Tony O. Elumelu was named one of four African Business Leaders of the Year last week, at an awards ceremony hosted by the Corporate Council on Africa, a Washington, DC, United States of America-based organization that works closely with governments, multilateral groups and businesses to improve the African continent’s trade and investment climate and to raise the profile of Africa in the US business community.
Elumelu was honoured at the inaugural event as one of the continent’s most successful entrepreneurs, with a track record of value creation across key sectors that are transforming the African private sector.
Elumelu’s commitment to a new model of African philanthropy was also recognised.
Elumelu is the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, a pan-African proprietary investment company, and the founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation, a philanthropic institution that enhances the competitiveness of Africa’s private sector through leadership and entrepreneurship development and impact investment.
Both in investment and philanthropy, Elumelu’s approach is charachterised by seeking to apply long term, African led solutions, with a focus on creating economic and social returns.
Other winners of the award were Tewolde Gebremariam, Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines; Geoff Rothschild, Director of Government and International Affairs for the Johannesburg Stock Exchange: and Admassu Tadesse, President and CEO of PTA Bank.
