Thakkar’s family emigrated from the Indian state of Gujarat to Africa in the 1890s. Thakkar was born in Leicester in 1981. He spent his childhood at Rushey Mead School as part of Belvoir S form group. His parents had moved to the United Kingdom in 1972 when Idi Amin enforced the expulsion of Asians from Uganda. Thakkar and his family returned to Africa to live in Rwanda before they were again forced to leave due to the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The Thakkar family then fled to Burundi before settling in Uganda as refugees. At 15 years old, Thakkar dropped out of school to start his own business with a $5,000 loan.

Thakkar founded his own company, Mara Group, in 1996 at the age of 15. He began by importing computer parts including keyboards, mouses, and desktops from weekly trips to Dubai. After Thakkar had received a $5,000 loan to start his company, he opened the small IT business in a shopping mall across the street from his father’s shop in Kampala.

Thakkar founded Mara Foundation, a non-profit company that mentors and supports young African entrepreneurs, in 2009. Mara Mentor, a mobile application that connects young entrepreneurs with business professionals, was launched through Mara Foundation.

In 2013, Thakkar announced a partnership with Bob Diamond to launch Atlas Mara, a company that invests in commercial banking institutions across Africa. Diamond, the former chief executive of Barclays, and Thakkar met at a conference through their foundations, Mara Foundation and the Diamond Family Foundation. Thakkar and Diamond raised $325 million in funding in December 2013, before listing the company on the London Stock Exchange. The stock price has continued steadily declining and has lost 95% of its IPO price. The ticker symbol in London is ATMA.LN, while in the United States, the ticker is AAMAF.

In June 2014, Thakkar participated in the “Global Accelerator” event hosted by the United Nations Foundation and the United Nations Office for Partnerships to discuss entrepreneurships in UN objectives. Thakkar presented and worked at the event of over 100 entrepreneurs and UN officials including Michael Dell, Barbara Bush and Arianna Huffington. In August 2014, Thakkar participated in the US-Africa summit, hosted by the White House, alongside former U.S. President Bill Clinton. He has also participated in the UN Women Initiative, and was a guest speaker at the Emirates Foundation Youth Philanthropy Summit in November 2014.