 |
Tony Elumelu was born in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, in 1963. He hails from Onicha-Ukwu in Aniocha North Local Government area of Delta State. He has two degrees in Economics from Nigerian Universities; a bachelor's degree from Ambrose Ali University and a masters degree from the University of Lagos. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Programme. Tony Elumelu married Awele Vivien Elumelu, a medical doctor, in 1993, and they have seven children together.
In his early career, in 1997, Tony Elumelu acquired and turned a nearly bankrupt Standard Trust Bank into a top-five player in Nigeria in just a few years. At the time of the takeover Mr Elumelu was the youngest bank CEO in Nigeria at just 33 years old.
In 2005, he led the acquisition of United Bank for Africa (UBA), later transforming it from a single-country bank to a pan African institution with more than seven million customers in 19 African countries.
Following his retirement from UBA in 2010, Elumelu founded Heirs Holdings, which invests in the financial services, energy, real estate and hospitality, agribusiness and healthcare sectors. In the same year, he established the Tony Elumelu Foundation, an African-funded philanthropic organisation dedicated to the promotion of excellence in business leadership and entrepreneurship and to enhancing competitiveness of the private sector across Africa.
In 2011, Heirs Holdings acquired a controlling shares in the Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc. (Transcorp), a publicly quoted conglomerate that has business interests in the agribusiness, energy and hospitality sectors. Elumelu was subsequently appointed chairman of the corporation, through this offering thousands employment.
In 2006, Mr Elumelu was voted African Business Leader of the year by Africa Investor magazine and in 2008 was recognized as the African Banker of the Year by African Banker Magazine.
In 2012, Forbes magazine recognized him as one of Africa's 20 Most Mighty People.
Tony Elumelu had a passion to succeed and he has a strong believe in other people's ability to change their own lives for the better with just a bit of support.
Mr Elumelu believes in treating people equally and serving as a model for others in terms of practicing what he believes.
In a speech to African youths, he said "You are brave, you are resilient. You are savvy, you are entrepreneural, and unlike the generations that have come before you, you are much hungrier for success. You call your ambition, "your hustle" ..."
In 2015, the Tony Elumelu Foundation set up the the annual TEF Entrepreneurship Programme which commits $100 million to training, mentoring and funding of 10,000 African entrepreneurs. TEEP is the largest business plan competition in the continent.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation(TEF) has created over 160,000 direct and indirect jobs across Africa in three years.