Tony Elumelu’s Strategies for Building Long-Term Wealth 

Tony Elumelu is known for his success in building sustainable businesses and creating long-term wealth. The Renowned Entrepreneur, Investor, and Philanthropist have successful business ventures in various industries, including banking, hospitality, and energy.

Elumelu has through his extensive experience in business and finance identified key principles and practices essential for creating and sustaining wealth over the long term. In this article, we will explore some of Tony Elumelu’s strategies for building long-term wealth and how they can be applied to your own personal financial goals.

Invest in people

One of Elumelu’s strategies for building long-term wealth is to invest in people. This is evident in the works of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF).  The foundation has empowered 15,847 young Africans and supported 1,200,000 Africans on TEFConnect across 54 African countries. Elumelubelieves that people are the key to building successful businesses and creating long-term wealth. He has also stressed the importance of investment in people by creating jobs for youths across the continent. This strategy has made earned him respect and recognition in countries around the world.

Embrace innovations

Elumelu is a strong advocate for innovation and technology. He champions innovation at Heirs Insurance and Heirs Life because his customers demand it and the industry needs it. He believes that businesses that embrace innovation are better positioned to succeed in the long run. For Elumelu, building wealth is a marathon, not a sprint. This is why he focuses on long-term goals and investing in technological innovations that will yield returns over time.

Build a strong brand

The Nigerian Entrepreneur has built a strong brand that customers trust and recognise. From the transformative projects championed at United Bank of Africa Plc (UBA) to his exploits at Heirs Holdings, Elumelu has built a brand that attracts loyal customers over the years. UBA operates in 20 African countries—with a presence in the United States of America, the United Kingdom and France. 

While Heirs Holdings operates businesses in Africa’s financial services, oil and gas, power, real estate, hospitality, healthcare and agribusiness sectors. Elumelu has also passed this strategy to the thousands of young African entrepreneurs being trained under the Tony Elumelu Foundation. 

Diversify investments

Elumelu chairs Heirs Holdings and UBA Plc. He owns a controlling interest in Transcorp, a publicly traded Nigerian conglomerate with interests in hospitality, agriculture, oil production and power generation. According to Forbes, Elumelu also owns extensive real estate across Nigeria and a minority stake in mobile telecom firm MTN Nigeria, among other assets. His diversified investments have helped him to minimize risk and maximize returns. When risks are minimised and returns maximised you can conveniently build long-term wealth and create a balanced portfolio.

Focus on scalability

Elumelu advises entrepreneurs to focus on creating businesses that can scale and grow rapidly. In 1997, he led a group of young entrepreneurs to rescue a Nigerian bank that was on the verge of collapse. Their mission led to the democratisation of the banking sector in Nigeria and across Africa. That bank, now UBA Plc serves more than 21 million customers across over 1,000 business offices and customer touch points. Elumelu believes that scalable businesses are more likely to attract investment and generate long-term wealth. This belief also made him grow Heirs Holdings, a firm with significant interests in numerous companies, and a presence in 20 countries across the continent.