Dr. Awele V. Elumelu, OFR is a business leader dedicated to transforming healthcare and fostering entrepreneurship across Africa.
A founding Director of Heirs Holdings, the family-owned investment company, investing in strategic sectors of the African economy, including energy, power, banking, insurance and financial services, technology, real estate and hospitality and healthcare, and committed to improving lives and transforming Africa, Dr Elumelu also chairs several Heirs Holdings group boards, including:
As Co-Founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation, committed to empowering entrepreneurs across Africa, Dr Elumelu advocates extensively for gender inclusion and youth entrepreneurship, across the continent. The Foundation has empowered over 27,000 young African men and women across the 54 African countries with non-refundable grants, mentorship, and business training.
In 2023, in recognition of Dr Elumelu’s healthcare leadership, entrepreneurship development, and philanthropy, she was conferred the ‘Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic’. In 2026, she was recognised as a TIME100 Philanthropy honouree, named among the world’s most influential philanthropists for her transformative impact across Africa through the Foundation.
In 2018, Dr. Elumelu was appointed as the Private Sector Champion for Immunisation in Africa by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. In this role, she harnesses her knowledge, corporate networks, and expertise from the healthcare and business sectors to champion vaccination and immunisation in Africa.
She also sits on a number of regional and global boards including the Yale Institute for Global Health, the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (EJS) Presidential Centre for Women and Development, the African Union’s African High-Level Ministerial Committee on Global Health Architecture (AHLMC).
Dr. Elumelu holds a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Benin, with advanced executive and professional certifications from the International Institute for Management Development, Switzerland, Harvard Business School, and the Indian School of Business. Her career as a medical doctor includes experience with the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, in Nigeria, and Grantham and District Hospital, Grantham, in the UK.
Mr. Akinyemi brings to the Board a distinguished career spanning over three decades across Nigeria’s financial services sector, including wholesale and retail banking, investment banking, capital markets, and strategic business leadership. He recently served as Group Deputy Managing Director of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, with oversight for the bank’s Nigeria-wide business operations, comprising Corporate, Business Banking, and Retail divisions.
An Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and a member of both the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, Mr. Akinyemi holds a B.Sc. in Accounting from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. He has also undertaken advanced executive programmes at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Cambridge University, and Harvard Business School, among others.
Abubarkar brings with him a wealth of experience gained over 34 years in the corporate world. His illustrious career includes a 19-year tenure at the Corporate Affairs Commission, where he held various pivotal positions, such as Director of Compliance, Special Adviser to the Registrar General, and Deputy Director of Compliance. A distinguished alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Mr. Abubarkar holds a law degree and was called to the Nigerian bar in 1989. He is an esteemed member of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chartered Institute of Mediators and Conciliators, and the Institute of Directors (Chartered), among others.
Ms. Bolanle Onagoruwa is a lawyer with over 30 years of private and public sector professional experience. Prior to her appointment, she was an Independent Director of NOVA Merchant Bank.
Bolanle’s diverse experience spans commercial legal practice, with Bentley Edu and Co; Legal Counsel, Nigerian Industrial Development Bank, and Company Secretary/ Legal Adviser Abuja Branch Head of Midas Merchant Bank. Thereafter, she joined the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) where she contributed immensely to the public sector reform and privatisation in Nigeria during her 12-year service. She served as Secretary Social Development and Secretary Education in the Federal Capital Territory Administration before retiring eventually as the Director-General of BPE in 2012.
Bolanle earned an LLB from the University of Lagos, a Post Graduate Diploma in Politics, and International Relations from the University of Kent at Canterbury, and she is an alumna of the Harvard Business School (General Manager Program).
Adesimbo Bello-Ukiri is the pioneer Managing Director and CEO of Avon Healthcare Ltd (Avon HMO), spearheading its evolution from a startup in 2012 into the leading Nigerian health management organization it is today.
A trained lawyer, she holds an LLB from Obafemi Awolowo University and is a Sloan Fellow of London Business School, where she obtained an MSc in Management (Leadership and Strategy).
Before starting Avon HMO in 2012, Adesimbo served as the Managing Director at a leading Nigerian healthcare company. Prior to this role, she held various executive and senior management positions with responsibilities for Strategy, Marketing, Sales & Business Development, as well as Finance and Operations.
