Billionaire businessman and Founder of the Tony Elemulu Foundation (TEF), Tony Elumelu, CFR has congratulated the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation in the person of Somachi Chris-Asoluka.
Somachi-Tony-Ifeyinwa
Elumelu, who is also the Chairman of Africa’s global bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc. and Heirs Holdings, took to his Twitter page on Monday, January 9th, 2023 to felicitate Somachi while he also appreciated the outgoing CEO, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu.
He wrote; “I congratulate Somachi Chris-Asoluka on her appointment as Chief Executive Officer of the @TonyElumeluFDN which takes effect on March 1, 2023.”
“Somachi joined the @TonyElumeluFDN in 2014 and has held several leadership positions including: Head of Research; Head of Policy & External Relations and most recently; Director of Partnerships and Communications where she employed strong leadership, commitment and strategic thinking in delivering our mission of transforming Africa.”
“I am confident that she will build on Ifeyinwa’s legacy, leveraging her expertise and network in Partnership Development to catalyse economic opportunities for more entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries.”“I also thank @IfeyinwaUgo, outgoing CEO of @TonyElumeluFDN, for her considerable achievements, significant sacrifice and commitment to building and empowering the next generation of African business leaders. Indeed, talent thrives at @Heirs_Holdings.”
Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu
In response, Ifeyinwa said: “Over the last five years, the Tony Elumelu Foundation has significantly expanded its mission to empower African Entrepreneurs across all 54 African Countries. In particular, the Foundation has grown its partnership capability, opening its platform and process to third parties, who share in our commitment to growing the African entrepreneurial ecosystem, and transforming Africa by empowering entrepreneurs. As CEO, it has been my profound joy to lead the dynamic team to empower the next generation of young people whose ideas are transforming Africa.”
Somachi Chris-Asoluka
Accepting her appointment, Somachi said: “I am honoured to be appointed to lead the Foundation, particularly at a time when we will be launching a new Coalition for African Entrepreneurship. This Coalition will bring together global and African partners to significantly increase the impact created by TEF’s unique platform for identifying, mentoring, training and funding young African entrepreneurs.
“I look forward to working with the team, our partners, and all stakeholders to achieve our common goal of a strong, confident, self-reliant Africa. I am honoured to build on Ifeyinwa’s legacy and launch the Tony Elumelu Foundation into its next phase of impact.”
Somachi graduated Summa Cum Laude from Saint Mary’s College of California with a BSc. in Economics and minor in Mathematics, and received the “Adam Smith” award given to the highest performing graduating student in Economics.
She also has a Master’s Degree in International and Development Economics from Yale University. She is a Deputy Champion of the World Economic Forum (WEF) EDISON Alliance.
