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FRACKING FEARS PLUS HOW FEAR MADE A FORTUNE
1 [UNL 2012 LD|T|ON
POWER
BUILDER
TONY ELUMELU ON KIDNAPPING, CAPITALISM,
WARREN BUFFETT AND MICHAEL JACKSON
WHO WILL WIN
GOLD FOR AFRICA?
OLYMPIC
DREAMS
JUNE 2012 FORBES AFRICA | 1
VOLUME 2 NUMBER 5 CONTENTS JUNE 2012
FORBES
Page 14
PHILANTHROPIC ENTREPRENEUR
BUILDING A LEGACY
After taking UBA to extraordinary heights,
Tony Elumelu has set his sights on growing
Africas entrepreneur base.
BY TOLU OGUNLESI
Page 48
DYNASTY DREAMS
NO SHRINKING VIOLET
Hlamalani Ndlovu proved herself as a shrewd
businesswoman when she took over the
family business at just 26.
BY SIZA KOOMA
Page 82
AGAINST ALL ODDS
SCORING A LIFE GOAL
A serious heart condition did not prevent
Nigerian-born football legend, Kanu
Nwankwo, from making his mark.
BY MUYIWA MOYELA
6 | EDITORS DESK // Chris Bishop
12 | BRIEF 360
FORBES FOCUS
22 | CRISIS 1, GOVERNOR 0
When the global fnancial crisis hit Kenya in 2009, Central Bank governor Professor Njuguna Ndungu found
himself helpless and sufering his worst day.
BY LUKE MULUNDA
26 | THE TALE OF A PEN, A SPOON AND AN EMPTY POCKET
A journalist-turned-restaurant owner started up the hard way, in a country far from home, after an epiphany in the newsroom.
BY ABISOLA OWOLAWI
34 | WE WONT LET IT HAPPEN HERE
Africa is on the threshold of a furious debate over fracking: the destructive hunt for gas could ease
the continents energy shortage. In the front line are the farmers of the Karoo.
BY IGA MOTYLSKA
38 | AdVoice
BY ERNST & YOUNG
COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY HAROLD DANIELS FOR FORBES AFRICA;
RETOUCHING BY THE VANILLA RAIN CREATIVE
14 | FORBES AFRICA JUNE 2012
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PHOTOS BY HAROLD DANIELS FOR FORBES AFRICA
JUNE 2012 FORBES AFRICA | 15
THE WARREN BUFFETT OF AFRICA
AND HIS HARROWING ORDEAL
TONY ELUMELU
FORBES/FOCUS
Multi-millionaire Tony Elumelu has enjoyed a remarkable career as banker and
entrepreneur. All the money and success in the world could not have prepared him
for the shock that came knocking in April.
BY TOLU OGUNLESI
T
ony Elumelu is in his
ofce on the corner of a
serene Ikoyi street, not far
from the bustling Obal-
ende taxi and bus park,
in the heart of Lagos. Documents are
strewn across a large desk and he looks
busy.
I was in a meeting in this ofce
when I got the call. The rst thing I
did was to call one of my brothers, to
mandate him to take charge. In crisis
management, the rst thing you do is
get somebody to take charge, he says.
It was a call that everyone dreads.
Kidnappers had snatched his 84-year-
old mother, Suzanne, from her farm in
the Delta State. Elumelu, realizing the
futility of panic, strove to deal with the
situation calmly. By all accounts, there
was nothing frenzied about his actions
in the days following the kidnapping.
I ask if he expected something like
that to happen. His answer is instant
and forceful: Not at all!
Elumelu sums up the incident as a
symptom of the prevailing despair in
the country. Nigerias security agencies
were very supportive, he says.
It all ended well, she was rescued
four days later, and arrests were made.
The message from the Elumelu family
on Facebook says it all.
The family wishes to thank Nigeri-
ans and friends from around the world
for the unprecedented outpouring of
concern, solidarity, love and prayers
during the harrowing ordeal. We are
most grateful to the Federal Govern-
ment, the Delta State Government and
the respective law enforcement agen-
cies for their professionalism, diligence
and bravery which led to her rescue.
At this time the family requests for
privacy to spend time with Mama, and
recover from the emotional wounds
and anguish of the last few days.
Persuading Suzanne Elumelu to
move to the relative safety of Lagos
doesnt appear likely. Elumelu says his
mother insists on staying in her village.
At that age, he adds, it is essential for
her to be where she feels at home.
As Elumelu and his family recover
from this trauma, the coming months
promise to be hectic for him. There
are three new hotels to be built: two
in Lagos, and one in Port Harcourt.
This will increase the number of hotels
owned by his Transcorp Group to ve,
in which he acquired a controlling
stake in 2011 through Heirs Holdings,
his investment rm.