With over 30 years of professional working experience, her expertise spans diverse sectors including financial services (Banking), Oil & Gas exploration, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Telecommunications, and Healthcare with various multi-national and national corporations.
Adesimbo is a passionate healthcare and technology advocate, often speaking internationally and featuring as a resource and choice speaker for global organizations and institutions seeking expert healthcare perspectives in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Mr. Emmanuel Nnorom is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Heirs Holdings Group and sits on several boards, including Transcorp Hotels Plc and Transcorp Power Plc, where he is a Non-Executive Director.
Before his appointment, Emmanuel was President/CEO of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (now Transnational Corporation Plc).
He has served in other management roles such as President/Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Heirs Holdings Group, and COO of United Bank for Africa, where he oversaw the bank’s operations outside Nigeria and executed corporate strategy in 18 African countries. Emmanuel is a Chartered Accountant with over four decades of professional experience in the corporate and financial sectors, working with publicly listed companies.
He is an alumnus of Oxford University’s Templeton College, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), and a prize winner at the 1982 qualifying examination of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
Mrs. Uzo Oshogwe is the Managing Director/CEO of Transcorp Hotels Plc. where she oversees the Company’s strategic objectives through its subsidiaries; Transcorp Hilton Abuja, and its digital hospitality platform, Aura by Transcorp Hotels.
Prior to joining Transcorp Hotels Plc, Uzo was the MD/CEO of Afriland Properties Ltd. She brings more than 30 years of professional experience, having held leadership positions at the United Bank for Africa Plc and Accenture UK.
Uzo holds a B.Sc. Degree in Chemistry from Ambrose Alli University, Edo State, an MSc in Information Systems Design from the University of Westminster, London and a professional certificate in Real Estate Management from Harvard Business School, USA. She is an RICS accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator and a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants. She is an Alumni of the Lagos Business School and IESE, Spain having attended the Advanced Management Programme (AMP) and Chief Executive Programme of the institutions.
Dr. (Mrs.) Owen D. Omogiafo, OON is the President and Group CEO of Transnational Corporation Plc (Transcorp). Transcorp is Nigeria’s largest listed diversified conglomerate with strategic investments in the Hospitality, Oil & Gas and Power sectors.
Transcorp is the owner of the iconic Transcorp Hilton Abuja and through its power plants in Delta State and Rivers State, accounts for about 18% of Nigeria’s power generation capacity. Prior to becoming the President/Group CEO of Transcorp Plc, Owen was the MD/CEO of Transcorp Hotels Plc, where she drove the completion of the $132m renovation of the Transcorp Hilton Abuja. Owen is the first female and youngest person to hold these positions.
Owen has over two decades of experience in Organizational Development, Human Capital Management, Financial Services, Change Management, Hospitality, Energy, Business Transformation and Strategy. She has held various high-profile roles throughout her career, including being Director of Resources at Heirs Holdings Limited, a Pan-African investment company; HR Advisor to the Group Managing Director at the United Bank for Africa Plc; and as an Organization and Human Performance Consultant at Accenture, specializing in Change Management.
She holds a B.Sc. (Double Honours) in Sociology & Anthropology from the University of Benin, an M.Sc. in Human Resource Management from the London School of Economics & Political Science, and an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Engineering from the Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun. She is also an alumnus of the Lagos Business School and IESE Business School in Spain.
Owen is a member of the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development, UK, a certified Change Manager with the Prosci Institute, USA, a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management, Nigeria, a member of the Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria, and a member of the Boards of Afriland Properties Ltd, Transcorp Power Ltd, TransAfam Power Ltd, Transcorp Hotels Plc and Abuja Electricity Distribution Company. She sits on the Advisory Board of Heirs Academy and is the Vice President of the Lagos Business School Alumni Association.
A multiple-award winning professional, Owen has been recognized as one of Africa’s top 100 women in leadership and one of the 100 Most Influential African Women, highlighting her significant contributions and impact.
In May 2023 she was conferred with the National Honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) for her outstanding contributions to the nation. She is married with 3 children.
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