Business

Inside Ramachandran Ottapathu’s Wealth

Inside Ramachandran Ottapathu’s Wealth. Everyone knows him as”Ram from Choppies’; the millionaire who has successfully set up a long chain of Choppies supermarkets across African markets. Botswana alone has 124 stores nationwide.

Ottapathu is one of Botswana’s richest people with a projected net worth estimated to go up to $300million. He established the retail giant in 1986 as a single supermarket in the small town of Lobatse. The business has witnessed exponential growth with over 170 stores today spread out across parts of Southern Africa. Moreover Choppies stores have a home in Kenya and Tanzania. Choppies hasĀ  become a retail powerhouse with more than 170 stores in Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, and Tanzania. Choppies reaches even the smallest of villages in Botswana adding a new one to the family in Gumare, North West of Botswana as of August 2021. Ottapathu owns a 19.5% shareholder rights in Choppies valued at more than $60 million.

Ottapathu is also the sole owner of Bluehearts (PTY)Ltd. In 2016 the Competition Authority granted shareholder acquisition of Warbler Holdings by Bluehearts (PTY)LTD. Warbler HoldingsĀ  is a holding company for IT4Africa (Pty) Ltd, Goldtech (Pty) Ltd, Healthwest Africa (Pty) Ltd and Solid Logistics (Pty) Ltd, the target enterprises.

The self made millionaire has never shied away from telling his tale of rags to riches, wherein he elevated himself from his job as an accountant in the small Indian town of Kerala to becoming one of the wealthiest people alive. Ottapathu likes to consider himself a simple man, and in an interview with Forbes Africa once, explained that the few times he can be seen in a suit is when he is meeting high profile government officials. On a more relaxed day, his hobbies include reading a lot of books; novels, magazines and visiting his stores.

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