My career started in job I wasn’t qualified for — Tony Elumelu

Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, has recalled how his career began with an opportunity he was not formally qualified for, saying someone took a chance on him.

Elumelu shared the experience in a post on X on Saturday, saying his subsequent achievements had been driven in part by a desire to create similar opportunities for other African talents.

“I started my career in a job I wasn’t qualified for. Someone took a chance on me. Everything I have built since has been to repay it,” he said.

Elumelu said although he benefited from an element of luck, access to opportunity should not depend solely on chance.

“I was lucky. But luck should not be the only way an African talent gets a chance.

“Our job is to democratise that luck!” he added.

The businessman also highlighted Africa’s position in the global artificial intelligence race, saying the continent accounts for less than one per cent of the world’s AI computing capacity and about three per cent of its AI talent.

“The constraint is not talent. It is electricity. We leapfrogged landlines with mobile. We will not leapfrog electricity,” Elumelu said.

He said African countries must urgently address their electricity challenges to avoid missing opportunities presented by the digital economy.

According to him, the continent’s AI race is also a race to secure adequate electricity generation and computing capacity.

Elumelu encouraged young Africans to pursue opportunities even before they felt fully qualified.

“My closing advice: To the youth in the room: start before you are qualified. I did,” he said.

He also called on investors and partners to support the growth of young African businesses, citing the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s seed-capital programme.

“Tony Elumelu Foundation seed capital has proved that young African entrepreneurs are investible. Now co-invest with us to take them to scale,” he said.

Elumelu had previously said that lessons from his early days as a photocopier salesperson continued to influence his approach to business.