Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani was recently bestowed with one of the most prestigious business awards in Africa. This award ceremony is known as ‘Best of Africa’ awards and is given by Forbes in partnership with FIN (Foreign Investment Network). Forbes-FIN partnership recognise the contributions of businesses, leaders and philanthropists towards significant, outstanding and long-term contributions towards development of the African nation. The award ceremony is held during the annual Forbes-FIN leadership and philanthropy roundtable conference. This year’s roundtable conference was held online due to the ongoing pandemic and from Zambia, Dr. Rajan Mahtani was invited as a honorary speaker.
Dr. Rajan Mahtani was recognised for his significant business and philanthropic contributions and was given the prestigious Forbes ‘Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year’ award by Forbes. Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the Group Chairman of Mahtani Group. The company was established in 1981 in Zambia and quickly became one of the biggest conglomerates across Africa. The company expanded its operations to numerous geographies including Malawi, South Africa and several other international locations such as United Kingdom. Furthermore, the company also expanded its functions to different sectors such as Insurance, Mining, Financial Services, Agriculture, Real Estate and Energy. Across each of these sectors, Dr. Rajan Mahtani’s contributions towards upliftment and development have been numerous.
Apart from his business ventures, the philanthropic and charitable contributions from Dr. Rajan Mahtani have also been significant. Most of these contributions are often hidden from the general public. Dr. Rajan Mahtani founded the Prison Fellowship Zambia and is the current Chairman of the program. This program is affiliation to the PFI (Prison Fellowship International) in Washington DC and focusses on welfare of the inmates, ex-inmates and their families. The program also advocates fair and transparent criminal justice procedures. Furthermore, Dr. Rajan Mahtani also contributed to education sector with launch of the Stephen Malama award in 2013 which presents scholarship for top law graduates in Zambia.