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Nigerian businessman Tony Elumelu has spent decades at the center of Africa’s corporate boardrooms, but his latest message to fellow executives is not about balance sheets or market share. It is about people. In a recent LinkedIn post that reads more like a personal memo than a public lecture, Elumelu urged leaders to rethink authority itself, arguing that trust, empathy and disciplined execution matter more than hierarchy in a world that no longer stands still.
“The world around us is constantly shifting, creating opportunities and threats,” Elumelu wrote. Leadership, he said, “cannot be passive, cannot be complacent. Neither arrogant nor distant.” For Elumelu, who chairs United Bank for Africa Plc and Transcorp Group and founded Heirs Holdings, leadership begins with clarity of purpose and consistency in execution, but it is sustained by something less formal and harder to measure: relationships.
Elumelu links leadership to trust
His reflections are rooted in experience. Early in his career, Elumelu worked under a boss whose influence, he said, still shapes how he leads today. The lesson was not fear or command, but respect. “He trusted me – I wanted to repay that trust,” Elumelu wrote. The relationship was built intentionally, through investment, challenge and exposure that went beyond the office.
He recalled moments that might seem trivial on the surface, such as being taken out to unfamiliar restaurants, including a Japanese restaurant in London where chopsticks became an unexpected test. Elumelu admitted to quietly struggling, sometimes escaping afterward to find food elsewhere. Yet those experiences stayed with him because they were never about the meal. They were about connection, learning and seeing the world differently.
That memory now informs how he works with his own teams. Elumelu argues that leaders must look both up and down within their organizations, removing obstacles rather than issuing orders. “An enabling environment matters more than just authority,” he wrote. Leaders, in his view, do not simply commit to tasks; they commit to people. Accessibility, openness to doing things differently and a willingness to clear roadblocks are not soft ideas, he suggested, but practical tools for results that are earned “not by chance, but by design.”
Purpose-led leadership powers African growth
The timing of Elumelu’s message is notable. It comes as his business interests record some of their most significant moves in years, underscoring the link he draws between leadership philosophy and execution. At United Bank for Africa (UBA), where he owns a stake of more than 16 percent, the lender has met a major regulatory test set by the Central Bank of Nigeria for banks with international operations. UBA recently crossed the N500 billion ($352 million) share capital threshold after completing a N157.83 billion ($111.1 million) rights issue. Nigerian Exchange Regulation confirmed the admission of an additional 3.16 billion ordinary shares to the Daily Official List, formalizing the bank’s compliance with the new capital requirement. In a statement dated January 12, 2026, the exchange said the rights issue of 3,156,869,665 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N50 ($0.035) per share had been fully listed.
Beyond banking, Elumelu’s energy interests have expanded at a pace that has drawn attention across the continent. In December, Heirs Energies, one of Africa’s largest indigenous energy companies, closed a $750 million financing with the African Export–Import Bank. The company manages a growing oil and gas portfolio, including OML 17 in the Niger Delta, and produces more than 50,000 barrels of oil and 120 million cubic feet of gas daily. The funding ranks among the largest secured by a locally owned energy producer in Africa and signals Afreximbank’s confidence not only in the assets, but in the company’s governance and operating discipline. It also deepens a long-standing relationship that positions the bank as a core partner as Heirs Energies continues to develop its portfolio.
Heirs’ Seplat stake reflects Elumelu’s capital approach
Barely two weeks after closing the landmark financing, Elumelu extended that reach further. Heirs Energies agreed to acquire a 20.07 percent stake in Seplat Energy Plc for nearly $500 million, one of the largest locally driven investments in Africa’s oil and gas sector in recent years. The stake, equivalent to 120.4 million ordinary shares, was previously held by French producer Maurel & Prom. Valued at GBP3.05, or $4.09, per share, the transaction totals about $496 million. Seplat, which is listed on both the Nigerian Exchange and the London Stock Exchange, has a market capitalization of N3.2 trillion, or about $2.2 billion. As of December 31, 2024, it reported 2P reserves of 1.043 billion barrels of oil equivalent and production of 135,600 barrels per day as of October 31, 2025, thus placing it at the heart of Nigeria’s energy supply.
For Elumelu, these figures are outcomes, not starting points. His argument is that disciplined execution flows from cultures where people feel trusted and supported. Authority, he suggests, is less about position and more about engagement. As leaders enter a new year facing uncertainty, his call is simple and personal: make yourself accessible, build real relationships, remain open to change and remove obstacles so others can deliver. It is a view shaped by boardrooms and balance sheets, but also by quiet lessons learned over shared meals, awkward moments and mutual respect—proof, in Elumelu’s telling, that leadership works best when it stays human.
