Anthony Onyemaechi Elumelu better known as Tony Elumelu, is a Nigerian businessman, economist, and philanthropist and also the founder of the Tony Elumelu foundation. He was born on March 22, 1963, into a Christian household in Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria, to Mr. Dominic and Mrs. Suzanne Elumelu.
Tony Elumelu’s Biography
He hails from Onicha-Ukwu in the Nigerian Delta State region’s Aniocha North LGA. His undergraduate degree in economics was earned at the Bendel State University, which is now Ambrose Alli University, and his graduate degree in economics was earned at the University of Lagos. He certainly didn’t stop there; he enrolled in the esteemed advanced management program at Harvard Business School, which is an outstanding accomplishment for a businessman.
Tony Elumelu’s Family Life
In 1993, Tony Elumelu married Mrs. Awele Vivien Elumelu, a medical professional. Seven children, including five girls and two twin boys who are the last to be born in the family, are the result of their union.
Tony Elumelu’s Net Worth
Tony Elumelu’s present net worth is thought to be over $1.4 billion; his success is a result of years of toil and risk-taking, as well as serial investments and a number of other things.
Tony Elumelu’s Achievements
As a member of the Union Bank Youth Corps, Tony Elumelu began his banking career. He was and is now a banker who was able to upend a failing institution and bring it back to prosperity. He persuaded a small group of investors to buy out a medium-sized commercial bank that was about to fail in 1997.
Tony Elumelu was appointed as the bank’s CEO, and the newly purchased bank’s name was changed to Standard Trust Bank. He brought the bank back to profitability in a short period of time, and afterwards the bank amalgamated with UBA, the third-largest bank in Nigeria at the time. Tony Elumelu was chosen to lead the newly combined UBA bank, and under his leadership, the Nigerian bank was transformed into a Pan-African Bank with locations in more than 20 different African nations. When he left his position as CEO of UBA, the bank had a market capitalization of $2 billion, $12 billion in assets, and more than 10,000 employees.
In 2010, Tony Elumelu established the Heirs holding, a family investment company that eventually joined forces with the Heirs oil & gas. He began collaborating with other industries, including the investment, electricity, oil and gas, and hospitality industries. His business relationships with each of these industries are his main source of income. Additionally in 2010, he established the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), a nonprofit organization created to support African entrepreneurs and develop them into influential figures in the private sector. Elumelu pledged to contribute $2.5 billion in 2013 to US President Barack Obama’s “Power Africa” project, which aims to increase energy access in sub-Saharan Africa, where almost two-thirds of the population lacks reliable power. However, a parallel initiative in the US Congress has run into opposition amid demands that specific US-backed projects have low carbon emissions that are attributed to climate change.
Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF)
Nigerian billionaire Tony O. Elumelu established the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) in 2010 as a continuation of his unflinching faith in young people as engines for Africa’s transformation. Through the creation of jobs, the eradication of poverty, and the economic empowerment of women, the Tony Elumelu Foundation, a leading philanthropist fostering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, has become synonymous with Africa’s sustainable development. The Foundation’s goals are based on AFRI capitalism, which sees the private sector—and especially entrepreneurs—as the engine driving the continent of Africa’s social and economic advancement.
TEF streamlined its multiple initiatives and programs in 2015 and prioritized funding Africa’s upcoming entrepreneurs and business leaders. The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, a 10-year, $100 million commitment to find, mentor, train, and support 10,000 young African entrepreneurs across 54 African countries, is the foundation’s main focus for the future. It offers structured, robust, and multifaceted support to entrepreneurs throughout Africa. Since the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme was introduced in 2015, the Foundation has provided over 1.5 million young Africans with training on www.tefconnect.com, Africa’s largest digital entrepreneurship ecosystem, and distributed close to $100 million in direct funding to more than 18,000 African women and men, who have collectively generated over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Elumelu, a Fellow of the Nigeria Leadership Initiative (NLI), collaborates with the Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative (AGI) through his foundation in order to increase the role of the private sector in the economic reform of a number of African nations. The Blair-Elumelu Fellowship Programme is the official name of this collaboration. He serves as one of the group’s co-chairs (AELG).
His awards and recognitions:
- He was conferred with the title of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) in 2003
- Was recognized as banker of the year by “African Banker Magazine” in 2008
- In 2012 he awarded with National Honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON)
- He was recognized as one of “Africa’s 20 Most Powerful People in 2012 by “Forbes” magazine
- Listed as 100 most influential Africans in Business by “New African Magazine”
- Leadership Award in Business and Philanthropy from the AAI – 2013
- ESI Most Influential Figures in African Power – 2015
- CGECI Academy Lifetime Achievement Award – 2016
- In 2016 he was Voted by Investor Magazine as African leader of the year
- He received the Inaugural Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Entrepreneurship Award in 2017
- Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) and the French President Macron ‘Tech for Good’ global coalition award – 2018.
- Person of the Year Award from the Vanguard Newspapers, Nigeria – 2018
- 100 most influential people in the world by Time – 2020
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