The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has appointed Tony Elumelu, founder and group chair of Heirs Holdings, to its advisory council on entrepreneurship and growth, convened by Kristalina Georgieva, IMF managing director.
The billionaire entrepreneur’s appointment was announced in a statement on Friday, March 28, 2025.
The IMF Advisory Council comprises global business leaders, policymakers, and academics, dedicated to identifying and addressing regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship.
Other 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.
Others are 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.
The council is said to be mandated to recommend policies that enhance resource allocation, stimulate innovation, and catalyse sustainable private sector-led economic growth.
Speaking on the appointment, a statement from IMF reads, “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.”
Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the advisory council on March 26, Georgieva said the council brings together a group of leading thinkers and practitioners in business, finance, academia, and policymaking to share their views and experiences on how macroeconomic and financial policies “can provide a supportive environment for innovation, entrepreneurship, and productivity, key ingredients for a thriving private sector and strong economic growth”.
By: Babajide Okeowo