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Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, has called on business leaders across Africa to give more women opportunities to occupy top positions in companies and institutions.
He said increasing women’s participation in corporate leadership was not just about promoting fairness but also necessary for businesses to grow and compete effectively.
Elumelu made the call while delivering the keynote address at the 25th annual conference of the Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) in Lagos.
Speaking on the theme, “Rooted, Rising, Ready: Born in Africa, Built for the World,” he challenged corporate leaders to move beyond discussions about gender inclusion and demonstrate their commitment through appointments, access to capital and opportunities for women to lead businesses.
“Women’s economic leadership is not a concession to fairness. It is a requirement for competitiveness,” he said.
To demonstrate his commitment, Elumelu highlighted the contributions of women occupying leadership positions across the Heirs Holdings Group, which has investments in financial services, investment management, hospitality, real estate, technology and entrepreneurship development.
He said the group had appointed eight women as chairpersons and chief executives across its businesses, adding that the appointments were based on competence and merit rather than gender.
Among them is his wife, Dr Awele Elumelu, a founding director of Heirs Holdings, who chairs Avon HMO, Avon Medical, Heirs Insurance Brokers, Transcorp Hotels Plc and Heirs Energies.
She is also a co-founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation.
Other women in leadership positions across the group include Dr Fumbi Chima, Chair of Heirs Technologies; Agatha Obiekwugo, Chair of Afriland Properties Plc; Mrs Foluke K. Abdulrazaq, Vice Chair of Transnational Corporation Plc; and Owen Omogiafo, President and Group Chief Executive Officer of Transcorp.
Others are Uzo Oshogwe, Managing Director of Transcorp Hotels; Somachi Chris-Asoluka, Chief Executive Officer of the Tony Elumelu Foundation; Catherine Nwosu, Managing Director of Africa Prudential Plc; Dr Odiri Ogini, Managing Director of United Capital Asset Management; and Esther Adeola Balogun, Managing Director of UCEE Microfinance Bank.
“I did not do it for a headline. I did it because they were the best people for the jobs,” Elumelu said.
He also cited the achievements of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, which has provided more than $120 million in seed funding to 24,633 entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries over the past 15 years.
Women account for 48 per cent of the beneficiaries, while businesses supported by the foundation have collectively created more than 1.5 million jobs and generated over $4.2 billion in revenue, according to him.
Elumelu said the foundation’s entrepreneurship programme reflects his Africapitalism philosophy, which promotes private-sector investment as a tool for creating economic growth and improving people’s lives.
He argued that African businesses and investors had a responsibility to widen access to opportunities, strengthen institutions and support entrepreneurship across the continent.
“Opportunity in Africa is still distributed by accident of birth, of geography, of gender. My life’s work is to make it distributed by merit instead,” he said.
He challenged business leaders to examine their organisations and remove barriers preventing qualified women from rising to executive and board-level positions.
“If I can do it in power, in hospitality, in banking, in insurance, in healthcare, and in oil and gas, so can others?” he asked.
Addressing young African women, Elumelu urged them not to wait for permission before pursuing leadership positions, establishing businesses and taking advantage of economic opportunities.
He also called on WIMBIZ and other stakeholders to sustain efforts to advance women’s participation in business and leadership.
“Advocacy got women into the room. Capital will get them to the head of the table,” he said.
