Economic impact
Acquired control of United Bank for Africa (UBA) in 2005 and merged it with Standard Trust Bank; as of year-end 2024, UBA served approximately 35 million customers across 20 African countries plus offices in New York, London, and Paris, with total assets exceeding ₦28 trillion, per UBA's 2024 annual report. Chairs Heirs Holdings, a pan-African investment company with portfolio positions in energy (Heirs Energies, operator of OML 17 in the Niger Delta), real estate, and hospitality. Founded the Tony Elumelu Foundation in 2010; by 2024 the foundation had disbursed US$100 million to 20,000 African entrepreneurs across 54 countries through its annual entrepreneurship programme. Coined and advocates the concept of 'Africapitalism', the thesis that African private-sector investment is a precondition for sustainable development.