Manny Ita –
Businessman Tony O. Elumelu and his wife Awele Vivien Elumelu have been listed among TIME Magazine’s 2026 TIME100 Philanthropy honourees, recognising their global impact through charitable and development work in Africa.
The couple were honoured for their role in co-founding the Tony Elumelu Foundation, which has become one of the continent’s most influential private-sector-led philanthropy initiatives focused on entrepreneurship.
According to the report, the foundation has supported over 27,000 African entrepreneurs with seed funding and mentorship, and has expanded its reach across all 54 African countries. It has also distributed over $100 million in seed capital and trained millions through free digital entrepreneurship programmes.
The recognition highlights the foundation’s wider impact, including generating billions in revenue through supported businesses, creating over a million jobs, and helping millions of Africans move out of poverty.
The Elumelus were featured in TIME’s “Titans” category, alongside global figures such as Rihanna, Lionel Messi, Elton John, Shakira, and MacKenzie Scott.
Speaking on the foundation’s mission, Tony Elumelu said: “We set out to democratise luck.” He added that the overwhelming number of applications eventually forced the organisation to rethink how it managed demand, noting that they sometimes found themselves “in the business of dashing hopes.”
The foundation is built around the philosophy of Africapitalism, which promotes private-sector-led development in Africa, especially through empowering young entrepreneurs rather than relying mainly on aid.
This marks another major recognition for Tony Elumelu, who has previously been listed among TIME’s most influential people and received a TIME100 Impact Award, while this is the first time both him and his wife are jointly honoured for their philanthropic work.
