Jack Ma, Asia’s richest person to address Kenyans at University of Nairobi

NAIROBI, KENYA: Alibaba founder Jack Ma is expected to address business community and and students at the University of Nairobi Thursday afternoon.

The entrepreneur jetted in the country on Wednesday and is expected to offer tips on how to build successful business.

According to Forbes, Jack Ma is the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group.

His real time net worth as of 7/20/2017 stands at$35.5b

He has built e-commerce firm Alibaba into a behemoth. Its IPO in New York in 2014 set a record as the world's biggest public stock offering.

Though dogged by criticism that Alibaba doesn't do enough to limit the sale of fakes, Ma is leading Alibaba to ever higher sales. A record $463 billion of business transactions were conducted on Alibaba's retail platforms in the fiscal year through March 2016.

The company set a goal of creating 10 million profitable businesses and 100 million jobs in the next 20 years. Ma made headlines at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January, when he told CNBC that America has no one to blame but itself for its economic issues. Beyond e-commerce, in October 2016 Alibaba's film unit forged an alliance with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Partners, giving a potential boost to a struggling effort so far in the entertainment industry.

On Thursday he was among the top trends on twitter under #JackMaInKenya. UNCTAD tweeted Jack Ma is in the business of empowering small businesses and the people behind them. Aly-Khan Satchu‏ said Seriously looking forward to today's event #JackMaInKenya co~hosted by @UNCTAD and @KEPSA_KENYA ~ it’s a big deal!

KEPSA KENYA‏ @KEPSA_KENYA on Jul 18 tweeted Excited to be hosting Jack Ma Founder of Alibaba to explore opportunities with local businesses #JackMaInKenya.

And ViceChancellor,UoNBI‏ @vcuonbi on Jul 17 said e-Commerce has revolutionised business #JackMaInKenya