Men aren’t the only ones who have made names for themselves as investors. There is a trend of successful women in business and finance already creating a revolution in the stock market. Leading her fellow gender peers into making strong inroads into this traditionally male-dominated field is Awele Vivian Elumelu. The well-trained medical doctor and now star stock-picker has emerged the richest female investor on the Nigerian Stock Exchange with a net worth of $15.5 million, according to a recent report.
Awele is the founder and CEO of Avon Medical Practice —a growing network of full-service clinics and onsite facilities with corporate institutions. She is also the wife of Nigerian billionaire investor and philanthropist, Tony Elumelu. Her spouse is the chairman of Transcorp Plc, a listed Nigerian conglomerate, where he is the largest shareholder —and she also holds a substantial share. But Awele has recorded a surge in her Transcorp stake value at over N13 billion. She currently commands a controlling 5.1 per cent stake in the company, equivalent to 2,070,794,804 ordinary shares. The increase in her stake’s value can be attributed to a 10 per cent rise in share price linked to growing interest from both local and international investors, based on Transcorp’s recent market moves.
Spotlight learnt that Awele’s holdings in Transcorp surged in May when she started buying up large tranches of the conglomerate’s shares to consolidate her family’s hold on the company after the media speculated that billionaire businessman Femi Otedola was attempting a hostile takeover of Transcorp after the shrewd investor started gobbling up the company’s shares. But with her acquisition of the 5.1 per cent of the Transcorp stake, Awele, a holder of the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic, OFR, bought herself a new identity plate as Nigeria’s new Queen of Stock.