I AM a very family oriented guy. Of course, I have a very close knit
nuclear family but I also regard friends and colleagues as part of my
wider family. I am also a very loyal and committed person.
I think these
values stem from my Nigerian/African background – I was
born/bred/taught entirely in Africa! I am very proud of that fact.
It
demonstrates that it is still possible for people with humble
backgrounds who work hard, dream big and have a desire for excellence
to, with the help of God and a slice of luck, make it here in Africa.
I
have built my businesses in this country and on this continent.
What were your dreams and aspirations at youth?
That’s a good question. I think I always wanted to excel and I have
always been interested in business. Conducive environment I was also
interested in the economy and what made economies of nations work.
That
interest informed my choice of study at university – I have, as you
know, a first and a master’s degree in Economics.
I was also very
fortunate as my first place of work provided me with an opportunity to
explore some of the notions and ideas I had read about in business
magazines as a student. That is very important I believe.
Creating and
giving young people a safe and conducive environment to explore, learn
and grow is one of the things we are trying to replicate with the Tony
Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme – TEEP.
Another key ingredient is
mentorship. I had a great mentor who guided me and encouraged me to
grow.
Again, there is an element of that – mentoring – in TEEP. We
basically want to create 10,000 more Tony Elumelus across Africa..
What were the opportunities that challenged you into going into business?
My first major breakthrough was the acquisition of an
insolvent/distressed bank in 1997 – Crystal Bank Limited – which we
rechristened Standard Trust Bank. At the time, there were well over 100
banks in Nigeria as the sector had been newly liberalized.
The capital
requirement for a banking licence was a large sum of money but
insignificant when you compare it to the requirement for a licence after
the Soludo/consolidation reforms of 2004. In essence, the banking
environment in the 1990s could be described as “volatile”. A number of
the banks were weak and competition was very intense.
We were lucky. STB
went on to become the fifth largest in Nigeria prior to its merger with
UBA in 2005.
More importantly, we were able, with the Crystal Bank
acquisition, to demonstrate the importance of visionary, strong and
focused management in the fortunes of a business.
We also introduced a
novel concept for this environment at the time called a debt for equity
swap to help stabilize Crystal Bank. In essence, we asked some large
depositors to show some faith and confidence in our team and vision by
taking an interest in the new entity in lieu of their deposits.
It
worked and other management teams have replicated that formula with
varying degrees of success since we pioneered it in 1997! The point I am
making is that we tried a new thing in Nigeria but the idea itself
wasn’t new. That philosophy is a running theme common to virtually all
my business ventures.
How did it all start? When was your breakthrough?
We did the Crystal Bank acquisition I just talked about when I was 34. I
was the youngest CEO of a banking institution at that time. I was full
of energy and ideas. I was also very ambitious. Suffice to say, the
journey started in earnest in 1997.
You are now into many sectors of the economy. Is it by chance or were you motivated by government incentives?
I think Government will always be important in creating an environment
that is conducive for business growth but incentives alone don’t make an
unviable venture profitable or sustainable for the long term. Take our
foray into power as an example.
We would not have invested in the power
generation business if Government had not decided first to privatize its
power assets and encourage private sector participation.
To that
extent, Government policy and commitment were vitally important to that
decision. However, our ongoing commitment to the power sector is
motivated by the opportunities we see in that sector given the
importance of power to an industrial economy or an economy which has
aspirations of industrialization.
Your entrepreneurial internship
is gaining momentum, what is the motivation behind it and how many
young entrepreneurs have been groomed so far?
The Tony Elumelu
Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme has been a long time coming. I
have always been clear that entrepreneurship should be the driving force
for transforming lives/societies at large in Nigeria and in Africa.
Spirit of entrepreneurship I have also long believed that in order to
secure the future of our people and our continent, we had to find a way
to empower entrepreneurs to do more. My own path has been charted by
that spirit of entrepreneurship.
I want that same spirit to be more
pervasive. That was the motivation for TEEP.
We have decided to commit
to supporting Africa’s budding entrepreneurs and by so doing, contribute
our part to move Africa forward.
Few other organizations are also providing support, training and mentorship for African entrepreneurs. Millionaires Academy (www.register.millionaire.ng) and Lagos Business School are great examples.
What is this whole idea of Africapitalism? Africapitalism is an
economic development philosophy that seeks to redefine the private
sector’s role in the growth and development of African economies and
societies.
Put simply, Africapitalism, as a philosophy, advocates
long-term investment in strategic sectors of the African economy that
have the potential to create economic prosperity and social wealth.
It
is a call-to-action for Africans to take responsibility for our own
development and for non-Africans to rethink how best to channel their
efforts and investments into the continent. You’ve ventured into power —
can you achieve the same success as you have in hospitality and
banking? Absolutely! Let me add that we have also successfully drilled
our first oil well; so it is now banking, oil & gas, real estates
& hospitality.
In my humble opinion, success is a result of drive,
discipline and meticulous attention to detail.
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