Enterprising Entrepreneur

INDIA has always produced entrepreneurs who have made a mark not only within its borders but also outside. We are all familiar with the names of the Birlas, Hindujas, Tatas, Wadias, Ambanis who have impacted the Indian economy. In 1970s many Indians went to the Gulf and started small business and who today through sheer hard work, enterprise, innovation risk and creativity are becoming household names not only in the Gulf but in Asia and Africa. These include B.R. Shetty, Sunny Varkey, Ravi Pillai and M.A. Yuseff Ali founder of the MK Group known by the brand name — LuLu. He stands tall among them all. Born in 1955 in Kerala, India, Yuseff obtained his diploma in the field of Business Management and Administration from Gujarat before leaving India in 1973 to join his uncle M.K. Abdullah in Abu Dhabi, who had founded the EMKE Group of companies. Once he learned the trade from Abdullah, he developed the wholesale distribution as well as the imports of the company and also ventured into the business of supermarkets. In 1990 he launched the first Lulu Hypermarket. At the time, the retail sector in the UAE was making a rapid shift towards marketplaces and hypermarkets, and LuLu was in perfect position to take the lead in the retail business. Today, Yuseff Ali is the Chairman and Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi-based LuLu Group of Companies, which had a last reported $6.2 billion annual retail revenue. The company also has the distinction of having on its payroll the highest number of Indians employed outside of India. Just this week, Lulu Group International was ranked among the 50 fastest-growing retailers in the world in a Deloitte Global survey. The group, which owns LuLu Hypermarket chain, has also featured among the top 250 global retailers in the Global Powers of Retailing 2017: “The art and science of customers” report released by the leading international auditing firm on Thursday. The group owns 133 stores including hypermarkets and supercenters, and is present in 9 countries in Asia and Middle East. The group recently opened its eighth hypermarket in Saudi Arabia in the northwestern city of Hail. The new hypermarket is spread over an area of about 160,000 square feet and will serve the residents of Al Jamiyeen District and its surrounding areas. “We have to expand aggressively here as the Kingdom is investing in its industries, which means more jobs and business,” M. A. Yuseff Ali, chairman of LuLu Group, said in a statement. The LuLu group has plans to open 20 more stores by 2020. Speaking of his early years, Yuseff Ali, a persona in humility, said “Like many thousands of Indians of that era, I also came to the shores of UAE in search of new opportunities. My father and uncles had a trading business Abu Dhabi on those days and I came and joined them. It used to be a small trading shop in the old souk area of Abu Dhabi. Those days the life and infrastructures in Abu Dhabi was a far cry from what it is today. Though life was tough and difficult due to lack of electricity, AC, water and drainage system, we still enjoyed those days as we all stayed as one big family and enjoyed the smallest pleasures together.” “The UAE had just come into being and even basic infrastructures such as electricity, water supply, sewerage system were yet to be functional. I remember sleeping on the roof of the house in Madinat Zayed area in those sultry hot summer evenings when air-conditioners were unheard of.” On what propelled him and his company onto the global stage, Yuseff Ali said, “In the early 90s during the peak of the Gulf War, while investors were hesitant to invest in the Gulf region, we decided to go ahead and launch supermarkets and department stores throughout the UAE. With a staff strength of over 40,000 today we control more than 32% of organized retail sector with 131 hypermarkets and supermarkets spread across the GCC, India, Far East and Egypt.” The group also has substantial interests in manufacturing, import-export, wholesale and retail trading, IT, travel and tourism, and shipping among others. But it is not financial success or monetary rewards that drive him. Yuseff Ali believes his greatest sense of achievement is “The fact that I could bring smiles into the lives of many people, be it my staff and their families, my countrymen or for that matter people in need. On the corporate or materialistic front, I could not ask for more, but yes, I pray every day for the strength to continue do my bit in the further strengthening of humanity in every possible way.” Yuseff Ali’s charitable and humanitarian nature is legendary. He has done various philanthropic activities across the globe. As part of its global CSR policy, the LuLu Group joined hands with Dubai Cares and adopted schools in Gaza and Nepal. Yuseff Ali contributed and took initiative to open a multifaith funeral center for the Indian community in Sharjah that spread across 8.3 acres. He also took initiative to sell and promote organic products grown by the special needs community in UAE through LuLu Hypermarkets. Yuseff Ali donated generously towards the Gujarat earthquake, Tsunami Relief Fund in Asia, and Typhoon and flood relief in other parts of the world. He is also actively involved in ensuring the social, economic and religious welfare of expatriate Indians in the Arabian Gulf region. He played a major role in procuring land for the Christian community in the region to build churches and was instrumental in securing cremation grounds for the Hindu populace in the Gulf. M. A. Yuseff Ali also extended help to Indians during the amnesty period in the Gulf when hundreds of Indians lost their livelihood. He helped rehabilitate people who lost their livelihood in the Calicut market fire as well. Yuseff Ali is a guiding light of hope for people in India and across the world for his committed approach to business, and equal devotion to philanthropy and to corporate social responsibility. His commitment to charity is a great inspiration. This is truly an Indian who produced his gold, not just for himself but for the benefit of all.