Tony Elumelu is 60. That is the big news rocking Corporate Nigeria right now. That TOE is 60 is a big deal, because for the past 30 years, this big corporate player has dominated the business landscape like a colossus that he is. He made his mark in Banking before he veered out into other sectors. And today, he presides over a conglomerate that is into Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Real Estate, Hospitality, Healthcare, Oil & Gas, Power, Philanthropy and many more lucrative areas.
He is the Chairman of UBA. He is also the Chairman of Heirsholding, a family owned investment company committed to improving lives & transforming Africa. It operates out of Heirs Place in Ikoyi, Lagos.
Lately, his focus has been on how to empower the youths, via the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF). Since the launch of The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the fund has trained over 1.5 million young Africans on its digital hub REF Connect and disbursed nearly USD 100 million in direct funding to 18,000 African Women & Men who have collectively created 400,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Over the last few years, he has been involved in Philanthropy, by empowering young African Entrepreneurs across all the 54 African countries. As you read this, he is right now reaching out to many young people across Africa to become the next Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, by applying now for $5,000 seed capital training and mentorship in the 2023 Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme.
According to Tony Elumelu, he started TEF in 2010, along with his wife, Dr. (Mrs.) Awele Elumelu. “It was time to demonstrate and institutionalise Luck, to help and develop Africa in the 21st century to develop the next generation of African leaders” He founded it with $100 million USD as commitment from family wealth.
All his businesses and commitments towards empowering the youths usually take him around the world. He no longer reaches out to only Nigerians, but to Africans. He also travels round the world to attend summits and conferences of world leaders. He meets with world leaders almost on a daily basis. He has become a citizen of the world. Today he might be in Dubai for a world summit, tomorrow is in New York, or France. He can also be in Zambia, or Tanzania. Or he takes off to California Beverly Hills or Switzerland. Many wonder how he balances work, international business, health, family and social life. They wonder how he juggles his many roles as a dutiful husband, doting father, mentor, CEO and other roles. That is because he spends a typical day doing a lot, hopping from one speaking engagements to the other, holding brain storming sessions, mentorship sessions. strategy sessions, delivering keynote addresses, Guest Lectures and he goes on retreat with his staff. He usually holds meetings back-to-back. According to his favourite phrase: Work Never Stops, Even On Sundays. “My friends often ask me, Tony, how do you cope? “You are everywhere. You run many businesses. Yet you manage to balance things. And I say to them, the secret is surrounding yourself, as a leader, with great people and having good policies, good processes that make the businesses run as if you are there, because you can’t always be there forever. So guys, let’s build good processes and organisations and surround ourselves with great minds to help us run our businesses”, advised Tony.
Truly so. Tony Elumelu has great guys working with him at the UBA Group (which has become a global brand), Heirsholding Group and even TEF, where he has a lot of bright guys managing the processes there. Heirsholdings is into Real Estate, Hospitality. In June 2022, it had the breaking ceremony/flagging of the construction of Falomo Towers, a contemporary mixed-use development in Ikoyi. Falomo Towers is being developed by Afriland Properties Plc in partnership with LSDPC.
In June 2021, there was the opening of the 7 storey headquarters of Heirs Insurance & Heirs Life in Lagos.
How does he relax? You can’t believe it that despite how busy he is, Tony still relaxes. When he relaxes, he picks a book to read in his private library at home and he plays Chess, He likes to play against himself.
He doesn’t joke with Fitness & Exercise. He has a Gym at home, with all the facilities. He does constant work outs. His philosophy is if you want to get something out of life, you have to be willing to work it out. He says any exercise is better than no exercise.
Tony Elumelu once revealed that it was his mum that prepared him for business. She is the 1st entrepreneur that Tony ever knew. He keeps looking back, in awe, at the days when she singlehandedly ran several small businesses all at the same time. She raised and taught Tony and his siblings hard work, enterprise & resilience.
He calls his wife, Mrs. TOE, his rock.
Tony’s achievements have made many to describe him as Africa’s foremost visionary, because he embodies total commitment to the growth of the African continent.
Last year, he won the Time 100 Impact Award giving to global leaders who have gone above & beyond, to move their industries and world forward. He stressed the need for leaders across the world to pull resources together to priotise humanity, by promoting entrepreneurship gender equity, sustainability, and digital innovation.
At the event, he revealed that he is a product of Luck and Hardwork. Know firsthand that these factors are inextricable, if you want to succeed. “Wealth for one person in the family does not give security. What gives security is to see that we democratise Prosperity around us as much as possible.
Tony Elumelu is very passionate about Youth Economic Empowerment and the road to a prosperous African economy. Last June, he appeared on Zain Asher’s CNN’s Exchange. He also spoke to a select gathering of US Capital Fund Owners and Assets Managers who control over $26 trillion at the Milken Institute Global Conference. He spoke on the need for this significant Capital to be channeled to Africa, especially to young African entrepreneurs on the continent.
Last year, he embarked on a US tour. He was in Washington DC, where he forged partnerships and reinforced the message of Youth Empowerment & Gender Equality. He shared his thoughts on the role the youths play in Africa’s development. He carried the same message across several US cities like New York, L.A and San Francisco.
Happy Birthday to this hardworking Nigerian.
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