Onto Africapitalism

Nigerian billionaire philanthropist Tony Elumelu on US tour to boost African entrepreneurship

By Julian Pecquet

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Posted on May 4, 2022 15:03

 © Tony Elumelu, Non-Executive Chairman, United Bank for Africa. Arrival of business leaders and participants for the second edition of the Tech for Good Summit on May 15, 2019 at Hotel de Marigny in Paris, organized by Emmanuel Macron, President  of French Republic. Paris, FRANCE
Tony Elumelu, Non-Executive Chairman, United Bank for Africa. Arrival of business leaders and participants for the second edition of the Tech for Good Summit on May 15, 2019 at Hotel de Marigny in Paris, organized by Emmanuel Macron, President of French Republic. Paris, FRANCE

Nigerian billionaire businessman and philanthropist Tony Elumelu is on a US tour to drum up public and private support for his quest to kickstart African entrepreneurship.  

The chairman of the United Bank for Africa and founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation met with US officials in Washington last week before checking in on his business interests in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Utah.

It’s his first US trip since the Covid-19 pandemic and a chance to share his vision of Africapitalism with the Joe Biden administration that has made “trade not aid” a central tenet of its engagement with Africa.

“The trip isn’t just about business – it’s about making sure that we’re advancing a common agenda for the African continent,” Elumelu told The Africa Report in a brief interview at the US Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington, where he discussed the nexus between economic opportunity and regional peace. “It is that intersection of business and doing good that makes us different and unique.”

Elumelu arrived in the US fresh from being recognised in late

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