By Henry Umahi
Tony Onyemaechi Elumelu (TOE) could be described as the King of African youths. This is because the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), which he founded in 2013, provides capital and human resources to budding entrepreneurs across the continent.
Indeed, the Foundation has trained over 1.5 million young Africans on its digital hub-TEFConnect – and disbursed over $100 million in direct funding to 18,000 young African women and men who have collectively created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Tony Elumelu Foundation’s approach to entrepreneurship development is a breath of fresh air. It brings an innovative and dynamic approach to philanthropy in Africa – an African offering African solutions. One of the unique offerings from the Foundation is that it not only provides a platform for entrepreneurs to build connections, but also young Africans are being taught how to build their businesses in a sustainable way. It is promoting Pan-Africanism.
Elumelu is one of Africa’s leading entrepreneurs, investors and philanthropists. He is the Founder and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, an investment company with interests in banking, oil and gas, hospitality, technology, power, energy and healthcare.
He began his career as a copier salesman. He spent most of his career life in banking, rising from the position of an analyst to become the CEO of pan-African financial services group, United Bank for Africa (UBA). At 26, Elumelu became a branch manager at All States Trust Bank, making him the youngest bank branch manager in the country at the time. His success in this role ignited his passion for investing in the lives of young people.
Indeed, Elumelu performed wonders in the banking system. At 34, he was the youngest bank CEO in the country. In 2005, he made history again when he led the biggest merger in sub-Saharan Africa, at the time combining his Standard Trust Bank Plc with the older, more established United Bank for Africa, which at the time was Nigeria’s third largest financial services institution. In less than 10 years, he transformed UBA from a single-country bank to a pan-African institution with over one million customers, operations in 20 African countries, and offices in Paris, London, and New York. This action sealed his reputation as a business turnaround expert and one of Africa’s most influential business leaders.
In 2010, Elumelu left banking to the next chapter of his life as an investor and a philanthropist. His investments spans across 20 African countries and beyond. He is the Chairman of UBA, Transcorp, whose subsidiaries include Transcorp Power, one of the leading producers of electricity in Nigeria and Transcorp Hilton Hotels Plc, Nigeria’s foremost hospitality brand. He is the founder and chairman of Heirs Oil & Gas, an upstream oil and gas company.
Born on March 22, 1963, Elumelu is The Sun Man of the Year, for his outstanding contribution to the private sector, particularly the empowerment of budding entrepreneurs in 2023.