Dozy Mmobuosi: The Nigerian billionaire set to take over English club Sheffield United

Dozy Mmobuosi is a Nigerian entrepreneur with a projected net worth of $7 billion. He is the owner of Tingo Mobile PLC and Tingo International Holdings, which accounts largely for his net worth. He also runs the Dozy Mmobuosi Foundation with a mission to promote the progress of Africa and create an environment where Africans can thrive.

Tingo Mobile’s digital agri-marketplace platform, Nwassa, provides farmers in Nigeria and beyond with weather forecasts, in addition to information on markets and digital payment options via Tingo Pay. His first tech venture was ‘Flashmecash,’ Nigeria’s first SMS banking solution. He later sold it for a good profit.

Aside from being a tech entrepreneur, Mmobuosi is also a football investor. He has “funded scouting schemes, training programmes and talent management for Porsche United and Nassarawa United, two formidable grassroots clubs in Nigeria,” according to GQ.co.za. His foundation funded the 2022 inaugural ‘Super Cup Tournament’ for clubs in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), which saw Shooting Stars of Ibadan emerge as winners.

He is also set to become the new owner of the British football side Sheffield United for a reported fee of around $108 million. The Times reports that he is in the final stages of buying the Bramall Lane club subject to meeting key conditions.

The owner of the Championship club, according to the BBC, is in talks with the Nigerian billionaire after American businessman Henry Mauriss failed in a bid to take over the Yorkshire club.

Should he pass the English Football League’s owners’ and directors’ test, he will assume ownership of the club and help lift the recent transfer embargo by settling the club’s debts, according to the BBC. The team is currently under a transfer embargo as a result of defaulting on transfer payments owned by another club.

He would also be the sixth African to own a club in Britain. They are Egyptian Nassif Sawiris, co-owner of Premier League side Aston Villa, Moroccan businessman Abdallah Lemsaga, owner of Oldham Athletic and South Africa-born Garry Otto, who is the co-owner of English fourth-tier club Sutton United.

The remaining include the late Egypt-born Assem Allam, who bought Hull City in 2010 and Egyptian Mohamed Al-Faye who acquired Fulham for a reported $40m in 1997.

Also, should the deal go through, Mmobuosi will become the richest club owner in the Championship, according to GiveMeSports.