Quick Facts
Biography
Asif Aziz is a Malawian-British philanthropist and businessman. He is the founder and Chief Executive of Criterion Capital.
Early life
Born in Malawi in 1967, Aziz moved to the United Kingdom at the age of ten where he acquired his first London property, in the 1980s, whilst still at school. He graduated from the British American College London with a business baccalaureate.
Career
Later he worked for property investment company Morgan Grenfell Laurie before moving back to Africa in 1993 where he made his fortune through the setting up of two food manufacturing businesses, including Golfrate Angola, which he sold in 2005. That same year he returned to the UK and established Criterion Capital, which acquired the London Trocadero leisure complex and Piccadilly Hotel on Piccadilly Circus in London for £225m. As CEO of Criterion Capital he manages a £2bn property portfolio across London.
Aziz has a number of charitable interests including supporting the Thokomala project in South Africa, which looks after orphans from the AIDS epidemic and supporting the Mosaic Future primary school mentoring programme through Criterion Capital. Seeing is Believing (organization), an charity that helps sight restorations as well as helping to prevent other causes of preventable blindness. Camfed the international organisation dedicated to eradicating poverty in Africa through the education of girls and the empowerment of young women. Unicef the international aid agency. The Olive Tree – a scholarship scheme aims to support outstanding young Palestinians and Israelis during their degree studies. The Next Step Diversity Mark – is a means for organisations to demonstrate their commitment to generating and supporting diversity at all levels.