Kenya and its sister company, Ranger Safaris in Tanzania.
One down, one to go
Pollman’s Tours & Safaris Limited is Kenya’s oldest tour company founded in the 1950s by Karl Pollman,
Apparently, Dangote and Rubenstein seem to target the oldest tour firms in East Africa, for the sake of experience, client trust and historical values.
In fact, that is why Dangote and Partner decided to purchase Kenya’s oldest tour company, Pollman’s Tours and Safaris, which is the oldest in the country.
When the turn for Tanzania comes, and this will be very soon, the tour company that fits the bill should be the Arusha-based Rangers Safaris, which is also under the ARP Africa network.
Ranger is also one of the oldest tour firms currently operating in Tanzania, having been established by the Moledina family between 1977 and 1978, starting with a single Volkswagen Kombi van and two tents, now with a fleet of more than 200 all-terrain trucks.
Is Dangote buying Ranger Safaris?
Ranger Safaris Limited has grown to be one of the two biggest tour companies in Tanzania operating from the large base in Arusha, which previously used to be the main station for the Northern Province Roadways (NRP), a colonial trucking company.
We are still trying to contact the company management to hear from them if Dangote’s purchasing Pollman’s means Ranger is also included in the transaction.
If this is the case, the Nigerian and American billionaires could be building a giant travel outfit in Eastern Africa, which may shake the region’s industry either for better or worse.
Rangers, after all, is already a high-end travel outfit, boasting some of the major international safari clients including National Geographic adventures, may even send the Nigeria Billionaire away empty-handed.
Why will Dangote and Rubenstein venture into Tanzania Tourism?
The country was voted the leading travel destination on the globe by the World Travel Awards (WTA), features all the top African attractions such as Mount Kilimanjaro, Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater and Zanzibar Islands among others.
Tanzania is home to 21 national parks, 29 game reserves, 40 game controlled conservation areas, 28 wildlife management areas, a Conservation, marine parks and 7 World Heritage Sites.
The country’s tourism industry is worth more than USD 3.5 Billion and counting.
Tanzania envisages to attract 5 million foreign visitors before the end of next fiscal year.
Tanzania’s tourism industry accounts for about 24.0 percent of its exports and 17.2 percent of GDP.
This is a fast-growing sector that offers plenty of investment opportunities, especially because very small percentage of the country’s tourism potential has been utilized so far.
If Dangote combines Kenya and Tanzania investments, then it will be the first East African Tourism conglomerate. Between them, Pollman’s and Ranger Safaris could have a fleet of more than 400 vehicles.
Plus, Dangote is not exactly new in Tanzania’s investment scene. The Kano born Billionaire runs the largest cement making factory in the country.
Dangote Industries Tanzania Limited, operating in the Southern Mtwara Region is a subsidiary of Dangote Cement, boasting an annual capacity of three million tons.
What exactly is Alterra Capital?
Alterra Capital Partners is an Africa-focused private equity firm that partners with exceptional entrepreneurs and management teams to grow their businesses. Alterra targets domestic-facing companies that serve basic consumer and vital business needs.
The Alterra Capital Partners team has more than a century (100 years of) combined private equity experience and invested USD 1.9 billion of capital into 20 companies across Africa.
Should other Tour companies in Tanzania worry?
A bigger and more loaded investor with even larger international footprint may scare small players rigid, while also making larger outfits in the local travel industry raise eyebrows.
However, considering the vast opportunities in the Tanzanian tourism sector that are yet to be explored, and needing bigger investments for that, then Dangote’s entry may even be a blessing in disguise for even the smaller fish in the pond.
Tanzania attracts over 2 million tourists annually, but the industry seems to be concentrated mostly within the Northern Circuit, leaving the biggest avenue in south largely untapped.
Tanzania has more than 300 registered tour companies, but most are squeezing each other in the country’s Northern regions of Arusha and Kilimanjaro.
The Tanzania Times.