As a lover of the music of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the only STB I knew was Sorrow Tears & Blood. However, all that changed when Tony Elumelu came with his own STB – Standard Trust Bank.
STB played a big role in the tech disruption and innovation that happened in the financial services industry in the 90s.
But its staff’s fashion statement and poise, especially the males, stood out – red tie, designer suit, white shirt with cufflinks, red socks and Testoni shoes or a close replica. STB made us know that poise and good comportment can be cultivated. How else can an entire workforce have an elegant bearing?
A combination of all these (and more I would rather leave unsaid) made us (I worked in a rival bank then) call them cowboy bankers.
Cowboys are some of the coolest characters in movies, and those guys from STB fit into the eight Western archetypes – The Gunslinger, The True Cowboy, The Gambler, The Doc, The Preacher, The Tycoon, The Drunk, and The Sheriff. A critical thinker can decipher some things I left unsaid from this list!
Let’s move to familiar territory before I sing, ‘Libel, libel was the case that they gave me’. A remix of Snoop Dogg’s Murder Was the Case.
We present Tony Elumelu’s biography.
Who is Tony Elumelu?
Tony Elumelu is a Nigerian entrepreneur and investor. He owns controlling shares in Transcorp, a publicly listed conglomerate which has interests in hospitality, agriculture, oil production, and power generation.
However, the economist came into the limelight in 1997 when he led a small group of investors to take over a struggling commercial bank in Lagos. And within a few years, he turned its fortune around. In 2005, he merged the bank with the United Bank for Africa (UBA). The bank now has subsidiaries in 20 African countries.
It has a presence in the US and UK. He chairs UBA, Transcorp, and Heirs Holdings and also owns extensive real estate across Nigeria and beyond.
He has a minority stake in MTN Nigeria, among other assets. He’s the founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation. The business analyst is married to Awele Vivian Elumelu, and they have seven children. In 2020, he was named on Time’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Well, that’s a summary. Here’s the full gist.
Tony Elumelu: Birth
Anthony Onyemaechi Elumelu was born on March 22nd 1963, to Suzanne and Dominic Elumelu. His place of birth is Jos, Plateau State. However, he hails from Onicha-Ukwu in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State.
He grew up with four siblings, one of whom is Ndudi Elumelu, who was a minority leader in the Nigerian Federal House of Representatives.
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Tony Elumelu: Education
We don’t have records of his primary and secondary schools, but Tony Elumelu has a B.Sc. in Economics from Bendel State University (now Ambrose Alli University), Ekpoma. He also has an M.Sc. in the same course from the University of Lagos.
And his choice of economics was borne out of interest.
“I was interested in the economy and what made economies of nations work,” he said.
“That interest informed my choice of study at university. I was also very fortunate, as my first place of work allowed me to explore some notions and ideas I had read about in business magazines as a student.”
What he read in schools and magazines was not enough. He attended and completed a course at Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program to broaden his scope.
Above all this, his mother was the biggest influence.
“Deciding to study economics at university is all about learning about the business world. Growing up around my parents and the other influences around us, I always felt that I would end up in the business world – what we call entrepreneurship today,” he said.
“My mother was an enormous influence. She owned a restaurant, and during the holidays, I would stay there and help.
“I used to think, imagine if she did this on a larger scale, she could get more customers and make more profits, so in essence, I was becoming more aware of how the world of commerce worked. But these were not overriding thoughts at the time.
“At that age, my aim was to finish my first degree in economics, do my master’s and work in a bank. I wanted to dress like the power dressers in the banking sector – wear suspenders, brogue shoes, the entire outfit. I liked the lifestyle!”
He sure did.
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Tony Elumelu’s Career
Tony Elumelu started his career at Union Bank of Nigeria as a Youth Corp member in 1985. Afterwards, he became a salesperson.
“A copier salesman, to be specific,” he said.
“I was young, hungry, and hardworking, but the reality was that I was just one of the thousands of young Nigerian graduates, all eager to succeed.”
Subsequently, he joined All States Trust Bank, and in 1997, Tony Elumelu led a small group of investors to take over a floundering Crystal Bank. After the acquisition, the bank was renamed Standard Trust Bank.
