The Economic Council for International Understanding (BCIU) has just awarded the prestigious Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Entrepreneurship Award to Tony Elumelu. It has financed, through its Foundation, more than 3,000 African entrepreneurs.
Tonu Elumelu, the Nigerian businessman and philanthropist, chairman of the United Bank of Africa Group, has just been re-selected.
In fact, the Economic Council for International Understanding (BCIU), an American non-profit organization dedicated to building relationships and promoting dialogue between governments and businesses, has awarded it the prestigious Entrepreneurship “Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Entrepreneurship Award”. He becomes the first African to receive this prestigious distinction.
At the award ceremony, former US President George W. Bush hailed “Tony’s philanthropic initiatives that stimulate job creation and entrepreneurship in a very expensive region for Laura and me”. Peter Tichansky, CEO of BCIU, justified the award with “the bold approach of Elumelu and his willingness to act as exemplary characteristics of a visionary entrepreneur”.
This distinction is a recognition of the exceptional work of the businessman in promoting entrepreneurship in Africa. Indeed, it has financed to date, through the Tony Elumelu Foundation, more than 3,000 African entrepreneurs as part of a $ 100 million program that will finance 10,000 entrepreneurs on the continent over a period of 10 years.
Tony Elumelu, founder of the concept of Africapitalism, stressed that “President Eisenhower was a multidimensional man but his most important dimension was his leadership. Being recognized today as the recipient of the first Global Entrepreneurship Award is an honor that resonates with so many people in Africa. What our African entrepreneurs need is strong leadership to energize, encourage and motivate them to transform the continent. ”
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