At a time when good leadership has obviously become a syntax too difficult for leaders across Africa to comprehend; when the masses suffer amidst abundant natural and human resources, when non-Africans have started to re-affirm their opinion on Africans as a people incapable of ruling themselves, Anthony Onyemaechi Elumelu has emerged in a messianic posture to redefine leadership in Africa.
Given the excellent memoranda of his philanthropy and business management, one would appreciate that Tony Elumelu, as he is more widely known, was not mistaken in his choice of economics as a career.
Born of the family of Dominic and Sussan Elumelu in Jos on 22nd March, 1963, Elumelu began his journey to stardom in Ambrose Ali University, Edo State, Nigeria where he graduated in Economics. His appetite for deeper knowledge in his career propelled him to University of Lagos where he bagged a Masters Degree also in Economics, and with further studies at Business School of Harvard, USA, International Institute of Management Development, Switzerland, and Singapore Institute of Management, the rare patriot acquired sufficient knowledge to burnish his idea of redefining leadership in Africa.
Thus, the young corper that served at Union Bank in 1985 during the National Youth Service programme for that year, soon blossomed into the Chief Executive Officer of United Bank For Africa, UBA, after co-aquiring and resuscitating ailing Standard Trust Bank in 1997. Under his superintendence, UBA became a mega bank with presence in no less than 19 African countries with over seven million customers overall – after successfully merging with Standard Trust Bank in 2005. He retired from UBA in the year 2010 and founded Heirs Holdings Plc with interests in health-care, agriculture, energy, real estate, hospitality, and lately in the insurance sector. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo may have seen the leadership traits in him when he rallied Elumelu and other like minds to birth the conglomerate, Transcorp Nigeria PLC with interest in hospitality and tourism, energy, and agriculture.
What stands out Elumelu more is not his net-worth of about $1.4bn. It is his philanthropy which he successfully inter-twines with his entrepreneurship know-how; it is his avuncular avowal to re-write the stories of the youths and enterpreneurs across Africa – youths who have been disparaged as lazy and unemployable despite their energies. In so doing, the iconic banker and seasoned business manager attempts to salvage the continent from poverty via his perfectly worked-out design.
That design gave birth to the Tony Elumelu Foundation, TEF, operating since 2010 and which the 2021 edition is about to be launched. The program will empower a total of 3,400 young Africans that comprise 1,000 young African entrepreneurs, selected from the 2020 cohort and another batch of 2,400 young entrepreneurs for the 2021 edition in collaboration with global partners. The interesting part is that the Foundation catches them young with its National Essay Writing Competition for secondary schools in Nigeria through which winners have secured scholarships for university education.
Since its inception in 2010 of TEF and the Entrepreneurship programme in 2015, no fewer than 9000 youths and enterpreneurs in various fields from over 54 African countries have been empowered by the business planner who aspires to train and start-up new set of wealth creators on the African continent. These would, in turn, replicate themselves in their various countries. Invariably, that is the idea of AFRICAPITALISM – that Africans who are rich should extend helping hands to empower and transform the have-nots for the overall good of their countries and continent at large.
Tony Elumelu, The African Pacesetter and Messiah evokes the spirit of patriotic leadership when he says; “Everything I have today is because of Africa, I was born here, went to school here, I work here and I am achieving some level of financial comfort here”, loudly and clearly, the transformer says to African Youths and their leaders, “We can do better”.
Beneficiaries of the trainings and grants from TEF are professionally guarded to success by a network of interdependent enterpreneurs that constitute Elumelu Professionals Forum. By this idea and effort, African continent may soon become economically boisterous and largely independent of foreign aids.
No wonder Anthony Onyemaechi Elumelu has attracted numerous local and international recognitions including Federal Government Of Nigeria award In 2003 as Member Of Order Of The Federal Republic, (MFR) , Senior Investment Advisor for Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Member of Presidential Committee on Global Financial Crisis in 2009 and Nigeria’s National Productivity Order of Merit in 2019 among others. .
