Global
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has appointed the Nigerian billionaire Tony Elumelu, group chairman of Heirs Holdings, as a member of its advisory council on entrepreneurship and growth.
The appointment was convened by IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva in a statement on Friday.
The advisory council is made up of global business sector leaders, policymakers, and academics, to champion the identification and proferring solutions to regulatory barriers that hampers entrepreneurship globally.
Amongst other responsibilities, the council will provide recommendations to improve policies in resource allocation, stimulate innovation, and catalyse sustainable private sector-led economic growth.
The IMF statement said “Elumelu, Africa’s leading advocate of entrepreneurship and whose Foundation has funded, mentored and trained over 25,000 African entrepreneurs since 2015, champions entrepreneurship as the engine for the economic transformation of Africa.
“A self-made entrepreneur, Elumelu’s embracing of entrepreneurship is fundamental to his concept of Africapitalism, his belief that Africa’s private sector can and must play a leading role in the continent’s development, making long-term investments, that deliver social and economic value.
“Elumelu will be instrumental in ensuring that Africa’s entrepreneurial potential is central to global economic policymaking.”
Other eminent members of the council include Ufuk Akcigit, Harberger professor of economics at the University of Chicago; Reema Bandar Al-Saud, Saudi ambassador to the United States; Marc Benioff, chair, CEO, and co-founder of Salesforce; and Ana Botín, executive chair at Banco Santander.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Group; Margherita Della Valle, chief executive of Vodafone Group; Robert Smith, founder, chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, and Federico Sturzenegger, Argentine minister of deregulation and state transformation are also members of the council.
