{"id":14247,"date":"2026-11-10T15:15:49","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T15:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/10\/elumelu-calls-for-bigger-role-for-women-in-africas-corporate-power-structure-businessday-ng\/"},"modified":"2026-11-10T15:15:49","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T15:15:49","slug":"elumelu-calls-for-bigger-role-for-women-in-africas-corporate-power-structure-businessday-ng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/10\/elumelu-calls-for-bigger-role-for-women-in-africas-corporate-power-structure-businessday-ng\/","title":{"rendered":"Elumelu calls for bigger role for women in Africa\u2019s corporate power structure – Businessday NG"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tony Elumelu, chairman of Heirs Holdings, has urged African businesses to accelerate the appointment of women to senior corporate positions, arguing that greater female representation is essential to the continent\u2019s economic competitiveness.\n<\/p>\n

Speaking at the 25th annual conference of the Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) in Lagos on November 8, Elumelu challenged business leaders to move beyond commitments to gender inclusion and demonstrate progress through executive appointments, access to capital and opportunities for women to lead businesses.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen\u2019s economic leadership is not a concession to fairness. It is a requirement for competitiveness,\u201d he said, arguing that African economies seeking sustainable growth cannot afford to underutilise half their talent.\n<\/p>\n

Elumelu pointed to the leadership structure across Heirs Holdings Group as an example of how organisations can expand women\u2019s participation in corporate decision-making. He said eight women currently serve as chairs and chief executives across the group\u2019s businesses, spanning financial services, investment management, hospitality, real estate and entrepreneurship development.\n<\/p>\n

Among them are Dr Awele Elumelu, a founding director of Heirs Holdings, who chairs Avon HMO, Avon Medical, Heirs Insurance Brokers, Transcorp Hotels and Heirs Energies; Owen Omogiafo, president and group chief executive of Transnational Corporation; and Uzo Oshogwe, managing director of Transcorp Hotels.<\/p>\n

Other women highlighted include Dr Fumbi Chima, chair of Heirs Technologies; Agatha Obiekwugo, chair of Afriland Properties; Foluke Abdulrazaq, vice-chair of Transcorp; Somachi Chris-Asoluka, chief executive of the Tony Elumelu Foundation; Catherine Nwosu, managing director of Africa Prudential; Dr Odiri Ogini of United Capital Asset Management; Adetola Fasuyi; and Esther Adeola Balogun of UCEE Microfinance Bank.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not do it for a headline. I did it because they were the best people for the jobs,\u201d Elumelu said, maintaining that appointments should be determined by merit rather than gender or background.\n<\/p>\n

He also cited the Tony Elumelu Foundation\u2019s entrepreneurship programme as evidence of the economic contribution of expanding opportunities for women. The foundation said it has deployed more than $120 million in seed capital to 24,633 entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries over 15 years, with women accounting for 48 percent of beneficiaries.\n<\/p>\n

The entrepreneurs have collectively created more than 1.5 million jobs and generated over $4.2 billion in revenue, according to the statement.\n<\/p>\n

Elumelu urged corporate leaders to examine the barriers limiting women\u2019s advancement and make leadership opportunities more accessible. Addressing aspiring women leaders, he encouraged them to pursue executive positions and entrepreneurship rather than wait for permission.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdvocacy got women into the room. Capital will get them to the head of the table,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

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Businessday NG<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tony Elumelu, chairman of Heirs Holdings, has urged African businesses to accelerate the appointment of women to senior corporate positions, arguing that greater female representation is essential to the continent\u2019s… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14248,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}