By Ebuka Onyekwelu, Ph.D
Nigerian business tycoon Tony Elumelu, and founder of one of Africa’s leading banks, the United Bank for Africa (UBA), is set to retire as the bank’s chairman this August, when he reaches the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) 12-year maximum tenure as bank chairman. During his tenure as the Chairman of UBA, Tony Elumelu modeled the bank as a global financial institution with over 50 million customers globally.
Mr. Elumelu, a highly influential business leader with millions of admirers across Africa, founded UBA through a 2005 merger, spearheaded by Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, the CBN Governor at the time, who is currently the Governor of Anambra State. Following the merger, Elumelu has since transformed the bank into a major financial institution of African origin. He is also the Founder and President of Tony Elumelu Foundation – TEF, through which he has groomed and impacted thousands of Africans with business grants running into multiple millions of dollars.
Formally, Mr. Elumelu is expected to retire as UBA chairman on August 21, 2026, and the Bank’s Board of Directors has already nominated Emmanuel Nnorom, a Non-Executive Director and experienced banker, to replace the outgoing bank chairman.
At 63 years, Tony Elumelu is still expected, even after retirement as UBA Chairman, to continue to stay at the forefront of his other multiple continental businesses, and his mentorship programme, while inspiring a new generation of business leaders across Africa.
