It is no news that Tony Onyemaechi Elumelu, CON. MFR founded the Tony Elumelu Foundation, the leading philanthropic institution in Africa. There is definitely more to this man than meets the eye and you will understand better at the end of this article.

Tony Elumelu is one of the new generation of African business leaders driving its economic transformation. His passion for Africa’s economic development is second to none.

In 2012, he was recognised as one of “Africa’s 20 Most Powerful People” by FORBES Magazine.

His net worth at present is roughly $1.98 billion.

The 55 year-old trailblazer is also the chairman of Heirs Holdings and the United Bank for Africa, Transcorp.

At such a time as this when the majority is seeking greener pastures, the African billionaire says this is the best time to be in the continent as an entrepreneur.

Here is what the African billionaire has to say about Africa and being in Africa;

“Basically, I am a Nigerian by birth but an African in everything I do; from my investments to philantropy and my essence.

I have always believed that no one but Africans will develop Africa and I’ve always known that everyone of us is as endowed as anyone in any part of the world. I feel it’s a matter of time for us to prove this to the world.

My business cuts across geography and sectors in Africa. In bringing together the power sector, finance sector, oil and gas investment, real estate and hospitality, we are creating wealth for the society.

By 2050, Nigeria’s population will double. Africa is a land of opportunities.

Africans  are warm and friendly. They want the best things in life as their counterparts in Asia and other continents. I must say that so far, as regards my investments, there’s nowhere else that yields the kind of returns on investments as what I make in Africa. And beyond me, my business partner said the same thing.

The population in Africa is huge and rising and the demographic structure is such that we have huge consumers coming out of Africa and the income per capital as improved so it means you have huge effective demand on the continent of Africa. That is huge!

Today, the ease of doing business is gradually improving and corruption is decreasing on the continent and the macroeconomic stability in Africa is becoming a constant. So indeed, Africa is rising.

That is why I say to the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs that there’s no better time to be an entrepreneur in Africa than now.

My vision is to help empower the next generation of African leaders. Being an entrepreneur myself, I want to create more. That’s the driving force.”

Interesting, huh?

Last November, the Nigerian billionaire tweeted;

“If local entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises succeed, they will attract massive investments into the continent. If they don’t succeed, the economy will not make progress.”

With these few insights on Elumelu’s entrepreneurial perspective about Africa, we hope you’re inspired to work harder and smarter and more importantly leverage on the opportunities on the African continent.

The only way out is the way through.

Have a phenomenal week. Share with friends.

Together we can make Africa great.