CNN’s African Voices Profiles Top Nigerian Economist, Tony Elumelu ...as he talks about his efforts to turn around Africa’s electricity shortage

Airs Friday: 8 November at 0830am; Saturday: 9 November at 1530pm; Sunday: 10 November at 0900am & 1830pm; Monday: 11 November at 1030am & 1730; Tuesday: 12 November at 0530am

Tony Elumulu in close range with President Obama, USA

One of Nigeria’s top businessmen, economist, banker, investor and philanthropist, and former Managing Director of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Tony Elumelu, will feature on African Voices, CNN’s International weekly half-hour programme highlighting Africa's most engaging personalities.

The interview, with CNN’s Jill Dougherty, will feature Elumelu talking about his intentions to transform electricity shortage in Africa, empower young entrepreneurs, and how his upbringing prepared him for the success of today.

Elumelu talks about his ability to forecast, make predictions and take position in advance based on the evaluation of the future.

He says, “I have a certain ability to tell, to read the environment and economy and to predict the direction things might go. When I envisage and take position and that vision comes through, then significant opportunities crystallize.”

He also explains his challenges of being the youngest Nigerian CEO of a commercial bank, during a period when the banking industry was fast growing and headed by expatriates. He recounts the strategies implemented in turning around Nigeria’s Standard Trust Bank.

His passion and discipline for investment has empowered him to develop strategies to attract investors to Africa. Heirs Holdings, a Nigerian based Investment Company founded by Elumelu, was another initiative towards his investment goals in the Nigerian power sector. 

Elumelu is also the founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, an African based and funded philanthropy, which aims to identify and assist entrepreneurs and the leaders of Africa in their chosen field. The proud father of five daughters and his wife, who is a physician and business partner on the board of Heirs Holdings, said the major aim of the foundation is to train young aspiring Nigerians for the competitive world ahead of them.

For more information, viewers can visit www.cnn.com/africanvoices; the show’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/cnnafricanvoices and on Twitter: @africavoicesCNN

Tony Elumulu flaked around with family members

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African Brands Adapting To Global Standard

Celine DeCarlo, CNN International

One of the most cherished parts of a career with an international news channel is the time spent traveling. While visits to different countries are often frustratingly short, after a while you get an acute sense of how a place is developing.  As the years go by and one revisits such destinations again, certain changes catch your eye, and you find yourself mentally tallying the signs that a country has advanced.  Advancements such as a sleek new airport terminal or a pedestrian walkway where the unmade road use to be, the steady electricity power during a stay at a hotel and the new store at a junction where once a fruit stall stood.  Also noted are the numbers of tablets being used in meetings and the appearance of the latest smartphones in people’s hands.

But keeping tabs on these signs doesn’t always need a multiple visa entry stamp in your passport. When it comes to Africa, one of the most striking changes observed after a decade of working in the continent is in its advertising. Some of the smartest brands and the most eye-catching commercials on air are African, and they are vigorously making names for themselves beyond Africa.

The context to this change is important.  In a world still full of uncertainty following the global financial crunch, Africa stands out as a symbol of relatively unencumbered economic progress. While much of Europe struggles under the weight of austerity measures, America eyes a slow recovery with caution, and Asia sees its meteoric growth cool, the African continent’s prospects continue to look bright.

African countries are among the fastest growing economies in the world, matching their counterparts in Asia.  Of course, everybody talks about the continent having one of the world’s fastest-growing consumer classes as well as the increasing foreign investment from Europe and Asia.  But recently, it is the reports that intra-African investment is rising by more than 30% per year that have added to this picture of growth.

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‘Lagos was wonderful until the war came’

 

As a teacher and a lover of art, I have a passion for African art, especially. Actually, I had thought about going into the Foreign Service and discovered there was too much red-tape. And so I took up art instead.

I love the independence and freedom that comes with being an artist. And l also learnt a lot by being out in the world from an early age travelling with my parents. I don’t have any children. My students are all my children. I had so many students and was so busy I never had children. I would love to leave behind the legacy that I was a supporter of all artists and that I care deeply for art and people.

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