Our History

2010

On completing his ten-year term as CEO of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), Tony O. Elumelu announces the establishment of Heirs Holdings (HH) and the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) to drive private investment and champion entrepreneurship across Africa.

2011

• Heirs Holdings identifies its first strategic investment opportunity, acquiring a controlling stake in Transcorp, Nigeria’s largest listed conglomerate. Transcorp, which, despite an attractive portfolio spanning the Nigerian economy, including the iconic Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, and a loyal shareholder base of over 300,000, had serially underperformed. Benefiting from HH’s operational skills and turn around expertise, Transcorp would blossom as a platform to execute investments in energy, hospitality, and agriculture.

• The Tony Elumelu Foundation launches the Tony & Awele Elumelu Prize, an award that recognised and rewarded 130 students from 16 universities across Nigeria and three other West African universities.

• The Tony Elumelu Foundation launches the Elumelu Professionals Programme (initially known as African Markets Internship Programme), an internship programme that matched 87 MBA students and graduates from top business schools in Africa, Europe and Asia to African businesses, with peer African MBA students for internships with fast growing African companies, demonstrating the private sector opportunities in Africa.

• Heirs Holdings and The Tony Elumelu Foundation made their first joint impact investment outside Nigeria – Mtanga Farms in Tanzania, a business developing innovative approaches to increasing African agricultural yields.

• Tony O. Elumelu first introduces the term “Africapitalism”, his belief that Africa’s private sector can and must play a leading role in the continent’s development, seeking both economic and social returns.

• The Tony Elumelu Foundation launches the Elumelu Professionals Programme (initially known as African Markets Internship Programme), an internship programme that matched 87 MBA students and graduates from top business schools in Africa, Europe and Asia to African businesses, with peer African MBA students for internships with fast growing African companies, demonstrating the private sector opportunities in Africa.

2012

• Heirs Holdings makes further acquisitions in the real estate and financial sectors: Afriland Properties Plc, a property management, investment and development company; Plc, a financial and investment services group; and Africa Prudential Registrar Plc, a leading share registration service provider.

• The Tony Elumelu Foundation empowers 20 tech businesses with US $100,000 seed funding through Nigerian accelerator, CCHub Nigeria.

• The Tony Elumelu Foundation launches the ‘Blair-Elumelu Governance Initiative’, in partnership with the Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative (AGI), a dedicated programme of skill building for senior civil servants, focusing on adopting private sector approaches to deliver for the public good.

• Transcorp Ughelli Power is named as the preferred bidder for Ughelli Power Plc, the largest electric power plant in Nigeria, under the privatisation programme of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

• Transcorp Hotels acquires the Metropolitan Hotels and Conferencing Limited, owners of the oldest hotel in Calabar, the Metropolitan Hotel Calabar. The hotel is renamed Transcorp Hotels Calabar.

• Heirs Holdings invests in 51% of Seadrill Nigeria Limited, a deep-water drilling contractor for the petroleum industry, furthering the strategic intent of identifying opportunities across the oil and gas value chain.

• Heirs Holdings co-founds AFEX Commodities Exchange in partnership with Nicolas Berggruen’s, Berggruen Holdings, with the objective of bringing commodity value creation and deeper financial markets to the African continent.

• Illustrating our global ambitions, Heirs Holdings invests in Planet Labs, a Silicon-Valley based, earth imaging company.

• Heirs Holdings founds Avon Healthcare Limited (Avon HMO), a healthcare management organisation, to rapidly expand the provision of high-quality medical services to a much broader demographic.

• Heirs Holdings invests in and became the second largest shareholder in NASD OTC, creating an over the counter trading facility, to act as a platform for small company growth.

2013

• Heirs Holdings commits US$2.5bn, as the single largest private sector investor in President Obama Power Africa initiative. The innovative partnership ambition is to add 30,000MW of new electricity generation capacity, to increase electricity access by at least 60 million new connections in sub-Saharan Africa.

• Transcorp Ughelli Power acquires 100% ownership and management of Ughelli Power Plc, with 972MW installed capacity, but actual production of only 160MW.

• Africa Prudential acquires UAC Registrars Limited, the largest conglomerate registrar in Nigeria.

• The AFEX commodities exchange business partners with the Rwandan government and launches the first commodity Exchange in Rwanda – EAX (East Africa Exchange), bringing commodity transactions closer to producers.

• GIIN (The Global Impact Investing Network) appoints Heirs Holdings to its board, as the first African board member.

• Africa Prudential is granted the prestigious International Quality Crown Award in the UK, in recognition of its commitment to quality, leadership and innovation.

2014

• Transcorp is awarded ‘The Most Compliant Listed Firm Award’ by the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

• Within a year of acquisition, Transcorp Power delivers a 306% increase in the available capacity of Transcorp Power Plant (from 160MW to 610MW), contributing 13% of power generation to the Nigerian national grid.

• Tenoil, HH’s oil and gas company, successfully drills its first oil well, confirming significant amounts of commercial hydrocarbons.

• Transcorp Hilton Abuja hosts the first-ever World Economic Forum in Nigeria.

• Transcorp Hotels lists on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

• Tony O. Elumelu appointed the Chairman of the UBA (United Bank for Africa Plc) Group Board.

