Inside Tony Elumelu’s Vision For Africa
Tony Oyemaechi Elumelu, the chairman of Heirs Holdings and United Bank for Africa (UBA), has revealed his vision for the continent of Africa.
“I have a very clear vision of where Africa should be and needs to be”, Mr Elumelu had said while delivering his goodwill message at the 3rd anniversary of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The chairman of Heirs Energies – a subsidiary of Heirs Holdings, an indigenous energy group recognised for its pivotal role in facilitating energy sufficiency in Nigeria – maintained his vision is to tackle issues that concern youth population as well seeing the continent of Africa reaps rewards of her “resource wealth”.
The proponent of Africapitalism philosophy who told the gathering of stakeholders in the energy sector he’s not just an investor in oil and gas sector of the nation’s economy but “an investor across Nigerian – and indeed African economy” said his vision remains addressing “the promise of our enormous youth population and to ensure Africa reaps the rewards, finally and fittingly, of her resource wealth.”
“That younger generation is why I invest in entrepreneurs”, Mr Elumelu insisted at the event themed: “Transformation, Innovation & Excellence.”
Excerpt of his address where he detailed contributions of Heirs Energies – one of the business portfolios of Heirs Holdings, founded in 2010 – and United Bank for Africa to the nation’s energy sector reads…
Firstly, I congratulate the leaders of Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission for this momentous occasion.
As Chairman of Heirs Energies, an integrated and indigenous energy group playing a key role in facilitating energy sufficiency in Nigeria, and Chairman of the UBA Group, which provides substantial funding across the energy value chain, amounting to several billions of US Dollars, to both indigenous and international oil and gas operators and oil trading companies, I stand before you at the intersection of finance and energy, two pillars that are crucial to our nation’s prosperity.
Today’s theme, “Transformation, Innovation & Excellence,” resonates deeply with the challenges and opportunities facing Nigeria’s energy space. I commend the transformative and bold initiative of NPRC: the Project 1 million barrel of oil (MMBOPD).
We are faced with the threat of declining production and investment. We must acknowledge the elephant in the room. Nigeria’s oil production has been on a downward trajectory, falling from peaks of over 2 million barrels per day to recent lows, below 1.5 million. This decline translates to lost revenues, reduced global market share, and missed opportunities for national development.
At Heirs Energies, we are actively contributing to the solution. In the first 100 days after we took over operational control of our OML-17 asset in 2021, we doubled our production from 28,000 to over 50,000 barrels per day.
We suffered a setback with unabated crude theft, which caused us to shut-in and work collaboratively with the NNPC Limited to better secure the pipeline system.
With the improvement in the operating environment, we have restarted our investment and production growth journey, and have now successfully reversed the fall in production that we suffered in 2022 and 2023, as a consequence of the evacuation challenges. A few days ago, OML-17 attained over 51,000 barrels per day, and we continue our production growth journey.
I am not just an oil and gas investor – I am an investor across the Nigerian – and indeed Arican – economy. I have a very clear vision of where Africa should be and needs to be. A vision to address the promise of our enormous youth population and to ensure Africa reaps the rewards, finally and fittingly, of her resource wealth. That younger generation is why I invest in entrepreneurs.
That is why I speak of Africapitalism. My belief that the private sector has the power to transform the continent through long-term investments, but that it must work collaboratively with the public sector.
Africapitalism advocates shared prosperity, ensuring environmental sustainability, and fostering community development. This philosophy aligns perfectly with NUPRC’s vision and the objectives of Project 1MMBOPD.
Let us all be Africapitalists! Doing good and doing well!
