The minority caucus in the House of Representatives has congratulated the Chairman of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) group, foremost African entrepreneur and philanthropist, Dr. Tony Elumelu, for making the list of top 100 most influential people in the 2020 Time magazine award .
The lawmakers described the naming as “well-deserving, given Dr. Elumelu’s selfless contribution towards human capital development, industry as well as empowerment of young entrepreneurs not only in Nigeria but also in Africa in general.”
The caucus, in a statement signed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu (PDP Delta), on Thursday, noted that “Dr. Elumelu’s entrepreneurial spirit, hard work and innovativeness have, again, brought respect and honour to our nation in the international arena.”
According to the caucus, “as lawmakers, we are proud of Dr. Elumelu, whose performance in global business competitiveness has further reinforced our individual and collective resilience to add value in our national, continental and global quest for economic growth and better living standard”.
The lawmakers celebrated Dr. Elumelu’s achievement in “providing corporate and consumer banking services to more than 21 million customers every year in no fewer than 20 African countries, the United Kingdom and France as well as his feat in financial services, hospitality, healthcare, power and energy to boost wealth creation, business and employment opportunities and better living standard in Nigeria and across Africa”.
The caucus also noted that the naming by Time is another loud ovation to the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) for its creation of millions of jobs particularly through the investing of $5000 in 1000 young entrepreneurs every year, across all 54 countries as well as his economic philosophy of Africapitalism, which has repositioned private sector engagement across the continent.
They urged Dr. Elumelu to see this well-deserved recognition as a voice speaking for the beneficiaries of his programs and a call for more service to humanity while commending other public-spirited individuals, who in no small measure have been contributing to development and economic empowerment in Nigeria
