How Tony Elumelu Runs the Biggest Foundation

HighLife

It is not easy to determine the most successful business person in Nigeria, as many names will be on the ballot. However, determining who the most impactful person in Nigeria is will not be an arduous task. Chances are that Tony Elumelu would be ranked as the most visible business person that has made the best impression on Nigerians, especially the nation’s youths and entrepreneurs.

Small business owners all over the African continent are pumping their fists into the air in excitement. This is the most conservative response to the empowerment move of Tony Elumelu, within the framework of his Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), for African entrepreneurs. Upon selecting 4,949 entrepreneurs from over 400,000 applicants and applications, Elumelu sent out $5,000 to each of the winners of the TEF 2021 Entrepreneurship Programme.

Elumelu’s style of corporate leadership is unequalled. He continues to adhere to his long-held belief that the African private sector can transform the continent through long-term investments, creating both economic prosperity and social wealth. As the main proponent for this economic philosophy of Africapitalism, Elumelu is a beacon that others are reluctant to imitate. This is understandable because doing so would mean that they have to wholeheartedly commit themselves to the lives of other people.

It seems as if only Elumelu, in all of Africa, is decisive and devoted enough to plant seeds of opportunities for social and economic transformation. His foundation, TEF, is the biggest advocate for entrepreneurship. Who else would give a grant of $5,000 to almost 5,000 strangers and only ask that they “…work hard, dream dreams, and be very disciplined…”?

With Elumelu and his TEF, young African entrepreneurs have someone to look up to. In a few years, this foundation could become the bedrock of youth development and economic advancement on the African continent. Considering grand gestures like this from Elumelu, it will hardly be a surprise when this eventually happens.