Miloud Chaabi

Miloud Chaabi (Arabic:ميلود الشعبي; September 15, 1930 – April 16, 2016) was a Moroccan businessman and politician. He was the founder of Ynna Holding and the owner of the Riad Mogador hotel chain and group of supermarkets Aswak Assalam in Morocco. He was known for his strong stance against alcohol which is banned from both his hotel chain and supermarkets. His daughter, Asma Chaâbi has been mayor of the city of Essaouira from 2003 to 2009, and was the first woman to hold such a position in Morocco.[1][2] His son, Mohcine, is a current member of the House of Representatives,[3] while his late son Mohamed and his other son Faouzi, held the same positions in the past.[4][5] He was also the parliamentary representative of Essaouira after winning the elections in 2011, until he resigned on December 8, 2014 due to his declining health.[6][7] His seat in the parliament was taken by his daughter Asma, who was second on the electoral list.[8][9]

Miloud Chaabi
Born
ميلود الشعبي

15 September 1930
Aquermoud, near Essaouira, Morocco
Died16 April 2016(2016-04-16) (aged 85)
Hamburg, Germany
Occupations
  • Businessman
  • politician
Known forWealthiest person in Morocco in 2011
Children3

In 2011, his fortune was estimated by Forbes Magazine at some $3 billion which made him the sixth richest man in Africa at the time, and the wealthiest person in Morocco.[10]

Chaâbi was also known for his philanthropic and charity work and donated 10% of his fortune to build the first American university in Morocco in conjunction with the Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana.[11] He was the operator of one of the largest charity organisations in Morocco, the Miloud Chaâbi Foundation.[12]

Biography

Miloud Chaabi was born in Aquermoud, a small Berber village near Essaouira, Morocco, to a poor family. As a child he was taught in a mosque, and started working alternatively as a goat herder and farmer. During his brief time at school, he learned the Koran and the basics of reading and writing.[13] At 15, he saved up enough money and moved from Marrakech to Kenitra where he started his first construction company in 1948.

At a time when trading business in Kenitra was restricted to the French, some Jewish businessmen, and some of the well known Moroccan families, Chaâbi ventured into the field. His interest went toward the ceramic industry which made him start his own ceramic company in 1964. Soon, Chaâbi gained enough experience in the business and began to seek for opportunities to purchase large companies. He offered to become an investor in a French company but the company refused his offer, which drove him to keep pressuring it by selling products with competitive prices until it had finally collapsed and was on the verge of bankruptcy. In 1985, the company sold all of its properties to Chaâbi himself. This success was a turning point for Chaâbi's professional career, and as a result he founded Ynna Group which became one of the most powerful holding companies in Morocco.

In 1992, he founded JBC for cardboard paper and got a deal for the sale of the petrochemical company SNEP in 1993. In 1994, he launched ELECTRA for electrical components, cables and television batteries. In 1998, he launched Aswak Assalam shopping chain which was followed by the launch of Riyad Mogador hotel chain in 1999.

Political career

Until he resigned in 2014, Miloud Chaabi won all Moroccan parliamentary elections since 1984,[14] though he changed his political party multiple times. Parties of which he was a member include Party of Progress and Socialism and Environment and Development Party. In July 2008, he heavily criticized Driss Jettou's government for selling public properties at low prices without taking the proper legal procedures.

See also

References
  1. "أسماء الشعبي تخلف والدها الملياردير في البرلمان" (in Arabic). Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  2. "لأول مرة، إمرأة على رأس المجلس الجماعي لمدينة مراكش". www.alkhabar.ma. Archived from the original on 2016-08-08.
  3. "بعد استقالة الميلياردير الشعبي من البرلمان..نجله محسن يلتحق بحزب مزوار - فبراير.كوم | موقع مغربي إخباري شامل يتجدد على مدار الساعة". فبراير.كوم | موقع مغربي إخباري شامل يتجدد على مدار الساعة (in French). 2014-12-30. Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  4. "فوزي الشعبي". مجلس النواب، البرلمان، المملكة المغربية (in Arabic). 2014-10-10. Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  5. "Mort de Mohamed Chaâbi, fils du milliardaire marocain Miloud Chaâbi". Bladi.net (in French). Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  6. "Chambre des représentants". Chambre des représentants (in French). Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  7. Yabiladi.com. "الملياردير ميلود الشعبي يستقيل من مجلس النواب" (in Arabic). Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  8. host, just. "Welcome essaouiranews.com - Justhost.com". essaouiranews.com. Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  9. "أسماء الشعبي برلمانية جديدة في مجلس النواب". الأسبوع الصحفي (in Arabic). Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  10. "#6 Miloud Chaabi - Forbes.com". www.forbes.com. Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  11. "Moroccan Miloud Chaabi donates portion his wealth to education". Bridgizz.com. Archived from the original on April 4, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
  12. "La Fondation Miloud Chaabi". The Miloud Chaâbi Foundation. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
  13. "الشعبي.. راعي الغنم الذي أصبح مليارديرا" [Chaabi, the shepherd who became a billionaire]. Aljazeera (in Arabic). Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  14. "ميلود الشعبي". مجلس النواب، البرلمان، المملكة المغربية (in Arabic). 2014-10-10. Retrieved 2017-09-12.
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