Tony Elumelu gets appointed to the Advisory Council of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Nigeria’s prominent billionaire, Tony Elumelu, has been appointed to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Advisory Council on Entrepreneurship and Growth, convened by Kristalina Georgieva, the fund’s managing director.
Elumelu, who is the current chairman of Heirs Holding, Transcorp, and United Bank for Africa (UBA) and the founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF).
The IMF announced Elumelu’s appointment in a statement released on Friday. The Advisory Council consists of leaders in the global business world, academics, and policymakers who have shown dedication to identifying and addressing regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship.
The statement reads, “Elumelu, Africa’s leading advocate of entrepreneurship and whose Foundation has funded, mentored, and trained over 25,000 African entrepreneurs since 2015, champions entrepreneurship as the engine for the economic transformation of Africa.
“A self-made entrepreneur, Elumelu’s embracing of entrepreneurship is fundamental to his concept of Africapitalism, his belief that Africa’s private sector can and must play a leading role in the continent’s development, making long-term investments that deliver social and economic value.
“Elumelu will be instrumental in ensuring that Africa’s entrepreneurial potential is central to global economic policymaking.”
Kristalina Georgieva, who spoke at the inaugural meeting of the advisory council on March 26, said the appointees would share their experiences on how macroeconomic and financial policies “can provide a supportive environment for innovation, entrepreneurship, and productivity — key ingredients for a thriving private sector and strong economic growth.”
In 2020, Tony Elumelu received Belgium’s highest national honour, the honorary distinction of Officer in the Order of Leopold (Belgium), while also in the same year, he was named on Time‘s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
