Tony O. Elumelu born March 22
1963, 52 years old is an economist by training, a serial entrepreneur and
philanthropist. Tony is the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, the United Bank for
Africa, Transcorp and founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation.
The Nigerian billionaire has
decided to fund 1,000 budding African entrepreneurs as part of a $100m (£67m)
initiative to boost the continent's private sector.
Mr Elumelu said the entrepreneurs were Africa's "hope
for the future".
The 1,000 come from 52 African states and territories and
were chosen from some 20,000 applicants.
Forbes magazine listed Mr Elumelu last year as the 26th richest
African, worth $1bn.
This donation is the largest by a businessman towards the
development of small businesses in Africa. The selection of these 1,000
entrepreneurs brings us closer to our ultimate goal - to drive Africa's
economic and social transformation from within and to radically intensify job
creation in Africa, Mr Elumelu said in his statement.
He plans to spend $100m to support 10,000 entrepreneurs
over the next decade, and to create one million jobs through the initiative.
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