The Greeks in Zanzibar in the 1890s

(Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in Tanzania’)

Zanzibar was of foremost importance in the trade activity of the Indian Ocean for centuries. For that reason, few Greeks settled in there in the 1890s and started their business activity mainly as ship chandlers and traders.

The foundation of the Greek school in Arusha of Tanzania

(Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in Tanzania’)

In 1947, the Greeks of the then Tanganyika launched a fundraiser at the initiative of Christodoulos Galanos. Almost £24,000 was gathered. Among the major donors were G. Arnaoutoglou, Skoutaris, Arg. Monas, Mich. Kazamias, I. Kazamias, Ch. Antoniou, G. Chouris, F. Kontopoulos, N. Zachariadis, N. Athineos, N. Tsambourakis, the ‘Ralli Co.’, and the British administration. A plot of 140 acres, a few kilometers outside Arusha was bought at the price of £4,500 and the school was founded on 25/3/1949. The construction began in 1950 but the money was not enough for the completion of the school and the building of the boarding house. Finally, thanks to the generosity of Christodoulos Galanos the school was completed on 28/10/1952.

The Greeks and the African rumba

The Greeks played a significant role in the music industry of Congo by founding several recording companies like Olympia, Ngoma, Opika and others. In the 1960s, they contributed in the formation of African rumba which became popular throughout the world during the following decades.

Livieratos family: From Kefalonia to Romania, Egypt, Yemen and Ethiopia

(Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek presence in the horn of Africa’)

Livieratos brothers established a company in the mid-19th century and settled in Romania selling wheat. Soon, they opened a branch in Egypt. One of the brothers, Anastasios moved to Aden and started trading coffee. From there, Livieratos Company expanded to the city of Harrar in Ethiopia which was the major coffee centre of the whole Northeastern Africa. Till the early 20th century, Livieratos Company had managed to open branches in Marseille and New York.

The Greeks of Dire Dawa (Ethiopia) in the 1910s

(excerpt from the book ‘The Greek presence in the horn of Africa’)

In 1902, the railway reached Dire Dawa in the southeastern of Ethiopia and the Greek workers were among the first Europeans who settled in. Over the next decade, Dire Dawa transformed into a modern city with restaurants, café and hotels such as the ‘Continental’ of Stelios Bololakos. Nearly and around the hotel there were most of the Greek trade stores and a cinema that belonged to Alexandrou. Undoubtedly, most of the Greeks were involved in the coffee trade. Some of the dominant trading houses were those of I. Vozikis, Michaelidis, Karellas, Papakonstantinou, Kermelis brothers, Varbetas, Vrachatis brothers, Philippatos, L. Kalos, T. Armantzas, M. Dalentzas, Diamantopoulos, E. Theofilou, Zafiriadis, Salavrakos, V. Klitsas, N. Baltsorias, Giannatos, C. Koutsogiorgis, G. Kalaidis, I. Tzelatis, Michalitsianou brothers.

The Greek community in Sudan (1843-2019)

The Greek community in Addis Ababa in the late 19th century

(Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek presence in the horn of Africa’)

In the 1890s, the emperor of Ethiopia, Menelik II, decided to transfer the capital on Mount Entoto. This was the starting point for the building of Addis Ababa (lit. new flower). This decision demanded the presence of the appropriate skillful workforce. Several Greeks took part in several construction projects including streets, bridges, buildings and churches. Apart from the construction field, lots of Greeks were engaged in trade. Therefore, some of them were members of the local government such as Kleanthis Moschopoulos, who had been appointed as Head of State Security and Vassilis Diamandouros, who was the Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce.

Emmanuel family: From Tenedos to Suez and Tanganyika, in the early 1900s

Emmanuel family: From Tenedos to Suez and Tanganyika, in the early 1900s

(Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in Tanzania’)

One of the typical stories of the Greeks settled in the Kilimanjaro area during the early 1900s is that of Gregory Emmanuel. Emmanuel was born in Tenedos Island and was working as an engineer for the Suez Canal Company. In Alexandria, he met his friend Meimaridis who was also from Tenedos. At that time, coffee cargo was being landed in Mombasa and transported by train to Voi in Tanganyika. Meimaridis had purchased a steam traction engine and intended to take over the heavy transport business between Voi and Moshi on the slopes of Kilimanjaro, a distance of about 90 miles. Meimaridis offered a partnership to Emmanuel and for the next years they carried building materials and other heavy freight around the Moshi area. Later, Emmanuel worked as a constructor for the railway and then as a farmer. Today the 4th generation of Emmanuel family still lives on the slopes of Kilimanjaro.

