The FIN leadership and philanthropic roundtable conference recently took place on 6th August 2021. It was also an event wherein business personalities from Zambia were invited to share their thoughts on leadership and its significance. Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani was not only an honorary speaker, but was also bestowed upon with one of the prestigious Forbes ‘Best of Africa’ awards.

While Dr. Rajan Mahtani shared his thoughts on leadership and the importance of leaders taking responsibility for the growth and development of the nation, the Forbes management duly realised his contributions. Dr. Rajan Mahtani was bestowed with the prestigious ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award 2021. One of the biggest contributions by Dr. Mahtani has been his company Mahtani Group of Companies which was established in 1981. It quickly became a conglomerate expanding its services to Malawi, Zambia, South Africa as well as several parts of the globe along with expansion of its operations to various sectors including financial services, mining, agriculture, insurance, real estate and energy. Through his entrepreneurial ventures, Dr. Rajan Mahtani has been able to provide employment and livelihood opportunities for thousands of Zambian along with development of infrastructure, social services and economy across several provinces. His philanthropic and charitable activities are often hidden as Dr. Rajan Mahtani rarely mentions them in his business portfolio.

He is the Founder & Chairman of the (PFZ) Prison Fellowship Zambia, a program affiliated to (PFI) Prison Fellowship International situated in Washington. The program provides opportunities to the inmates & ex-inmates to create meaningful developments along with providing opportunities to their families so that they do not fall into the same path. He has also enabled self-sufficiency across medical and food supplies by sponsoring agricultural projects. Dr. Mahtani’s contributions towards the Zambian educational sector is significant. Dr. Rajan Mahtani launched Stephen Malama award in the year 2013 which is given to the best Zambian bar candidate along with scholarship programs for furthering their education. Forbes acknowledged these contributions by Dr. Mahtani while presenting the award.