By Nwangwu Uba
Tony Elumelu, Founder, the Tony Elumelu Foundation and Awele Vivian Elumelu the wife, who over the years have been involved in helping a new generation of Entrepreneurs in Nigeria and other African countries , remain focused in funding entrepreneurs with good business ideas. Note that Elumelu, who brought the United Bank for Africa, UBA, to a world Class Bank, that could Compete with any world Class Bank is the Chairman of the Bank. Indeed, the security provided in the Bank as everywhere is every entrance to the offices is automated which makes it difficult for visitors or Customers to enter the Marina Headqurters of the Bank anyhow without been booked by the person that wants him as obtained in major Banks in the world. This is in addition to the automation of the Banking operations which put it on a class of its own. Elumelu may have proved to his contemporaries in the nation’s Banking sector that he is a force to be reckoned with as he has taken the Bank operations to the Asian country of China, Europe and the United States , on the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and the offshore branches , according to a Nigerian resident in London are making appreciable impact abroad because of their excellent services.
The Foundation sources confirmed that it has so far committed $100 million to empower over 10,000 Entrepreneurs from across the African Continent . it was said to also provided business management training to over 7,500 start-ups and small businesses from the 54 African countries.
dmired the world over by foreigners who could not understand that such a big time philanthropist could emerge from Africa had invited Elumelu, to Europe to shed more light on the activities of the Foundation as they want to identify with it because of honesty of purpose. Note that last April, he had hosted leading development, investment and financial institutions in the European Union, EU, in Brussels, Capital of Belgium. This may have informed why the United States, US, based Calbe Network News, popular ,CNN, could track him for a class interview to know about the Foundation which had turned out many Start -ups Entrepreneurs in Africa, which had engaged the services of thousands of unemployed youths , thus reducucing unemployment in the Continent.
it is not surprising that the CNN , interviewers , after hearing the explanation of the couple , ”how they are aiming to reate a million jobs in a decade in the Continent by focusing on funding for start ups and Entrepreneurs described them as ”a power couple whose dedication to philanthropy is helping a new generation of big ideas”.
