Raj Modi

Rajeshkumar Indukant Modi (born 4 February 1959) is a Zimbabwean businessman and politician who is the member of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe for Bulawayo South and Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce. He previously served as the MP for the constituency and as deputy minister from 2018 until 2023. He is a member of ZANU–PF.

Originally from Gujarat, India, he graduated from South Gujarat University and briefly worked for an electricity board. Modi found work at a department store in Zimbabwe and eventually opened a tuck shop. In 1999, he opened his first supermarket, eventually owning as many as twelve before selling them in 2013. He currently runs a liquor wholesale business, several manufacturing facilities, and other businesses.

Modi joined ZANU–PF in the early 2000s, and went on to hold leadership roles at the district, ward, and provincial level. He was seen as an ally of Emmerson Mnangagwa amid the factional infighting within the party leading up to the 2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état. His election to parliament in 2018 made him the only successful ZANU–PF candidate in Bulawayo, traditionally an opposition Movement for Democratic Change stronghold. After the election, he was named to President Mnangagwa's cabinet as deputy industry and commerce minister. His appointment made him the first person of Indian origin MP in Zimbabwe and the only person of Indian origin government minister in Africa outside South Africa. Modi was defeated as a Member of Parliament by Nicola Watson of the Citizens Coalition for Change at the 2023 general election and was not reappointed to cabinet. After Watson was recalled from the National Assembly, he stood in the subsequent by-election in December 2023 and won back the seat. Provided by Wikipedia