Tony Onyemaechi Elumelu, CFR, is nominated as Business Leader of the Year not merely for his wealth, but for his role as the Architect of African Economic Sovereignty.
He stands as the continent’s most versatile and consequential investor, having built a proprietary investment portfolio, Heirs Holdings that successfully operates across the three most critical pillars of the economy: Financial Services, Power, and Energy.
Elumelu’s impact on banking is foundational. He is the visionary who orchestrated the greatest corporate turnaround in Nigerian history, transforming the distressed Crystal Bank into Standard Trust Bank, and later leading the 2005 merger with United Bank for Africa (UBA).
Today, under his chairmanship, UBA has evolved into a global financial force. It is operational in 20 African countries, serving over 35 million customers and it
is he only sub-Saharan African bank with a deposit-taking license in the USA, alongside a presence in the UK, France, and the UAE.
Through Transcorp Group, Nigeria’s largest listed conglomerate, Elumelu has arguably done more for the Nigerian power sector than any other private individual.
Transcorp Power Plc and TransAfam Power currently control a significant share of Nigeria’s installed power generation capacity. His plants in Ughelli and Afam are critical to the national grid, consistently powering homes, industries, and the economy. In 2024, he successfully listed Transcorp Power on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), a historic move that added over N1.8 trillion to the market capitalization, democratizing wealth for shareholders and demonstrating the viability of the Nigerian power sector.
Elumelu has boldly stepped into the upstream sector through Heirs Energies.
In a landmark transaction, he led the acquisition of OML 17, one of the largest oil and gas assets in Nigeria, from international oil majors (Shell, Total, and Eni). This move signaled a shift toward indigenous control of African resources. Heirs Energies now produces over 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, contributing significantly to Nigeria’s energy security and revenue.
Beyond the balance sheets, Elumelu acts as the conscience of African business. He is the proponent of Africapitalism, the economic philosophy that the African private sector must take the lead in the continent’s development. He backs this with The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), which has empowered over 20,000 young African entrepreneurs across 54 countries with non-refundable seed capital and mentorship.
For building a Pan-African financial institution (UBA), stabilising the national power grid (Transcorp), domesticating oil assets (Heirs Energies), and creating an ecosystem of prosperity, Tony O. Elumelu is the undisputed Business Leader of the Year.
