The President of the Republic of Gabon, Brice Nguema, has conferred the nation’s prestigious national honours – the Commander in the National Order of Gabonese Merit – on the Group Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc and Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Tony Elumelu.
The distinguished award recognises Mr Elumelu’s enduring contribution to Africa’s economic development, particularly his impact on youth entrepreneurship and infrastructure growth in Gabon and across the continent.
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Speaking at the presidential palace while presenting the recognition in Libreville on Monday, Mr Nguema, who was on Saturday sworn in as the newly elected president of the oil-rich country, praised Mr Elumelu’s commitment to inclusive and sustainable development in Africa, adding that “Tony Elumelu is not only a visionary entrepreneur but also a committed friend of our nation Gabon. Through his Foundation and the UBA Group, he has consistently shown that investing in Africa is not just good business – it is the key to our shared future. Today, we honour a man whose actions continue to empower young Africans and inspire nations.”
While acknowledging the recognition, Mr Elumelu, who has made several high-level visits to Gabon in recent months, expressed deep gratitude for the recognition and reaffirmed his commitment to supporting the country’s development agenda:
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“I am truly humbled by this honour. It is a reflection not just of my personal journey, but of a shared belief – that African-led solutions, African entrepreneurs, and African institutions will shape the future of this continent. Gabon holds enormous potential, and I am proud that the Tony Elumelu Foundation and UBA Group can play a role in unlocking it,” Mr Elumelu said.
“This is more than a medal – it is a reminder of what we can achieve together as Africans,” Mr Elumelu stated, adding that, “At UBA and the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we remain committed to building bridges, not just between nations, but between ambition and opportunity.”
The recognition comes at a crucial time for Gabon, as the country accelerates its economic recovery and prioritises inclusive growth under the new leadership.
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Mr Elumelu’s engagement focuses on two key pillars of infrastructure financing, which is essential for long-term economic transformation and youth entrepreneurship, championed through the Tony Elumelu Foundation, which offers training, mentorship, and $5,000 in non-refundable seed capital to young Gabonese and African entrepreneurs each year.
The award also highlights the strengthening of financial partnership between Gabon and the UBA, which has a strong presence across the continent and is a key driver of financial inclusion and development.
Mr Elumelu is the founder and chairman of Heirs Holdings, his family owned investment company committed to improving lives and transforming Africa, through long-term investments in strategic sectors of the African economy, including financial services, hospitality, power, energy, technology and healthcare.
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He is the Chairman of pan-African financial services group, the United Bank for Africa (UBA), which operates in 20 countries across Africa, the United Kingdom, France, the UAE and is the only African bank with a commercial deposit taking presence in the United States. UBA provides corporate, commercial, SME and consumer banking services to more than 35 million customers globally. He also chairs Nigeria’s largest quoted conglomerate, Transcorp, whose subsidiaries include Transcorp Power, one of the leading producers of electricity in Nigeria and Transcorp Hotels Plc, Nigeria’s foremost hospitality brand.
Mr Elumelu is the most prominent champion of entrepreneurship in Africa. In 2010, he created The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), the leading philanthropy, empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, catalysing economic growth, driving poverty eradication and driving job creation across all 54 African countries. Since inception, the foundation’s flagship programme has identified and catalysed 18,500 entrepreneurs and created a digital ecosystem of over one million Africans, as part of a ten-year $100 million commitment to fund, mentor and train young Africans.
Mr Elumelu’s businesses and the foundation are inspired by his economic philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the African continent.
In 2020, in recognition of his business leadership and economic empowerment of young African entrepreneurs, Mr Elumelu was named in the TIME100 Most Influential People in the World, and recognised with Belgium’s oldest and highest royal order.
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