Tony Elumelu calls for greater representation of women in African corporate leadership

Tony O Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings, has called on business leaders across Africa to accelerate female representation in corporate leadership, highlighting the eight women serving as Chairs and Chief Executives across the Heirs Holdings Group as evidence of the transformative impact of creating opportunities for women to lead.

Delivering the keynote address at the 25th annual conference of the Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) in Lagos, Nigeria, Elumelu challenged corporate leaders to move beyond just conversations about gender inclusion and demonstrate their commitment through appointments, access to capital and opportunities for women to lead businesses and institutions. “Women’s economic leadership is not a concession to fairness.

It is a requirement for competitiveness,” he declared, arguing that no economy seeking sustainable growth can afford to underutilise half its talent. Speaking on the conference theme, Rooted, Rising, Ready: Born in Africa, Built for the World, Elumelu presented the leadership structure across Heirs Holdings Group as a practical demonstration of his conviction that opportunity should be determined by merit rather than gender, geography or circumstances of birth.

Eight women currently serve as Chairs and Chief Executives across the Group’s businesses, spanning financial services, investment management, hospitality, real estate and entrepreneurship development. Elumelu highlighted the contributions of his wife, Dr Awele Elumelu, a Founding Director of Heirs Holdings, whose leadership spans healthcare, insurance, hospitality and energy. Dr Elumelu chairs Avon HMO, Avon Medical, Heirs Insurance Brokers, Transcorp Hotels Plc and Heirs Energies, and co-founded the Tony Elumelu Foundation.

Other leaders include: Chair, Heirs Technologies, Dr Fumbi Chima; Chair, Afriland Properties Plc., Agatha Obiekwugo; Vice Chair, Transnational Corporation Plc. , Mrs Foluke K. Abdulrazaq; President/Group Chief Executive Officer, Transnational Corporation Plc (Transcorp), Owen Omogiafo; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Transcorp Hotels Plc, Uzo Oshogwe; Chief Executive Officer, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Somachi Chris-Asoluka; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Africa Prudential Plc., Catherine Nwosu, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, United Capital Asset Management, Dr. Odiri Ogini; Adetola Fasuyi and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, UCEE Microfinance Bank, Esther Adeola Balogun.

For Elumelu, these appointments show how organisations can build stronger institutions by recognising talent, developing leaders internally and creating pathways for women to assume positions of executive and board-level responsibility. “I did not do it for a headline. I did it because they were the best people for the jobs,” Elumelu said. In addition, Elumelu cited The Tony Elumelu Foundation, which has deployed more than US$120 million in seed capital to 24,633 entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries over 15 years.

It is important to note that, women account for 48 per cent of beneficiaries. Collectively, these entrepreneurs have created more than 1.5 million jobs and generated over US$4.2 billion in revenue – a validation of his proposition. The Foundation’s entrepreneurship programme reflects Elumelu’s broader philosophy of Africapitalism, which advocates for private-sector-led economic development that creates both economic prosperity and social wealth.

Through Africapitalism, he argues, African businesses and investors have a responsibility to expand access to opportunity, strengthen institutions and unlock the continent’s entrepreneurial potential. “Opportunity in Africa is still distributed by accident of birth, of geography, of gender. My life’s work is to make it distributed by merit instead,” he said.

Drawing on his experience building businesses across multiple sectors and markets, Elumelu challenged other corporate leaders to examine their own leadership structures and question the barriers preventing qualified women from advancing. “If I can do it in power, in hospitality, in banking, in insurance, in healthcare, and in oil and gas, so can others?” he asked, challenging business leaders to make women’s advancement a deliberate leadership and institutional priority.

Addressing the next generation of African women, Elumelu urged them not to wait for permission to pursue leadership, build businesses or take ownership of economic opportunities. He called on WIMBIZ and the wider business community to sustain the momentum of women’s advancement.

“Advocacy got women into the room. Capital will get them to the head of the table,” he concluded.

Heirs Holdings is a leading pan-African investment company committed to improving lives and transforming Africa through long-term investments across strategic sectors of the African economy. Guided by Founder, Tony Elumelu’s philosophy of Africapitalism, Heirs Holdings invests in energy, power, banking, insurance and financial services, technology real estate and hospitality and healthcare, creating economic and social value across Africa. With investments spanning 24 countries and four continents, Heirs Holdings is committed to building businesses that contribute to Africa’s sustainable economic transformation.