• Avon Medical Practice expands hospital operations to 2 further states in Nigeria: Delta State and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

2015

• The Tony Elumelu Foundation launches its flagship Entrepreneurship Programme committing US $100 million to identify, train, mentor and fund 10,000 African entrepreneurs over 10 years, across 54 African countries. The Programme has empowered over 9,000 entrepreneurs across Africa.

• In a landmark transaction, United Capital raises $250 million fresh capital for Orion Group in one of the largest syndicated transactions structured by an African investment banking institution in 2015.

2016

• United Capital leads a N9 Billion Bond Issuance for Forte Oil Plc; the first bond issued by an entity in the Nigerian downstream oil and gas sector.

• Avon HMO becomes the first health management organisation in Nigeria to offer online subscriptions to the general public.

2017

• Transcorp Power commissions a gas turbine (Gas Turbine 15) with additional 115MW capacity, thereby increasing the available capacity to 620MW.

• The Tony Elumelu Foundation partners with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to empower 200 entrepreneurs from Nigeria’s North East and Niger Delta communities.

2018

• Heirs Holdings appoints Emmanuel Nnorom (ENN), FCA, as its first Group Chief Executive Officer, demonstrating its commitment to structured corporate governance and business longevity.

• Within four years of acquisition, Transcorp Power surpasses the five-year performance target of 670MW available capacity set by the Bureau of Public Enterprises.

• Transcorp Hotels completes a US $100 millionupgrade of the iconic Transcorp Hilton Abuja.

• Transcorp Hotels wins the Corporate Governance Awards in the Institute of Directors Annual Directors Award.

• Transcorp Hilton Abuja wins the Luxury City Hotel in the 2018 World Luxury Awards.

• The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), partners with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the German Government’s Agency for International Cooperation, to empower 210 young African entrepreneurs, focusing specifically on female entrepreneurs and tech-enabled businesses.

• Avon Medical Practice launches an ultra-modern dialysis centre in Lagos, Nigeria.

• Transcorp Hilton Abuja’s Restaurants; Zuma Grill and Oriental Restaurant awarded the 2018 Country Winner (Nigeria) Fine Dining Cuisine and 2018 Regional Winner (West & Central Africa), Asian Cuisine respectively in the World Luxury Restaurants Awards.

2019

• Heirs Holdings wins the Great Place to Work awards for the ‘Best in Leadership’ Category.

• Transcorp Consortium further develops its power strategy, with a US $293-million (N105 bn) bid, for the privatisation of Afam Power Plc and Afam Three Fast Power Limited, two further power generating plants

• Transcorp Hotels fulfils post-privatisation obligations and received a discharge certificate from the government exempting the company from further post-privatisation monitoring by the National Council on Privatisation.

• Transcorp Hilton Abuja receives the Signum Virtutis (Seal of Excellence) Seven stars for four years consecutively, and the Seven Star Business Hotel (Africa Special) from the Seven Stars Luxury Hospitality and Lifestyle Awards.

• Transcorp Hilton Abuja wins the World Travel Awards for five consecutive years in five categories, including the award for Africa’s Leading Business Hotel.

• Transcorp Hilton Abuja wins the Luxury City Hotel in the 2018 World Luxury Awards.

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• The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signs a ground-breaking partnership with the Tony Elumelu Foundation in Niamey, Niger to empower 100,000 additional entrepreneurs in rural, underserved communities across the continent over 10 years.

• The Tony Elumelu Foundation enters into a US $5million partnership agreement with the African Development Bank, to empower 1,000 young entrepreneurs in Africa with training, mentorship and funding.

• United Capital Plc launches its consumer finance business to empower Africans and improve lives.

• Heirs Holdings Chairman, Tony O. Elumelu receives the National Productivity Order of Merit Award (NPOM), the highest recognition of merit in Nigeria.

• The Tony Elumelu Foundation receives the YouWIN! Connect Award of Excellence at the first edition of the YouWIN! Connect Enterprise Education Book and Awards, an initiative by the Federal Government of Nigeria to empower young Nigerian entrepreneurs.

2020

• Afriland Properties commissions Afriland Towers, a world-class 8-floor office complex situated in the commercial district of Lagos Island, Nigeria.

• Africa Prudential joins the league of Value Added Service providers on the Nigerian Stock Exchange Growth Board.

• Heirs Insurance Limited and Heirs Life Assurance Limited, HH’s vehicles to revolutionise the Nigerian insurance sector are authorised, following six years of regulatory process – a testament to HHs resilience.

• The Nigerian Senate Committee on Power commends Transcorp Power Limited for meeting the privatisation performance targets set for operators in the sector.

• Avon Medical launches its telemedicine platform.

• TIME names Tony O. Elumelu, in the 2020 TIME100, the annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Mr Elumelu was recognised for his track record of business turnaround and value creation, and economic empowerment of young Africans

• HH successfully acquires OML17 from Shell, TOTAL and ENI in the largest oil and gas transaction in Africa for the year 2020. OML 17 has a 2P gross reserve of 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The acquisition further fulfils HH’s strategy of investing across the resource value chain, creating integration and value creation on the African continent. The transaction represents a further significant step in HH’s ambition to create Africa’s largest integrated energy company.