President Muhammadu Buhari has sent a congratulatory message to 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 honour 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 realising 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.
Tony Elumelu is the Founder and Chairman of Heirs Holding his family owned investment company which is 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 also the Chairman of pan- African financial services group, the United Bank for Africa 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.
Elumelu 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. He is one of the most prominent champion of entrepreneurship in Africa. In 2010, he created The Tony Elumelu Foundation TEF, a 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.
