Tony Elumelu

Tony O. Elumelu, CON, is an entrepreneur, philanthropist and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, a proprietary investment company operating a portfolio of businesses across the African continent.

In 1997, recognizing the strategic potential of the Nigerian financial services sector, Elumelu acquired Standard Trust Bank and created a new model of customer-focused banking for Nigeria’s emerging middle class. In 2005, he engineered, what was at the time, the largest merger in the Sub- Saharan African banking industry, through his acquisition of the United Bank for Africa (UBA). Within five years, the UBA Group had been transformed into a pan-African institution with over 7 million customers in 19 African countries, creating one of Africa’s most powerful financial services brands.

In 2010, Elumelu founded Heirs Holdings, driven by his vision of African created and African-focused entrepreneurship that is committed to stimulating economic prosperity and social wealth. Heirs Holdings has significant interests in the ICT, financial services, energy, real estate and hospitality, agribusiness and healthcare sectors.

In the same year, he established The Tony Elumelu Foundation, an Africa based and funded philanthropy dedicated to the promotion of entrepreneurship in Africa by enhancing the competitiveness of the private sector to create economic and social wealth.

In 2011, Heirs Holdings acquired a controlling interest in the Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc. (Transcorp), a publicly quoted company, which operates in the agribusiness, energy, and hospitality sectors. Elumelu now serves as Chairman of Transcorp.

Elumelu also serves as an Advisor to the USAID’s Private Capital Group for Africa (PCGA) Partners Forum. He sits on the Nigerian President’s Agricultural Transformation Implementation Council (AITC). He is also Vice-Chairman and was a key driver in the formation of the National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria and serves as Co-Chair of the Aspen Institute Dialogue Series on Global Food Security. At the invitation of the Federal Government of Nigeria, he also chairs the Committee responsible for the establishment of world-class hospitals and diagnostic centers across Nigeria.

Elumelu is the originator and leading proponent of the term “Africapitalism,” a philosophy that views the African private sector as the key driver of lasting economic transformation in Africa, through long-term investments, that create both economic prosperity and social wealth.

In 2003, the Federal Government of Nigeria conferred on him the National Honour of Member of the Federal Republic (MFR) and subsequently the further honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) in 2012, for his service in promoting private enterprise.

He was recently recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of “Africa’s 20 Most Powerful People in 2012.” In addition, the New African Magazine featured him in their list of the “100 Most Influential Africans in Business.”

Elumelu was named one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2020.