Then, there is the goal of taking
over the entire import market for fruit
juice concentrate by 2013. Elumelu says
that until the opening of Transcorps
manufacturing plantthe agri-business
subsidiary run as Teragro Limitedin
Benue last March, Nigeria imported all
of its concentrate, costing the economy
close to $1 billion every year. Teragro
also plans to build fertilizer plants in
Delta State.
There are also the two oil blocks,
one owned by Transcorp, the other
by Heirs Holdings. He expects that by
2013 both oil blocks would have gone
into production. And then there is
the power plant Transcorp is bidding
for, under the Nigerian governments
privatization program. For this, the
company has gone into partnership
with US energy rm, Symbion Power.
When the deal is done, Elumelu says
the goal will be to increase the plants
capacity from the current 300MW to
1,200MW.
Elumelu is a champion of the private
sector and its role in redeeming Nigeria
and Africa. Regarding the insecurity in
Nigeria, he chooses to focus on how the
private sector, by providing employ-
ment, can help create a less combus-
tible environment.
Where theres hope people do not
take to violence. Where theres no hope
people become vulnerable, he says.
His story is by now a well-known
16 | FORBES AFRICA JUNE 2012
FORBES FOCUS TONY ELUMELU
FORBES
one. In 1997, a group of investors
acquired the distressed Crystal Bank
Limited, and rebranded it Standard
Trust Bank (STB). Thirty-three-year-
old Tony Elumelu, who until then was
executive director at Continental Trust
Bank Limited, was appointed CEO of
the new institution. Over the next few
years he grew it into Nigerias fth
largest bank. In July 2004, the Nigerian
Central Bank governor, Charles Soludo,
announced a series of banking reforms,
with the goal of creating larger, more
robust banking institutions in Nigeria.
Elumelu led Standard Trust Bank
into a merger (in Soludos words,
the rst successful merger during
the banking consolidation) with the
older and larger United Bank of Africa
(UBA), and took over as CEO of the
new entity, which adopted the UBA
name.
Nuhu Ribadu, former chairman
of Nigerias Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, recalls it as be-
ing the gutsiest news of the year.
The merger was completed in 2005,
and a year later the Elumelu-led UBA
became the rst Nigerian bank to hit a
N1 trillion ($6.3 billion) balance sheet
mark. The whizkid had come a long
way from the modest beginnings at
STBwhich had a N5 billion ($31.7
million) balance sheet in 1998.
The UBA phase was destined to
wind up as it had startedon the
strength of a policy pronouncement by
the Central Bank (CBN). In January
2010 the new Central Bank governor,
Lamido Sanusi, introduced a new rule
stipulating that bank CEOs would have
to retire once they had clocked ten
years in ofce. Elumelu was in his 13th
year as CEOeight years at STB, ve at
UBAso, at the relatively young age of
47, Elumelu was going to have to step
away from the business in which he
had made his name and fortune; from
a bank hed grown into a pan-African
brand, with more than 800 branches in
18 African countries, and $19 billion in
assets.
Two days after the CBN policy
announcement, UBA named Tony Elu-
melus successor, becoming the rst of
the banks to realign. He recalls people
telling him he was too young to quit,
wondering what he would do with his
life. He was the youngest of that set of
CEOs to retire.
But looking back, he tells me,
there couldnt have been a better time
to start a second journey. And thus
began the second life of Tony Elumelu.
of the Nigerian banking industry; but
the sculpted jawline, and the awless,
understated cut of his suit. The credit
for his tness should go to the gym,
not the golf course. Hes that rare type
of CEOthe non-golng one. And no
doubt this is a man obsessed with get-
ting things doneno fuss, no excuses.
Just like Michael Jackson.
If you saw Jacksons last movie,
Talents I dont have, I dont regret, I surround myself
with people who have them.
It has been almost two years since
Elumelu left banking. I ask him to
assess the bank he left behind. Im
especially interested in what he thinks
about its 2011 resultsthe bank posted
dismal results: a pre-tax loss of N28.5
billion ($180.8 million); the result of
debt write-ofs.
Last year UBA decided to clean up
its balance sheet This has been dem-
onstrated on the rst quarter results,
he says
UBA posted, for the rst quarter of
2012, N16 billion ($101.5 million) pre-
tax prots, a 233% increase from the
corresponding period last year. And its
share price has more than doubled over
the last month.
Africa is beginning to contribute to
the [UBA] bottom line. Africa con-
tributed over 20% of the [rst quarter
2012] prot. The harvest period is
here. UBA Ghana, he adds, currently
generates prots of close to $3 million
monthly.
