AFRICA – Time, an American leading magazine has named Tony O. Elumelu, a leading investor and philanthropists, one of the top 100 most influential people in the world in 2020.
Elumelu appeared in the 2020 TIME100, the annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world alongside two other Nigerians, Dr. Tunji Funsho and Tomi Adeyemi.
The list, now in its seventeenth year, recognises the activism, innovation, and achievement of the world’s most influential individuals.
Mr Elumelu, who is one of only four Africans on the 2020 list, is recognised for his track record of business turnaround and value creation, and economic empowerment of young Africans.
Tony Elumelu 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.
He is also the Chairman of top pan-African financial services group, the United Bank for Africa (UBA), which operates in 20 countries in Africa, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States.
Elumelu also chairs Nigeria’s largest quoted conglomerate, Transcorp, whose subsidiaries include Transcorp Power, one of the leading generators of electricity in Nigeria and Transcorp Hotels Plc, Nigeria’s foremost hospitality brand.
Mr Elumelu is the most prominent champion of entrepreneurship in Africa.
In 2010, he created The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), the philanthropy empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, catalysing economic growth, driving poverty eradication and ensuring job creation across all 54 African countries.
Since inception, the Foundation has funded just under 10,000 entrepreneurs and created a digital ecosystem of over one million as part of its ten year, US$100m commitment through the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.
Dr. Tunji Funsho, the other Nigerian on TIME’s Most Influential People in the world, is a cardiologist based and was recognized for his work to eradicate polio in Africa.
Dr. Funsho played an essential role in ensuring Africa’s certification as wild polio-free in August of 2020.
Tomi Adeyemi on the other hand, is a Bestselling Nigerian-American novelist and creative writing coach.
She is known for her #1 NY Times bestselling book Children of Blood and Bone, the first in the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers which won the 2018 Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction.
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