The Business Council for International Understanding Honors Mr. Tony O. Elumelu with 2017 Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Entrepreneurship Award

NEW YORK, Dec. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), a non-profit U.S. business association dedicated to forging relationships and promoting dialogue between business and government communities across the globe, today announced that Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, Chairman, Heirs Holdings and United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), will be the recipient of the 2017 Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Entrepreneurship Award.  The award will be presented to Mr. Elumelu at the 15^th annual BCIU Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Awards Gala on Dec. 4^th in New York City.

Mr. Elumelu is one of Africa's most successful entrepreneurs. Through a bold move in 1997, he led a group of investors to take over a small, struggling commercial bank in Lagos. He profitably transformed the business that had become Standard Trust Bank and merged it with the United Bank for Africa in 2005. Today, award winning United Bank for Africa Plc is one of the strongest and most recognized banking brands to originate from Sub-Sahara Africa with a presence in 22 countries across Africa, the U.S. and the U.K.

As Chairman of Heirs Holdings Ltd., an African proprietary investment company, Mr. Elumelu has interests in power, oil and gas, financial services, hospitality, real estate, and healthcare, and is present in twenty African countries. He is also a generous philanthropist who through his Tony Elumelu Foundation which he founded in 2010, has committed U$D100,000,000,to providing 1,000 entrepreneurs U$D10,000,000 each year for 10 years. These businesses would in turn create 1,000,000 new jobs and contribute $10 billion in annual revenues to Africa's economy. The Tony Elumelu Foundation's mission is inspired by his economic philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions the private sector as the key enabler of economic and social wealth creation in Africa. 

"I am honored to accept BCIU's Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Entrepreneurship Award," said Mr. Elumelu. "My fundamental belief is that entrepreneurs – women and men across Africa – will lead Africa's development and transform our futures. The opportunity and challenge in Africa is scale – in our people, our resources and our horizons. And in my business and philanthropic journeys, I have always sought ways to help inspire a generation across our continent."   

Since 2003, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Entrepreneurship Award has been given to business executives who exemplify the definition of an international business leader by exhibiting outstanding contributions to global commerce.  Mr. Elumelu extends a distinguished roster of BCIU's Award recipients, which includes Andrew N. Liveris, Dow Chemical; Carlos Slim; Jeffrey R. Immelt, General Electric; Pele; Mukesh D. Ambani, Reliance Industries; Lakshmi Mittal, ArcelorMittal;  Go Choon Phong, Singapore Airlines; Masami Iijima, Mitsui & Co.; Marilyn A. Hewson, Lockheed Martin; Klaus Kleinfeld, Arconic; Maurice R. Greenberg, C.V. Starr & Co.; Rotan N. Tata; Sergio Marchionne, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles; Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, Kingdom Holding Company; Roger Agnelli, Vale S.A.; Lord John Browne, BP; Raymond Gilmartin, Merck & Co. and Lee Raymond, Exon Mobil Corporation.

"Mr. Elumelu's bold approach and can-do mindset are exemplary characteristics of a visionary entrepreneur," said Peter Tichansky, President and CEO of BCIU. "He embodies the idea that companies must take the lead in bringing business and society together. His advocacy is proving that businesses acting as businesses, not as charitable donors, are the most powerful force for addressing social challenges and economic development."

About Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, CON, Chairman, Heirs Holdings and United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA)

Tony O. Elumelu is an economist by training, a serial entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

He is the Chairman of the United Bank for Africa Plc and Founder and Chairman of Heirs Holdings Ltd., an African proprietary investment company, with interests in power, oil and gas, financial services, hospitality, real estate, and healthcare, present in twenty African countries.

Mr. Elumelu is known for his significant contribution to entrepreneurship in Africa.  In 2010, he created the Tony Elumelu Foundation, which has committed $100 million in a ten-year program to fund, mentor, and train ten thousand African entrepreneurs.  The Foundation's mission is inspired by his economic philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions the private sector as the key enabler of economic and social wealth creation in Africa.

Mr. Elumelu sits on numerous public and social sector boards, including the global advisory board of the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All Initiative (SE4ALL), the United States Agency for International Development's Private Capital Group Partners Forum (PCG), and as Co-Chair of the Aspen Institute's Global Food Security Working Group.  He serves on the international advisory board of the Washington, DC-based think tank, the Wilson Center, and is a member of the Global Advisory Council of the Harvard Kennedy School's Center for Public Leadership.  He is also a member of the World Economic Forum Community of Chairmen.

BCIU Contact

Brad Thatcher, Thatcher+Co.

917-304-4937, [email protected]

SOURCE Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU)