CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA (UBA) PLC, TONY ELUMELU, NAMED AMONG THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL AFRICANS OF 2015

Tony O. Elumelu Founder and Chairman of Heirs Holdings.

Nigerian businessman Tony Elumelu continues to fly the African flag by promoting his philosophy of Africapitalism, which aims to drive growth and development through entrepreneurship and private sector growth. Using $100m of his own capital, he successfully launched an entrepreneurial programme that provides seed capital, mentorship and guidance to promote entrepreneurship throughout Africa. 

Some investments via Heirs Holding, his investment vehicle, have been timid by his standards but one area where he has taken a lead and been more aggressive has been in the power sector and his investments are yielding results. In addition to all this, the United Bank for Africa (UBA), the bank he founded and now chairs, continues to perform strongly and is one of the most active Nigerian banks outside Nigeria.

“In this increasingly global and interconnected world, we need champions; those game changers who are making a difference, changing perceptions and shaping our definition of what is possible. This is why it is our honour to recognize you as one of New African’s 100 Most Influential Africans 2015. We are so proud of everything you have accomplished,” commended Omar Ben Yedder the Group Publisher of the Pan African Magazine “New African” in a letter sent to Tony Elumelu to congratulate him on this achievement.

About Tony O. Elumelu

Tony Elumelu is the Founder and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, a privately held investment firm, with interests in the power, Oil and Gas, financial services and hospitality sectors across Africa. He is Chairman of Transcorp, Nigeria’s largest listed conglomerate; and Seadrill Nigeria Limited. In 2010, Mr. Elumelu created the Tony Elumelu Foundation, which champions African entrepreneurship. In January 2015 the foundations launched the $100 million Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme to seed and support 10,000 African entrepreneurs over the next decade. The programme represents Tony’s personal commitment to the economic philosophy of “Africapitalism”, a development model he propagated, that sees the African private sector as the catalyst in ensuring Africa’s sustainable social and economic development.