Why I don't want to be President - Tony Elumelu

Nigerian entrepreneur and investor Tony Elumelu has said he prefers to play an advisory role in nation-building rather than leading a government.

Elumelu who owns a controlling interest in Transcorp says he and his peers who have successfully navigated the private sector "support those in office and share ideas" on how to make Nigeria better.

His comment is in response to a question from an alumnus of the Tony Elumelu Foundation who asked if he will consider running for office at the 10th anniversary of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.

"And now do I want to run for president, I will say all of us can not be president. We support and that is why we support those in office and share ideas on how we can make Nigeria a better place. We are strong on advocacy," he said.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation, the leading philanthropy empowering young African entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries unveiled the selected entrepreneurs for its 10th entrepreneurship program.

The foundation empowers African entrepreneurs driving poverty eradication, catalyzing job creation across all 54 African countries, and ensuring inclusive economic empowerment, a statement on its official website reads.

Since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the Foundation has trained over 1.5 million young Africans on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed nearly US$ 100 million in direct funding to over 19,000 African women and men, who have collectively created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs.