Anthony Onyemachi Elumelu, CFR, hits the diamond jubilee and the start of his golden years as the Nigerian economist and philanthropist, who was born on March 22, 1963, to Suzanne and Dominic Elumelu from Onicha-Ukwu in Aniocha North LGA of Delta State, has turned 60 years.
His philosophy of ‘Africapitalism’ which simply translates to “that the African private sector has the power to transform the continent through long term investment, creating both economic prosperity and social wealth,” is encapsulated in the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) founded in 2010.
On the celebration of his 60th birthday, 60 young entrepreneurs from across Africa who have benefited from the philanthropic gestures of Tony Elumelu were invited to the symposium to mark his birthday themed, ‘60 for 60’.
The TEF entrepreneurship programme which was launched since 2015 has trained over 1.5 million young Africans and had disbursed $100 million in direct funding to over 18,000 African women and men.
One of the lucky 60 entrepreneurs, who was invited for the symposium, Micheal Biu, from Liberia described the celebrator as “the lion of Africa.”
Biu said:“ I call you a mentor, I am the CEO of milenial farmers incorporated, milenial farmers started years back 2015, wasn’t attractive enough for banks to give us loans.
“We applied for the Tony Elumelu grant, we went through the trainings, the training alone made us attractive, we learn how to manage human resource.”
Biu also stated that through the training and mentoring of TEF entrepreneurship programme his business was able to collaborate with the Liberia Ministry of Agriculture in the supply of farm produce and also the expansion of his farm business.
Temitayo Johnson, a fashion designer, whose business has blossomed due to the TEF programme training and funding, wished Tony Elumelu “ a happy birthday; I pray you continue in your youthful nature and I pray you reap the reward of the seed you have sown in our lives.”
Persecondnews recalls that the Tony Elumelu Foundation has created a pathway for millions of young African entrepreneurs harnessing their skills and setting them on a path of global supremacy by committing $5000 each in 1000 young entrepreneurs per year across 54 countries in Africa.
His outstanding contributions to the growth and securing the future of young and creative African minds propelled him to the TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential people of 2020.
Tony Elumelu business prowess and capability came to the fore in 1997 when he led a small group of investors to take over a small commercial bank in Lagos, turned a sinking bank into profitable deposit money bank within a few years and merged it with the United Bank for Africa in 2005.
The revamped banking group now has subsidiaries in over 20 African countries and in the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
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