Tony Elumelu becomes the 1st African to receive the Dwight Eisenhower Global Entrepreneurship Award
Philanthropist and business man Tony Elumelu was presented with the prestigious Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Entrepreneurship Award, offered by the Business council for International Understanding (BCIU), a non-profit U.S Business association dedicated to forging relationships and promoting dialogue between business and government communities across the globe.
Elumelu received this award, handed to him by Kip Forbes and Anne Eisenhower (the granddaughter of President Eisenhower), in recognition of his outstanding work in promoting entrepreneurship in Africa and across the globe.
His foundation TEF (Tony Elumelu Foundation), has funded over 3,000 African entrepreneurs to date with his U$D100 million commitment to 10,000 entrepreneurs over a period of 10 years. These entrepreneurs are expected to create a million new jobs and over U$D10 billion in revenue thanks to the foundation.
Speaking on the reason why Elumelu was selected as the recipient of this prestigious award, Peter Tichansky, the CEO of BCIU said ‘Mr Elumelu’s (…) embodies the idea that companies must take the lead in bringing business and society together. His advocacy is proving that businesses, acting as businesses and not charitable donors, are the most powerful force for addressing social challenges and economic development’.
Elumelu is known as the founder of the concept of Africapitalism, which essentially states that Africa’s private sector must play a leading role in the development and growth of the continent as both governments and the private sector come together to make this happen.
Here are a few words of the Elumelu when he received the award: “President Eisenhower was a man of many dimensions and most important is his leadership. Being recognized today as a recipient of the inaugural global entrepreneurship award is an honour that resonates with so many people in Africa. What our entrepreneurs in Africa need is powerful leadership to further energize, encourage and motivate them to transform the continent (…). I hope this will further spur on other Africans and friends of Africa, to make sure we work together for an inclusive prosperity”.
Source: Proshareng
