You’re Full of Resourcefulness and Impact, Buhari Hails Tony Elumelu at 60

By Eric Elezuo

President Muhammadu Buhari has felicitated with the Chairman, Heirs Holdings and United Bank for Africa Group, Mr. Tony Elumelu, as he clocks 60 years, saying that the avowed entrepreneur is an embodiment of resourcefulness and impact.

Buhari’s congratulatory message is contained in a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, and made available to The Boss.

The president praised the audacity of the ‘distinguished banker, economist and philanthropist’ in the world of business, bringing to light how he has stood out among competitors to uplift the life of the ordinary Nigerian in particular, and African in general, noting that he was in 2020 ranked among the World’s 100 most influential personalities by Time Magazine.

“President Muhammadu Buhari rejoices with distinguished banker, economist, and philanthropist, Tony Elumelu, CFR, on his 60th birthday, March 22, 2023, sharing joy and warmth of the occasion with the entrepreneur, who was ranked amongst World’s 100 most influential personalities in 2020 by Time,” the statement read.

Buhari further acknowledged Elumelu’s “combination of youthfulness in style, broadness in networking, with both old and young, and the passion in pursuing and realizing dreams that the entrepreneur continually projects, graciously guiding others to nurture their business ideas to reality, especially in meeting societal needs and rendering value,” while joining the family and friends to offer thanksgiving to God for all that his life is worth, as well as wishing him long life, good health and wisdom.

Read the statement in full:

“President Muhammadu Buhari rejoices with distinguished banker, economist, and philanthropist, Tony Elumelu, CFR, on his 60th birthday, March 22, 2023, sharing joy and warmth of the occasion with the entrepreneur, who was ranked amongst World’s 100 most influential personalities in 2020 by Time.

“President Buhari felicitates with Chairman of the United Bank of Africa (UBA) Group on the milestone, affirming the honor and pride that the benefactor has brought to Nigeria, and Africa, with his achievements, lighting the way for many to grow through inspiration, mentorship and training, with focus on raising generation of entrepreneurs.

“The President believes Elumelu’s benevolence typifies his humble background and upbringing, starting out as a young banker, daring to dream of a modern and technologically friendly financial institution, Standard Trust Bank, and leading one of the biggest mergers with the UBA, which made history and strengthened the economy.

“President Buhari notes the combination of youthfulness in style, broadness in networking, with both old and young, and the passion in pursuing and realizing dreams that the entrepreneur continually projects, graciously guiding others to nurture their business ideas to reality, especially in meeting societal needs and rendering value.

‘As the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Transcorp and Tony Elumelu Foundation clocks 60, the President joins family members, particularly his wife, Dr Awele Elumelu, in thanksgiving to God for all the resourcefulness and impact, with brighter future ahead.

“President Buhari prays for long life, good health and wisdom for the Humanitarian.”

The Man Tony Elumelu

Tony O. Elumelu is one of Africa’s leading investors and philanthropists.

He is the Founder and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, his family owned investment company, committed to improving lives and transforming Africa, through long-term investments in strategic sectors of the African economy, including financial services, hospitality, power, energy, technology and healthcare.

Tony is the Chairman of pan- African financial services group, the United Bank for Africa (UBA), which operates in 20 countries across Africa, the United Kingdom, France, the UAE, and is the only African bank with a commercial deposit taking presence in the United States. UBA provides corporate, commercial, SME and consumer banking services to more than 35 million customers globally. He also chairs Nigeria’s largest quoted conglomerate, Transcorp, whose subsidiaries include Transcorp Power, one of the leading producers of electricity in Nigeria and Transcorp Hotels Plc, Nigeria’s foremost hospitality brand.

He is the Founder and Chairman of Heirs Oil & Gas, an upstream oil and gas company, whose assets include Nigerian oil block OML17, with a current production capacity of 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and 2P reserves of 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, with an additional 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources of further exploration potential. Heirs Oil & Gas is committed to creating resource based added value on the African continent.

Tony is the most prominent champion of entrepreneurship in Africa. In 2010, he created The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), the leading philanthropy empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, catalysing economic growth, driving poverty eradication and driving job creation across all 54 African countries. Since inception, the Foundation’s flagship programme has identified and catalysed nearly 16,000 entrepreneurs and created a digital ecosystem of over one million Africans, as part of a ten year US$100m commitment to fund, mentor and train young Africans.

The Foundation is increasingly sharing its unique ability to identify and access young entrepreneurs across Africa, with institutions such as the European Commission, United Nations Development Programme, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other global development agencies, implementing thematic programmes that have focused on women and fragile regions. His businesses and the Foundation are inspired by Tony’s economic philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the African continent.

Tony sits on a number of public and social sector boards, including the World Economic Forum Community of Chairmen and the Global Leadership Council of UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited. In 2020, in recognition of his business leadership and economic empowerment of young African entrepreneurs, he was named in the Time100 Most Influential People in the World, and recognised with Belgium’s oldest and highest royal order. In 2022, TIME again recognised Tony with its inaugural TIME100 Impact list, honouring him alongside six global leaders who have gone over and beyond to move their industries – and the world – forward.