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The era of distressed banks
At the time, the banking industry was volatile. With over 100 banks, the competition was intense. Think of a brotherhood of Cain and Abel, and the picture will be clearer. Although the sector was newly liberalized, several banks were weak in capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earning, liquidity, and sensitivity.
Tony Elumelu and his team showed the importance of strong, visionary, and focused management in the fortunes of an enterprise. They introduced a novel concept called debt for equity swap to help stabilize the bank.
For instance, if Crystal Bank owes, say, Battabox Limited $20 million, it could choose to issue equity securities valued at $20 million or even more. In exchange, Battabox will have to extinguish its rights to receive any interest and principal payments in the future.
“In essence, we asked some large depositors to show some faith and confidence in our team and vision by taking an interest in the new entity in lieu of their deposits,” he said.
“It worked, and other management teams have replicated that formula with varying degrees of success since we pioneered it in 1997! The point I am making is that we tried a new thing in Nigeria, but the idea itself wasn’t new. That philosophy is a running theme common to virtually all my business ventures.”
At 34, he was the youngest CEO of a banking institution. STB became the fifth largest bank in Nigeria prior to its merger (the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa) with UBA in 2005.
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Intergration and reintegration
The merger may have looked seamless, but behind the scene, it wasn’t. The gap between the two was more like a chasm. The only thing they had in common was the letter B for Bank, which they practised in different ways.
UBA was almost 70 years old as an institution, and it’s over 12,000 staff had set ways of doing things. STB was younger but stronger in terms of service delivery and technology. Their 1,800 staff was younger and more technologically advanced, too.
“It was difficult integrating because, as you see, in corporate mergers, the legal combination is not the issue. The tough part is the people integration, the cultural integration. It was tough, integrating our people, merging our people, merging cultures, old culture, set in their ways, and a vibrant, younger culture,” he said.
“I say to people, my elder brother, who is seven years older than me, doesn’t have grey hair. I have grey hair.
“My grey hairs are there from the company merger because making it work, serving your customers, and ensuring that everyone in the institution’s universe, which was we had 428 branches at the time, was the same level of service across both.
“Customers of Standard Trust Bank were used to a certain level of self-delivery. You would not want them to come to the new institution and have a drop.”
Thankfully, technology was there to remove some of the grey hair.
“As a group, we realize the importance of technology,” he said.
“In Africa in particular, thanks to the population of our continent, we know that we have to catch up. If we don’t catch up, we’re going to be left behind. And businesses don’t need a bank. They don’t need a facilitator for payments.
“They need a [system] that follows their lifestyle. And banking is changing. It’s changing from how we knew to bank so many years ago.”
Following the merger, Tony Elumelu led the company as Group Managing Director. And from a single-country banking group, UBA became a pan-African bank with subsidiaries in 20 African countries, Paris, New York, and London. In 2010, he stepped down from his position.
Life after core banking
That same year, he established Heirs Holdings, his family-owned investment holding company. The firm maintains a portfolio of investments across several sectors. And through it, Tony Elumelu holds a controlling interest in Transnational Corporation, Transcorp, a diversified conglomerate with business interests in power, hospitality and energy.
On April 14th 2021, Tony Elumelu was officially handed the Certificate of Discharge of Transcorp. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who chaired the National Council on Privatization (NCP), handed over full ownership of Transcorp Hotels to him after fulfilling all privatization conditions attached to the sale of the property back then in 2005.
Three months earlier, January 2021, to be precise, Heirs Holdings, through its affiliates Heirs Oil & Gas and Transnational Corporation, announced the acquisition of a 45 per cent operating stake in a permit known as Oil Mining Lease 17 from Total, Shell, and ENI. The deal was worth more than $1 billion.
Tony Elumelu Foundation
Also, in 2010, he established the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), an Africa-based foundation championing entrepreneurship in Africa. TEF has created new generations of entrepreneurs in Africa under the umbrella of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP), in line with Tony Elumelu’s commitment to his Africapitalism idea.
Africapitalism? What’s that?
“Africapitalism is an economic development philosophy that seeks to redefine the private sector’s role in the growth and development of African economies and societies,” he said.