He sees a bright future; referring to
a new Standard & Poors report that
predicts a rise in GDP across several
African countries.
UBA operates in almost all the
countries they mentioned, he says.
There is an air of ruthless efciency
around Tony Elumeludeducible,
not merely from his rise in less than
a decade from relative obscurity to a
prominent place in the engine room
This Is It, you saw a man who was so
detailed and meticulous, he says.
He believed in hard workat
this point his voice takes on greater
forcefulnessLook at the amount of
practice, energy; everything he put into
that show!
In a country where all sorts of sto-
ries circulate about the personalities
of corporate CEOs, the no-excuses-
acceptable Elumelu would be lucky
to escape unscathed. A hint of this
may be gleaned from a tribute to him
written when he was leaving UBA,
and published in a hefty cofee-table
book, The Power of Vision. Sadly, he is
misrepresented publicly as being an ar-
rogant and hard person, writes Owen
Omogiafo, who worked as his execu-
tive assistant at UBA, and now works
as director of resources at Elumelus
Heirs Holdings.
One underlying theme in the trib-
utes in The Power of Vision is the idea
of Elumelu as a people-person.
Talents I dont have, I dont regret;
I surround myself with people who
have them, he says.
During the interviews he comes
across as sober and soft-spoken, with
tendencies for much chuckling and
laughter. A member of staf tells me
one of the things shes realized about
him is how close he is to his familyhis
wife, Awele, and their ve daughters.
In the time I spend with him, sitting in
JUNE 2012 FORBES AFRICA | 17
on a meeting of senior management,
and then interviewing him (twice),
his mischievous, self-deprecating
sense of humor shines through.
When I ask him what talent he
wishes he had, he says: I think Im
very shy, but people dont think so.
On July 31, 2010, at the farewell
party organized in Lagos to mark
his retirement, Elumelu said: As
I retire from UBA following the
regulatory pronouncement, a ques-
tion has come up in the minds of so
many of you here; whats next for
Tony Elumelu? I would like to share
that with you today. I have two
passionsentrepreneurship and
philanthropy.
Thus, were born Heirs Hold-
ings, his investment company, and
The Tony Elumelu Foundation, a
non-prot organization keen to re-
dene philanthropy in Nigeria and
abroad. In Elumelus words they
were intended to develop business
excellence and leadership in Africa.
He shares the vision behind the
transition.
Upon my retirement from UBA
it was a question of beyond busi-
ness. I tell people I was born in
Africa, bred in Africa, schooled in
Africa, worked in Africa, still work
in Africa, and achieved some level
of nancial and economic comfort
in Africa, from Africa toso you ask
yourself, whats next? Whats next
for me is: Id like to create more
Tony Elumelus. If, due to our entre-
preneurial drive weve been able to
create 25,000 jobs, if we had 10 or
100 people like me, multiply 25,000
jobs by 100, its more impact. To me
those are more sustainable and im-
pactful ways of helping society than
just donating money.
Embarking on such a journey, he
looked to the example of Warren
Bufett.
I decided, okay, its time to build
a holding company that will moni-
tor our investments in companies
weve invested in. What we do here
at Heirs is slightly patterned after
18 | FORBES AFRICA JUNE 2012
FORBES FOCUS TONY ELUMELU
FORBES
Berkshire Hathaway. Bufett is a very astute and serial inves-
tor. I like his business sense. When its time to give back to
society hell give, but time for business is business; they are
two diferent things.
From the lean nature of Heirs Holdings to its highly
strategic approach to investing, imprints of the Bufett DNA
are evident.
Joining Michael Jackson and Bufett, in Elumelus per-
sonal pantheon, is the man whos arguably the most famous
contemporary second actorstepping down from running
one of the worlds most successful companies to devote his
life to philanthropy: Bill Gates.
He changed the world to a large extent, and upon retire-
menthe also knew when to leavehe decided to give back
to society. The learning point, for me, from Bill Gates is that
this is a world of innite possibilities.
Leaving UBA freed him up to expand his perspective.
UBAs life was extremely busy but industry-focused:
just on UBA and banking. And I was at UBA, more like, at
operational level. But now, its a diferent type of lifemore
of a strategic life, looking at bigger pictures and interests, he
says.
Now he has a lot more speaking engagements within and
outside Nigeria. Most recently, in April, there were appear-
ances and speeches in Washington, D.C.: at the International
Finance Corporation headquarters; the Global Philanthropy
Forum Annual Conference and a meeting of the World Bank
Group Advisory Council of Global Foundation Leaders.
Im curious to know how things would have worked out
had he not left UBA when he did. From the readiness of his
answer, its clear that its something he has thought about.
