"From a copier salesman to a banking titan, Tony Elumelu transformed UBA into Africa's leading financial powerhouse.
A visionary leader and philanthropist, his impact resonates across the continent. Let's give him his flowers today."
Anthony Onyemaechi Elumelu also known as Tony O. Elumelu CFR (born 22 March 1963) is a Nigerian economist, and philanthropist. He chairs Heirs Holdings, Transcorp, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and is the founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation.
Elumelu worked in the Nigerian Bank, Union Bank as a Youth Corp member during his National Youth Service Corps in 1985, before starting his career as a salesman.
Elumelu subsequently joined Allstates Trust Bank in 2005 and United Bank for Africa (UBA) was acquired afterwards. On his early career, he has said: "I started my career as a salesman, a copier salesman to be specific, young, hungry, and hardworking, but the reality was that I was just one of the thousands of young Nigerian graduates, all eager to succeed"
In 1997, Elumelu led a small group of investors to take over a struggling Crystal Bank (later renamed Standard Trust Bank).
He turned it profitable within a few years and in 2005, he led one of the largest mergers in the banking sector in Sub-Saharan Africa by acquiring United Bank for Africa (UBA).
As at today, United Bank for Africa, or UBA, is the leading sub-Saharan African bank with over 21 million customers, 20,000 employees, and 1,000 branches across 20 African countries. Let's give him his flowers