Loizos family: A route from Cyprus to Egypt and Sudan, in the late 19th century

Loizos family: A route from Cyprus to Egypt and Sudan, in the late 19th century

(Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in Sudan’)

During the 1890s, a few Greek traders who used to live in Egypt expanded their business to Sudan. One of them was Aristides Loizos. In 1876, he left Cyprus and immigrated to Egypt. A decade later he settled in Sudan followed by his brothers Petros, Michael, Nikos and Konstantinos. They set up a trade business in Wadi Halfa and later throughout Sudan. In 1905, they also owned the ‘Grand Hotel’, one of the oldest hotels of Sudan.

The Greeks in Tanzania in the late 19th century

(Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in Tanzania’)

In the late 19th century some adventurous Greeks settled in the then German East Africa. They were traders whose activity sphere included mostly the coasts and the northern part of Tanganyika. Some of these pioneers were: Chrysostomou in Rombo, George Tzouganatos in Mombo, Panagis Krousos in Ukonongo, Christos Tsavalos in Iringa, Kostas Meimaridis in Kiboscho, Nikos Kilikis in Tanga, Alexander Efraim in Saadani, Antonis Mamakos in Tabora, Nikos Michalakis in Arusha and Nanos in Mpapua. Most of the Greeks owned small shops. Some of them resided in Bagamoyo, the port opposite Zanzibar. There was one European hotel in Bagamoyo, the ‘Grand Hotel’, which was Greek owned.

The Greeks of Mount Kilimanjaro in the 1900s

(Excerpt from the book 'The Greek community in Tanzania')

In the 1900s, a few Greeks settled in Moshi and Arusha, on the lower slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and dealt with coffee farming.  In the late 1930s, 134 out of a total of 405 coffee estates in the Kilimanjaro area were Greek. Actually, 80% of the total production was in the hands of the Greek farmers, who owned the largest estates. Some of these early settlers in the Kilimanjaro area were Michael Michalakis, Kostas Kalliambetsos, Kostas and Ioannis Papayiannis, Xenophon Tsiknos, Dimitris and Vassilis Bourloyiannis, Fotis Stathopoulos, Michael Plataniotis, Leonidas Christianakis, Tzouganatos, Michael Lamos, Evriviadis Panagiotakopoulos, George and Thanos Papadopoulos, Kostas Eleftheriou, Nasos Aslanis, Anthippi Papadopoulou, Pantelis Boukosis, Aphrodite Boukousi, Spyros Markantonatos, Ioannis Varveris, Alekos Orphanos, Lefteris Ioannidis, Pygmalion Karageorgellis, Despoina Karageorgelli, Paul and Christos Giarinakis, Hercules Koros, Androniki Gika, Nikos Monas, Antonis Zannetos and Gregory Emmanuel.

The Greek constructors of the railway in Tanzania

(Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in Tanzania’)


The construction of the railway in the German colony of Tanganyika (pr. Tanzania) commenced in the late 19th century. However, due to the shortage of sufficient labour, the landscape difficulties and the outbreak of sleeping illness, the railway could not be implemented. For that reason, in 1905, the Germans assigned the project to Greeks contractors and technicians. Most of those Greeks were familiar with such works, since they had worked either on the Baghdad railway or in the railroad construction in the horn of Africa. Some of them were Stamatis Emmanuel, Alexander Skoutaris, Dimitris Kapetsakos, George Arnaoutoglou, Dimitris Gikas, George Giannikos, Michael Kazamias, Lazaros Horn, Kleanthis Papadopoulos, Kostas Panagiotou, Manolis Sarmanis, Manolis Mantheakis, Dimitris Tsakiris, Tasos Vasardanis and Fotis Kontopoulos.

The Greek community in Tanzania

For the first time, the history of the Greek community in Tanzania.
The book is the result of an extensive research in public and private collections in Tanzania, Greece, Great Britain and Germany.
The luxury, hardcover publication is available by the author Antonis Chaldeos (Email:anchald1997@hotmail.com)

The Greeks in Beira of Mozambique in the late 19th century

The Greeks in Beira of Mozambique in the late 19th century

[excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in Mozambique’]

In the 1890s, the first Greeks from Kasos and Lemnos Island immigrated to Beira. That time, malaria, sleeping sickness and other tropical diseases plagued the whole region resulting in an increased mortality. The transformation of Beira from an uninhabited and almost unknown place in Eastern Africa to an important port soon started