Tony Elumelu · Chairman · Heirs Holdings / UBA · The WLS 100 · 2026 Edition
Business
🇳🇬
Inaugural edition 2026 · Africa

Tony Elumelu

Chairman

Inventeur de l'Africapitalisme. 10 000+ entrepreneurs financés.

Education
Ambrose Alli · University of Lagos (MBA)
Organization
Profile

A banker by training, Tony Elumelu first made his name by turning around a small Nigerian bank and merging it with United Bank for Africa, which he transformed into a pan-African group operating in around twenty countries, with offices in London, Paris, New York and Dubai. Through Heirs Holdings he invests in energy, healthcare and financial services. As the leading advocate of Africapitalism, he argues that the private sector must drive the continent's development. His foundation has trained and funded more than 15,000 young African entrepreneurs from every country on the continent, one of the largest programs of its kind worldwide.

Why this selection

His social commitment is measured in thousands of businesses created: he has turned entrepreneurial philanthropy into a concrete lever of development across the continent.

WLS 100 badge · Tony Elumelu
Official badge

Share this selection

Square 1080 × 1080 image for Instagram and Facebook, 1200 × 627 image for LinkedIn, vector badge for an email signature, and embed code for a website.

The embed code uses the web version of the badge (1200 × 630), which links back to this page.

Other leaders · Business & Entrepreneurship

See all 100 →
Editorial profile · World Leaders Society← All 100 leaders