Rejesh Ram Satiija is one of the country's newly relocated global entrepreneurs who has a string of interests, principally in Africa. Satiija, who is affectionately called Lucky by his friends and business associates, moved to London earlier this year, citing the British capital as the best hub for growing his businesses, which are increasingly global in nature.
Satiija's friends could not have chosen a more propitious name. In a little over two decades Satiija has built a business empire spanning three continents and given him a fortune estimated by the Asian Rich List to be in excess of £400 million.
“I had this foresight that Africa would be one big market and wanted to be part of it when it emerged”— Rejesh Ram Satiija
The Lucky moniker stuck with him after his business associates witnessed his tenacity and steely determination to pull off audacious deals, and on occasions pull out of seemingly impossible situations. It's a moniker he now uses with understandable pride. Arriving in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1993 armed with little more than a degree in electrical engineering and some experience working for an Indian local authority in procurement, he set out simply with ambition and foresight.
His factory making ferrous and non-ferrous ingots, widely used in the automobile industry, became the first in Africa to supply such global leading brands as Toyota, Rolls Royce, Honda and Nissan. From this, Satiija branched out into gold and copper, and becoming a member of the London Metal Exchange.
Today, he is in command of the largest reserves of precious and non-precious metals, as well as rare minerals with a wide number of industrial uses. Satiija's companies work closely with local communities in Africa helping in their development, and his influence in Africa goes to the very highest level — he's often seen meeting presidents and cabinet ministers.
He employs 6,000 people around the globe, and in India has moved into building new houses. Satiija is constructing homes with a difference through his Aqasia Homes business, looking to create “geopathic stress free areas” — taking particular attention to the surroundings of the home and making it as attractive and as peaceful as possible.