If I didnt leave UBA when I did, two things would have
happened: one; Id still have continued to see life from that
micro-perspective, and think this is just everything about
lifecompetition... But today one has transcended to a dif-
ferent level where you look at your business interests, you
look at mankind, you look at society, you look at the inter-
When I ask him what he would title his autobiography,
the motivational speaker within him takes over.
I like to make people understand that there is no glass
ceiling, that you are who you want to be; that if I can, you
too can... I was not the most brilliant in school, and I also did
not have all the resources growing up, to have everything I
wanted. But I had a determination, I had a purpose, noth-
ing in my life happened by chance... and I think people can
become what they aspire to be.
In the end we conclude that the phrase glass ceiling is
likely to feature in the title of the book.
At our second meeting he deects my attempts to get him
to declare his net worth. Its not how much were worth but
the amount of impact we make. Why boast that one is worth
a certain amount when theres so much poverty around. I
will assess my wealth based on the [number of jobs] I create
through my economic investments, he says.
As the curtains rise onstage for act two, Elumelu joins a
set of Nigerian CEOs and billionaires who are redening the
rules of the retirement game. Gone, it seems, are those days
when, after quitting the roles that brought them to national
prominence, CEOs settled for a life of sitting passively on
company boards; playing golf; attending social functions;
chairing book launchesand handing out scholarships to in-
digent students. More retiring Nigerian CEOs, it seems, are
carrying C-suite thinking along with them into the retire-
ment zone.
Weve had a trend in the past where it was more of
donating monies to society, but I personally believe that this
is not the age and time for that. Donations are good, but to a
large extent we should do it in a way and manner that is sus-
tainable, we should make it have more meaning and impact,
he says.
Given a choice between giving out a million dollars in
scholarships, and using the money to fund advocacy that
could positively inuence the governments education policy
and help expand citizens access to education, he insists hed
play of societal forces that shape the system, the economy of
the country, the continent. Youre looking at advocacy, trying
to make sure theres good governance because good gover-
nance brings economic prosperity and social wealth. Youre
also trying to do good; to give back to society in a more
impactful way, to mentor others...
Again and again Elumelu sounds like a business profes-
sor addressing a class. Words and phrases like sustainable,
impacting, good/better society, good governance, full
potential crop up regularly.
settle for the former.
It might not sound too populist, and people might not
even appreciate what youre doing, but indeed it has the
most signicant impact for society, he says.
After laughing at my questions about the possibilities of a
third phase, Elumelu is ready with an answer. I realize that
hes assumed, rightly, that Im hinting at full-time politics.
I believe that everyone cannot be a king, and at times,
you know, kingmakers are more powerful. I think that Im
very content with this second phase, more so that Im able
Where theres hope people do not take to violence. Where theres no hope
people become vulnerable.
20 | FORBES AFRICA JUNE 2012
FORBES FOCUS TONY ELUMELU
FORBES
to combine business with advocacy, in a manner that is
sustainable, he says.
He proceeds to lecture me on natural human progres-
sion.
Theres the age of acquisition, after that [theres the] age
of social order, social wealth, happiness for allyou need
to think of how you want to be remembered and [helped]
change the system. There could also be a third phase of,
you know what, lets go and do it, lets get things done, but
I think one has to know ones limitations, strengths and
capabilities. So instead of all of us being involved in govern-
ment, we can be outside and support the government to
achieve growth and prosperity.
Around the world bankers are prime candidates for the
backlash against the excesses of capitalism. I ask about
what it means to be a member of the 1% (and Im inter-
preting this loosely; hinting at the fact that he belongs to the
moneyed class). He laughs, and then sets out his thoughts
on the state of the world. He draws from foundational eco-
nomics philosophythe work of Lenin and Marxto make
his point.
Elumelu thinks governments should take the bulk of the
blame for the global economic crisis.
To a large extent we are failing to hold those we should
hold accountable for whats happeningthe governments
that have failed to either create the right environment, or to
block the loopholes... I do not think that the world should be
negative towards successful businesspeople. What is impor-
tant is the kind of governance framework we put in place to
make sure that successful people do not exploit those who
are not so privileged.
He is standing up for his capitalist constituency, but in
this new phase of his life, the larger society counts just as
much.
Why is it important to companies that a country has a
huge population and huge purchasing power, that income
per capita is high? he asks. Because those are predispos-
ing factors to good businessit means it is in our collective
interest that people who are at the bottom of the pyramid
are also able to aford certain things.
That taskof reconciling the hard-nosed demands of
the bottom-line with the interests and well-being of the
pyramid-bottomit seems to me, is what the second act of
Tony Elumelu is all about. And he is going about it with the
same passion, and intelligence, with which he built one of
the largest banking institutions in Africa.