INSPIRATIONAL PERSON: TONY ELUMELU
Tony Elumelu has one philosophy that drives his business empire: a belief in “Africapitalism” - a belief that the private sector is a key enabler of economic and social wealth creation in Africa.
Tony Elumelu is an African economist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is one of Africa's billionaires, having joined the exclusive list in 2014. He is the Chairman of United Bank for Africa, one of the largest financial services groups on the African continent with more than 18 million customers with a footprint in 20 countries in Africa as well as in New York, London and Paris. As of December 2019, the UBA group's financial assets were valued at US$14.6 billion with shareholders' equity of US$1.56 billion. But while some may see investing in Africa as a gamble, Elumelu, a Nigerian multi-millionaire, knows how rewarding taking a bold risk can be. In 1997, Elumelu led a small group of investors to take over a small, financially distressed commercial bank in Nigeria. Just a few years later, the bank became a top-five financial service provider in Nigeria and would eventually merge with UBA. Following his retirement from UBA in 2010, Tony Elumelu founded Heirs Holdings where he is the Chairman. Through this family owned investment company, he is committed to improving lives and transforming Africa with a portfolio spanning the financial services, power, oil and gas, real estate and hospitality and healthcare with operations in 23 countries worldwide. Tony is also keen to entering the already crowded insurance sector, a move that is already causing jitters, as he will bring major disruptions in the Nigeria’s insurance space, according to analysts. Tony Elumelu also owns a controlling stake in Transcorp, a publicly traded Nigerian conglomerate with interests in hospitality, power generation and energy. Through Transcorp
Hotels Plc., incorporated in 1994 in Nigeria, he owns the prestigious Transcorp Hilton Abuja and Transcorp Hotels Calabar. In September 2012, during the privatization of Nigeria’s national power assets, Transcorp Plc. won the bid for the Federal Government of Nigeria’s distressed power generating company, Ughelli Power Plc. – operator of Ughelli Power Plant. The US$300 million investment was part of strategic investor Heirs Holdings’ commitment to USAID’s Power Africa initiative and in November 2015, Transcorp Ughelli Power Limited and Ughelli Power Plc. merged, and Transcorp Power Limited was born. The merger harmonized the management and operations of Transcorp’s power business for greater efficiency, producing 972MW of power, with plans to grow it to over 3,000MW in the next few years. Tony Elumelu’s latest acquisition is that by his Transcorp Consortium, which announced 100% acquisition of the 966MW installed capacity Afam Power Plc and Afam Three Fast Power Limited jointly referred to as Afam GenCo at an acquisition cost US$272m, a move that applauded by Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as a key milestone for the country as the privet sector investment in the country’s power energy sector. “Bringing affordable, dependable power to the Nigerian people is core to Transcorp’s mission. Our significant investments in the power sector are demonstrations of our contribution to the economic transformation that I know Nigeria is capable of,” The Chairman of Transcorp, Tony Elumelu, said during the signing ceremony in State House in Abuja. The acquisition marked a significant milestone for Transcorp in pursuit of its corporate purpose of improving lives and transforming Nigeria.
ADMIRED BY FRIEND AND FOE
“A mere handshake says a lot about Tony Elumelu. His gritty grip underlines his charming, tenacious personality: a man who hardly backs down from any challenge. The same engaging qualities have propelled him from a modest beginning in Nigeria to becoming chair of the United Bank of Africa, and one of the most innovative and ambitious business leaders of his generation,” Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote once remarked about Tony. Tony Elumelu has one philosophy that drives his business empire: a belief in African capitalism or “Africapitalism”, which is a belief that the private sector is a key enabler of economic and social wealth creation in Africa. He believes that “Africapitalism” positions Africa’s private sector, and most importantly, entrepreneurs as the 28 AFRICA INC.
DECEMBER 2020
WWW.AFRICAINCMAG.COM