They dropped out of school at some point out of hardship, but defied the odds to become billionaires. Here are a few of billionaires who were school dropouts.
1. Deepak Kamani
The controversial Kenyan billionaire recently revealed how much he hated school because he always came in last in class and despised the work load that came with school. He decided to drop out in Form 2 and joined his father to work in the family auto shop . That is where he began making a few coins which made him end up growing business wise and become the billionaire he is today.
2 . Njenga Karume
He was one of the richest Kenyan billionaires who didn't receive formal education, but that did not stop him. He went on to pursue different businesses and also wrote the book, Beyond Expectations from Charcoal to Gold, a story about from grass to grace.
3. Mwalimu Masoud Wahima
The politician was also a school drop out who did his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education KCSE, but unfortunately scored a D-, at that time he was a Mayor of Mombasa city. He ventured into the political world in 1987 where he started as a Councillor, then became a mayor and ended up being an mp during the 2013 general elections.
4. Mike Mlambwa
The Malawian business tycoon spoke of how his early childhood was tough. Schooling was a challenge since his parents were not able to pay for his fees, which made him start doing small jobs to earn a living and try to pay school fees.
He spoke of how he walked to the city which was 60 km away, that he credits with his beginning to success.
5. Ashish J Thakkar
The Ugandan is one of the youngest billionaires in Africa who in his early childhood was unable to complete his formal education. Due to the struggle of moving from one country to another due to things like war, his family somewhat became refugees. He dropped out of school and ventured into business with a $5000 loan. He founded his own company, the Mara Group which has made him one of the youngest billionaires world wide.
7. Cosmos Maduka
The Nigerian business man Cosmos was born in a poor family and at the age of 6, after his fathers death he started his own business which was hawking Akara (beans cake ). It was the start of something great as from such a humble beginning he is now one of the wealthiest businessmen and philanthropists.
8. Said Salim Bakhresa
The Tanzanian founder of the Bakhresa Group of companies is one of the wealthiest people in Africa. He dropped of school at the age of 14, where he became a potato mix salesperson who later became a successful African businessman.