CEO, Elumelu Ranked among Top 200 Global Philanthropists, Social Entrepreneurs

The founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF)/Chairman of the United Bank for Africa Plc, Mr. Tony Elumelu has been named among the top 200 ‘Most Influential Philanthropists and Social Entrepreneurs 2017’ by the Richtopia.com.

Elumelu was the only Nigerian on that list, which had few Africans.

However, Warren Buffet, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, George Soros,Richard Branson, Hilary Clinton, among others, made the list.

Richtopia.com said its list “is an automatic algorithm based on social media influence, Klout scores and a secret recipe. We take into account various metrics from Twitter, Facebook, Wikipedia, Youtube, LinkedIn and Instagram.”
Richtopia.com’s latest release on its website of a list of those it considers the most influential do-gooders in the world also included sitting and past heads of government, the like of India’s Prime Minister Modi, to sportsmen and women, entertainers, writers, journalist, high net worth business tycoons etc.

Elumelu’s TEF had seeded $100 million through the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme, to champion entrepreneurship across Africa over the next 10 years.

The foundation recently shortlisted 1000 successful candidates for the 2017 programme.
Elumelu is an economist, investor, and philanthropist. He chairs privately held investment firm Heirs Holdings and Nigeria’s largest quoted conglomerate, Transcorp.

Elumelu invests across Africa, primarily in the oil and gas, financial services, hospitality and power sectors. His investments are informed by his philosophy of Africapitalism: the belief that the private sector can lead Africa’s economic renaissance and that investment should create both economic prosperity and social wealth.

Elumelu sits on several public and social sector boards including the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All Initiative (SE4ALL) and USAID’s Private Capital Group Partners Forum (PCG). He is the Chairman of leading pan-African financial services group, United Bank for Africa, with presence in 19 African countries, and offices in Paris, London and New York.

Among his numerous roles, he serves as Co-Chair of the Aspen Institute Strategy Group on Global Food Security, sits on the Global Advisory Board of the Washington DC based think tank, the Wilson Center, and is a member of the Global Advisory Council of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership. He is also a member of the World Economic Forum Community of Chairmen.

by Obinna Chima