Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi

Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi born 1944/1945^[1]) is a Saudi Arabian/Ethiopian businessman and billionaire who lives in Ethiopia and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. As of 2011, Forbes has estimated his net worth at $12.3 billion, making him the 63rd richest person in the world. This listing also ranks him as the richest person in Ethiopia and the second richest Saudi Arabian citizen in the world.^[2] As of March 2013, Forbes ranked Al Amoudi as the second richest black person in the world.^[3] Al Amoudi made his fortune in construction and real estate before branching out to buy oil refineries in Sweden and Morocco. He is said to be the largest foreign investor in both Sweden and Ethiopia.

Business activities

Al Amoudi owns a broad portfolio of businesses in oil, mining, agriculture, hotels, hospitals, finance, operations and maintenance. His businesses are largely to be found within two conglomerate holding and operating companies, Corral Petroleum Holdings and MIDROC, both which he owns and manages. He employs over 40,000 people through these companies.^[4]Al Amoudi's construction company consortium, Mohammed International Development Research and Organization Companies, also known as MIDROC, won a contract to build Saudi Arabia's estimated $30 billion nationwide underground oil storage complex in 1988. MIDROC acquired Yanbu Steel in Saudi Arabia in 2000.^[5]

In addition to his substantial business interests in Ethiopia, he also owns oil refineries in Morocco and Sweden and is engaged in energy exploration and production off West Africa and elsewhere.^[6] His Addis Ababa Sheraton is said to be among the finest hotels in Africa.^[7]He has recently pledged US$275 million alongside other Saudi and South Korean investors through MIDROC to finance a factory to build Saudi Arabia's first car, to be called Gazal-1, in a project initiated by King Saud University^[8]^[9] and, in September 2011, it was announced that he planned to invest around US$1.07bn (4bn Saudi Riyals) in two major Saudi industrial projects (phosphate derivatives and sulfur) in Ras Al Khair [Eastern Region] and Jubail Industrial City respectively.^[10]