His numerous global recognitions also include; African Business leader of the Year 2006 by the United Kingdom-based magazine,the first African member of United States Agency for International Development ( USAID) Private Capital Group for Africa (PCGA) Partners Forum, 2012. In its 2020 100 List, TIMES Magazine included Elumelu among its 100 most Influential Icons in the world. In quick succession came the conferment with Belgium Highest National Honour, “The honorary distinction of Officer in the Order of Leopoldd” in November 2020 in recognition of his commitment to poverty eradication and the economic empowerment of young Africans.
Tony Elumelu hails from Onicha-Ukwu in Aniocha-North Local Government Area of Delta State. He is one of five siblings including Ndudi Elumelu, an astute politician. The gem who is blissfully settled with Awele Vivian Elumelu and seven children, is still one of the icons to shape this decade.
Elumelu, working behind the curtains as the chairman, has continued to propel UBA Plc, his flagship baby, to higher heights despite the economic downturn that has shrunk earnings from the core competence of firms in the financial services sector.
His immense experience has steered UBA, even when Covid-19 pandemic has snuffed life out of many,
to stage a turnaround in the third quarter from a slowdown in earnings in the second quarter – which geared up the year-on-year position at the end of September 2020. The bank lifted gross earnings by 11 percent quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter that stretched out the year-on-year reading from 2.2 percent at half year to five percent.
The strength in earnings came from interest income during the quarter, which grew by 20 percent quarter-on-quarter against a decline in non-interest income during the period. Loan impairment expenses were flat during the quarter, which slowed down the rate of increase from the half year position and saved costs for the bank.
With the improvement in revenue performance and the cost saving in the third quarter, UBA was able to reverse the adverse development in the second quarter when costs encroached on earnings and profit took a plunge. The bank lifted after tax profit a clear 31 percent quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter to N32.7 billion.
This marks a turnaround from a profit drop in the second quarter to step up the year-on-year position at the end of the third quarter. The bank still lost profit at the end of the nine months of operations but the margin of decline narrowed down significantly with the upturn recorded in the third quarter.
Gross earnings amounted to N425 billion for UBA at the end of the third quarter, which reversed the slowdown in the second quarter at 2.2 percent to a year-on-year growth of 5 percent.
The drawback remains non-interest income, which keeps slowing down from 11 percent growth in the first quarter to less than 7 percent increase at the end of June and further to flat in the third quarter, closing at N107 billion.
Interest income however recovered from flat position at half year to an increase of 10.6 percent year-on-year to N317 billion at the end of the third quarter. This accounted for the gain in gross income at the end of September.
The improvement in interest income was further boosted by a sustained decline in interest expenses over the review period. At N131 billion, interest expenses went down by 5.7 percent, losing speed however from a drop of 9 percent at half year.
The cost saving from cost of funds is a big plus for UBA this year, being the first drop in interest expenses in many years. The cost saving here plus the gain in interest earnings stretched out the increase in net interest income from 8 percent at half year to 17 percent at the end of the third quarter to stand at N186 billion.
Loan impairment expenses slowed down in the third quarter but remained on the upbeat at the end of the review period. At N11 billion at the end of September, loan loss charges slowed down from 150 percent growth at half year to 72 percent at the end of the third quarter. The slowdown strengthened management’s ability to convert an improved margin of revenue into profit.
Profit margin reversed from a drop to less than 15 percent at half year to 18 percent at the end of September. This is the highest profit margin for the bank since 2017.
Owing to Nigeria’s harsh economic environment, operating cost continued rapid growth at about four times ahead of gross earnings to roughly N193 billion. It claimed 45 percent of gross earnings at the end of the third quarter, a sustained increase from 40 percent in the first quarter.
UBA closed the third quarter operations with an after tax profit of N77 billion, which is a decline of 5.5 percent year-on-year. This represents a big upturn from a profit drop of 22 percent at half year.
The bank has maintained a strong growth in the balance sheet at an increase of 26 percent to over N7 trillion at the end of the third quarter. It has raised customer loans and advances from N2.18 trillion at the end of June to N2.3 trillion at the end of September –an increase from N2 trillion at the end of last year.
Outstanding growth in customer deposits remains the provider of the resources for the asset expansion so far. Customer deposits rose by nearly 36 percent to N5.2 trillion in the nine-month period – the highest growth in many years.
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