Tony Elumelu, the founder and group chairman of Heirs Holdings, has been appointed to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Advisory Council on Entrepreneurship and Growth, according to a statement on Thursday, March 27, 2025.
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About Tony Elumelu
Tony Elumelu is a prominent African entrepreneur and the Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc. Since 2015, he has supported, mentored, and trained over 25,000 African entrepreneurs through his philanthropic work with the Tony Elumelu Foundation, which has made a significant impact across the continent.
Elumelu is a staunch advocate of entrepreneurship as a driving force for Africa’s economic development. His philosophy of Africapitalism emphasises the importance of the private sector in advancing the continent’s growth. He believes that Africa can achieve substantial social and economic progress through long-term investments from private companies.
The statement highlights Elumelu’s new role: “Heirs Holdings Founder and Group Chair, Tony O. Elumelu, CFR, has been appointed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to its Advisory Council on Entrepreneurship and Growth, convened by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.”
Components of the IMF’s Advisory Council
The Advisory Council is made up of a wide range of academics, policymakers, and executives from international corporations who are all dedicated to identifying and removing regulatory obstacles that impede entrepreneurship.
The Advisory Council also includes prominent figures such as Professor Ufuk Akcigit, the Harberger Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago; Reema Bandar Al-Saud, the Saudi Ambassador to the United States; Marc Benioff, the Chair, CEO, and Co-Founder of Salesforce; Ana Botín, the Executive Chair of Banco Santander; Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the Chairman of Tata Group; Margherita Della Valle, the CEO of Vodafone Group; Robert Smith, the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners; and Federico Sturzenegger, the Argentine Minister of Deregulation and State Transformation.
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IMF Advisory Council’s Objectives
Recommending policies that enhance resource allocation, encourage innovation, and promote sustainable economic growth driven by the private sector is the council’s main objective. With Elumelu’s appointment to the council, Africa’s entrepreneurial potential is anticipated to be a major consideration in international economic policymaking.
Kristalina Georgieva stressed the value of the Advisory Council in promoting communication between professionals from different industries during the council’s first meeting on March 26, 2025.
She remarked, “The Council brings together a group of leading thinkers and practitioners in business, finance, academia, and policymaking to share their views and experiences on how macroeconomic and financial policies can provide a supportive environment for innovation, entrepreneurship, and productivity—key ingredients for a thriving private sector and strong economic growth.”
The statement further explained the IMF’s commitment to helping its 191 member nations establish favourable macroeconomic and financial conditions that support strong and sustainable economic growth powered by productivity gains.
Georgieva noted that declining productivity growth is largely to blame for the current medium-term outlook for global economic growth, which is at its lowest level in several decades.
According to Chatham House regulations, the Advisory Council is supposed to meet roughly every three months for formal discussions. The IMF’s policy research and analytical agenda, which promotes macroeconomic and financial policies that support stronger medium-term economic prospects for its member nations and higher productivity growth, will be greatly influenced by these discussions.
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