Nigerian business mogul Tony Elumelu has been named as one of the World’s top 200 influential philanthropists and social entrepreneurs. Elumelu, whose socially minded programs and schemes have impacted thousands of entrepreneurs across Africa, was among several prominent figures to be included in the list compiled by Richtopia.
The persons whose names were listed are referred to by Richtopia as “effectively having soft power and being proactive, particularly at being socially concerned.” They include such well-known figures as Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, Barak Obama, and Mark Zuckerberg. Tony Elumelu claimed the 185th spot on the list.
A frontline investor, Tony Elumelu has business interests in the oil and gas, financial services, hospitality, and power sectors. He is chairman of investment firm Hiers Holdings, leading diversified conglomerate Transcorp, and pan-African bank, United Bank for Africa.
Elumelu is also known for setting up the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), which has a vision of creating 100,000 startups across Africa over a period of 10 years, by empowering entrepreneurs with seed funding and the skills they need to build their ventures. The foundation has devoted $100 million to this cause.