“Put simply, Africapitalism, as a philosophy, advocates long-term investment in strategic sectors of the African economy that have the potential to create economic prosperity and social wealth.
“It is a call to action for Africans to take responsibility for our own development and for non-Africans to rethink how best to channel their efforts and investments into the continent.”
That was an aside. Let’s come back to TEF and TEEP.
Its goals are achieved through various avenues like research, policy advocacy, and communities. The organisation’s gatherings are designed to foster, encourage, or fund innovation among young Africans.
Examples of such convenings include the TEF Forum, a large community of entrepreneurs in Africa, and TEFConnect, a digital hub for entrepreneurs on the continent.
Through TEF, Tony Elumelu employs his massive network in public and private sector circles as tools with which doors are opened, and opportunities for wealth creation are made available to young entrepreneurs.
The most common compliments the programme has received are about the unique quality of and dedication to identifying, mentoring and funding entrepreneurs across Africa.
TEEP now partners with international organizations like the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and GIZ in creating and sustaining valuable growth and impact on the continent.
Father of entrepreneurship
Hyperboles are taken literally. However, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to describe Tony Elumelu as Africa’s most prominent philanthropist. Or how else would you describe someone whose efforts in grooming and funding young entrepreneurs have directly affected over 10,000 people across the 54 African countries on the continent?
“I have always been clear that entrepreneurship should be the driving force for transforming lives/societies at large in Nigeria and in Africa,” he said.
“I have also long believed that in order to secure the future of our people and our continent, we had to find a way to empower entrepreneurs to do more. My path has been charted by that spirit of entrepreneurship.
“I want the same spirit to be more pervasive. That was the motivation for TEEP. We have committed to supporting Africa’s budding entrepreneurs and, by so doing, contribute our part to move Africa forward.”
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Tony Elumelu’s Awards
Tony Elumelu has received several awards and honours for his contributions, including two national honours. In 2003, he was made a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) and Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) in 2022.
In 2009, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua made him serve on the Presidential Committee on the Global Financial Crisis.
He has received several Lifetime Achievement Awards from many organizations around the world and has appeared on many notable lists of some magazines and publications. Some of them are:
2016 – Daily Times, Nigerian man of the year
2018 & 2019 – All-Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA) Philanthropist of the Year Award
2019 – Bayero University Kano (BUK), Honorary Doctor of Business degree
2019 – National Productivity Order of Merit Award
2020 – TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People
Awele Vivian Elumelu
Tony Elumelu married Awele Vivien Elumelu in 1993. She was born on June 23, 1970. Awele Elumelu got her degree in medicine and surgery from the University of Benin. She worked at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital as a doctor.
She later moved to the UK to work at Grantham and District Hospital. Currently, she’s the head of Avon Healthcare. She’s a philanthropist, just like her husband.
The Elumelus have seven children. They are Ogechukwu Tamara-Marie Elumelu, Ogochukwu ‘Ogor’ Elumelu, Onyinye Elumelu, Nneka Elumelu, Ugo Elumelu, and twins Tony and Toby Elumelu.
Tony Elumelu’s Net worth
You won’t find Tony Elumelu in the top 20 richest men in Africa or the top 10 richest men in Nigeria. But you will find his name if you go down the lists a bit. His estimated net worth, according to Forbes, is $700 million.
Tony Elumelu’s Cars
The ‘father’ of Entrepreneurship in Nigeria has several cars, but the two notable ones are a Range Rover and a Mercedes Benz S-class.
Tony Elumelu’s Houses
Tony Elumelu has many estates and real estate investments in Nigeria and abroad. He currently lives in Lagos, but we don’t know which part of the city.
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Conclusion
Without a doubt, Tony Elumelu is a leader par excellence; someone who’s genuinely committed to helping the youths across the continent reaches their full potential. Let’s leave you with this quote from the man who describes himself as a “husband, father, mentor, entrepreneur, investor, chairman, Africapitalist”.
“The road to success is not linear. It is up and down. You have to be very determined and be prepared to do whatever is required for your success. And you have to know what success looks like in your chosen field.”
