Awele Elumelu up the Ante in the Corporate World

Things continue to heat up in the corporate section of Nigeria, the corner where billions, even trillions of Naira, exchange owners daily. This time, a significant fraction of the hubbub is centred around the doings of Dr. Awele Elumelu, the wife of Transcorp Plc boss, Tony Elumelu. With her recent acquisition of five per cent of the ownership of Transcorp, the good doctor and philanthropist just bought herself a new identity plate.

It is no secret that thriving multinationals like Transcorp have a high standard for entering decision-making circles. But Awele has raised such standards even higher, demonstrating a strong grasp of corporate intelligence that puts many in the same industry to shame. Because she recently acquired exactly 5.076 per cent of shareholding rights in the company, she has automatically become the second largest shareholder in the multinational after her husband.

Although some people are saying that Transcorp Plc is gradually becoming the property of the Elumelus, there is no question regarding the legality of the transaction that brought  Awele to the second rank in ownership. According to reports, she got the shares for N3.12 per unit and went on to buy 2,063,484,991 units in total, adding up to around N6.4 billion. Thus, she stands shoulders-tall with her husband as a majority shareholder in Transcorp.

Yes, times are changing and more people are falling on the rich side of history. For Awele, the massive boost in corporate status is nothing too out of the ordinary, although it came a bit too quickly for some analysts and market observers.