From London Cab to Billionaire Boardrooms: Sudhir Ruparelia’s Triumphant Return to the UK-Africa Summit!

Alex, a Ugandan Taxi driver from Gulu in London who is cruising Dr Sudhir Ruparelia in London

London — Uganda’s richest businessman Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia turned heads in London not just for his presence at the high-profile UK-Africa Business Summit 2025, but for an unplanned encounter that took him back to his humble beginnings. Before stepping into the summit’s grandeur at The Royal Horseguards Hotel and One Whitehall Place, the billionaire hailed a London taxi driven by a Ugandan from Gulu named Alex — instantly triggering memories of his own early years behind the wheel.

Long before he built the Ruparelia Group into a multi-billion-dollar empire, Sudhir worked as a London taxi driver, painstakingly saving USD 25,000 which he took back to Uganda to launch his first ventures. Decades later, riding through the same streets, he found himself narrating that journey to Alex. Sources at the scene say the two exchanged contacts, and Sudhir invited the driver to lunch during his next visit to Uganda, promising to host him at one of his luxury establishments. “It was a warm, nostalgic moment,” a witness told us. “He was visibly happy, reminiscing about his early hustle.”

After arriving at the venue, Sudhir joined other Ugandan dignitaries — including Col. Edith Nakalema — for the 15th edition of the UK-Africa Business Summit, held under the theme “Forging Investment Partnerships for Growth.” The summit is one of the most prestigious forums for African leaders, investors and UK policymakers to deepen trade ties and explore new opportunities.

Now in its 15th year, the event has grown into a major platform for showcasing African business potential and cementing long-term partnerships. For Sudhir, it was more than a high-level gathering — it was a symbolic return to the city where his entrepreneurial odyssey began. His “taxi-to-tycoon” journey mirrored the summit’s own ethos: taking modest beginnings and, through grit, turning them into engines of transformation. As he walked into the conference halls not as a driver but as one of Africa’s most formidable investors, Sudhir embodied the very story the UK-Africa Summit seeks to tell — that of forging bold partnerships to propel growth, jobs and prosperity across the continent.