Reginald Abraham Mengi was born into a poor family in Northern Tanzania and raised in a mud hut

which the family shared with cows, sheep, goats and chickens. He had one meal a day and
sometimes none at all and walked to school barefoot. Notwithstanding these circumstances he
managed to study accountancy and articles with Cooper Brothers in the United Kingdom and after
being accepted as a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, he
returned to Tanzania in 1971 and was employed by the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand
Tanzania. He stayed with Coopers & Lybrand Tanzania (now PriceWaterHouseCoopers) up to
September 1989 during which time he became its Chairman and Managing Partner. In October 1989
Dr. Mengi left Coopers & Lybrand Tanzania to concentrate on his own businesses. Today his flagship
IPP Limited and its associated companies rank amongst the largest private companies in Tanzania.