The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) policy limiting tenure of banks’ chief executive officers to 10 years inspired the formation and take-off Heirs Holdings Group, its Chairman, Tony Elumelu has said.
The CBN 2010 guidelines for banking sector operations had set a maximum tenure limit of 10 years for banks’ chief executive officers (CEOs), making Elumelu, then CEO of United Bank for Africa (UBA) to exit his position and appoint a new CEO for the bank.
Speaking during the week at the Heirs Holdings Group 14th year anniversary in Lagos, Elumelu disclosed that instead of lamenting over the policy change, it inspired him to think bigger and fully utilise the opportunity it presented. The Heirs Holdings conglomerates investment portfolio spans the power, energy, financial services, hospitality, real estate, healthcare and technology sectors, operating in 24 countries worldwide.
“14 years ago, we woke up to regulatory policy that CEOs of banks who had done 10 years and above should go. What I teach young entrepreneurs, my children and those I am opportune to mentor is that when things seem bad, they should not give up, but persevere, be resolute and turn their fears to courage. For us, if we were looking at the other side of the glass that contained fear, anger, we won’t be here today.
This is my gift for you in our 14th anniversary. Do not give up,” Elumelu said.
He said that the African private sector can change the course of African development, adding that by doing good and doing well, the company has made significant impact across the African continent.
“And this impact is what I call digit impact. We are indeed leading to last, redefining success in every sector we operate in, and demonstrating our determination to improve lives and transform Africa. To date, the Heirs Holdings Group, employs over 40,000 young Africans spread across 20 African countries, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, France and the United States of America,” he said.
“Our philanthropy, the Tony Elumelu Foundation, has impacted 1.5 million young Africans and disbursed $100 million in seed capital, non-refundable seed capital to 20,000 young African entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries and their businesses have created over 400,000 jobs across Africa,” he added.
Elumelu also talked about the possibility of listing some of the group’s businesses in offshore in the stock exchanges, when the time is right. He said the group would like to democratize prosperity by listing those companies, but the group will need to make sure that the micro investment climate is right for that.
He said that in markets where the companies within the group had listed, people have benefited immensely and that practice will continue whenever the investment climate is right for it.
Wife of the Heirs Holdings Group founder, Dr. Awele Elumelu, lauded the commitment of the group leaders who recognise the challenges and opportunities inherent in the business.
“We are all very proud of the achievements we have been able to make as a group, working together in the different sectors. We have grown from one or two sectors to we all know how many sectors we have now,” she said.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
