DUBAI: Mr. Mohamed Said Guedi, Founder and Chairman of the diversified MSG group of companies, has been granted a ten-year golden visa by the UAE government.
The honor is in recognition of his outstanding services as a businessman and entrepreneur who has helped grow several businesses from start-ups into multimillion-dollar entities.
Mr. Guedi was presented with the coveted golden visa by a senior official at a special presentation function held at the Dubai Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs. He becomes the first Djibouti national to receive the ten-year golden residency visa.
Mohamed Said Guedi has been running successful businesses in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe since the 1970s. He began with humble trading operations in the African region. His drive, capacity to take calculated risks, and commitment to ethical business practices have earned him a glowing reputation among clients and colleagues alike.
He has been active in the export and import business since 1981, as the founder and chairman of MSG Trading ETS, and the driving force behind Somcable, a telecommunication company that has deployed a terrestrial fiber optic cable network with coverage of more than 1,400 km connecting Djibouti, Somaliland, and Ethiopia. He is also a major investor in an eCommerce venture in Africa that seeks to rival Amazon.
Currently, with over 2,000 employees, the MSG group of companies is engaged in FMCG, manufacturing, tobacco, telecommunication, energy, oil, trading, construction, cement, logistics, and eCommerce. The Group has two regional headquarters: Dubai (UAE) and Djibouti.
Mr. Mohamed Said commented after accepting the golden visa: “This is such a huge honor for MSG group of companies and me personally. The UAE has been a great place to do business. This country gave me the ideal environment to nurture my ideas and grow my businesses and great opportunities to associate with the right people, which has been the bedrock of our success. Our group is grateful to the Almighty and the UAE’s visionary leadership for bestowing such an honor on me. This will propel us to work even harder to support the nation and achieve our goals, especially towards a sustainable future”.
MSG group of companies owns and manages two companies in UAE: Independent Tobacco FZE and Chelsea Tobacco FZE. Independent Tobacco FZE began its operation in 2004 with activities in cigarette manufacturing and trading from a state-of-the-art facility in Jebel Ali Free Zone, serving over 50 markets globally with quality tobacco products. In 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, MSG Group defied the negative trend by launching yet another venture, Chelsea Tobacco FZE, exclusively for manufacturing Shisha tobacco.
Mohamed Said Guedi, a Somaliland-Djibouti dual national, is widely recognized by clients and colleagues as a consummate professional with a high degree of personal integrity and a passionate philanthropist. He has funded several humanitarian and infrastructure projects in the Horn of Africa region.
The group is now focused on expanding its global footprint, through a unique philosophy that blends business with cultural diversity and intercultural understanding.
