Prime Business Africa
Tony Elumelu: Personal Branding As Corporate Strategy
By Tony Onyima, Ph.D.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThere are four things I love about Mr Tony Elumelu, the Chairman of Heirs Holdings and the United Bank for Africa (UBA). His passion, confidence, energy, and discipline. His persona – confident, disciplined, and purpose-driven – has become an essential expression of the UBA brand. In a world where corporate reputation often mirrors the personality of its leader, few African executives have mastered the fusion of personal and institutional branding as seamlessly as Elumelu. Yet, while this alignment has earned admiration across the continent, it has also attracted criticism for being overly centralised around one man’s personality.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, once described personal brand as “what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Elumelu has taken that idea further. His presence is felt even when he’s not in the room. Through deliberate storytelling, visual consistency, and an unrelenting social media presence, he has become a living symbol of UBA’s pan-African and global aspirations. A recent photograph (below) of Elumelu seated at his sleek desk, dressed in UBA’s signature red tie, suspenders, and socks, perfectly encapsulates this synthesis of self and system. His fashion choices, colour coordination, and the modern, tech-infused workspace all signal professionalism and passion – qualities associated with the UBA brand. Branding scholar David Aaker notes that powerful brands achieve identity coherence when every visual, emotional, and behavioural cue aligns around a consistent meaning. Elumelu’s consistency has made him instantly recognisable as both man and message.
Elumelu’s social media platforms, especially X (Twitter), Instagram, and LinkedIn, are masterclasses in brand discipline. His posts about entrepreneurship, empowerment, and African development radiate optimism. He routinely amplifies the successes of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF). He uses the hashtag #TOEWay to reinforce his philosophy of Africapitalism – believing that Africa’s private sector can transform the continent’s social landscape.
In this regard, he mirrors global figures like Richard Branson, who built Virgin’s adventurous image around his personality. But where Branson’s branding relies on playfulness and risk, Elumelu’s exudes control, refinement, and gravitas – a deliberate projection of African excellence grounded in discipline. According to Keller’s Brand Equity Model, brand resonance occurs when customers emotionally connect with a brand. Elumelu achieves this through storytelling that humanises leadership. His posts about family, mentorship, and personal growth demystify success and make the UBA brand emotionally accessible. His Africapitalism doctrine aligns UBA’s business mission with continental upliftment, thus turning brand promise into social philosophy.
This approach evokes Howard Schultz’s model at Starbucks, where leadership identity drives brand culture. As Schultz observed, “People don’t buy what you sell; they buy what you believe.” Similarly, UBA’s belief in African potential feels authentic because it echoes Elumelu’s lived convictions.
Yet, such tightly woven personal branding invites criticism. Some analysts argue that the UBA brand risks overpersonalisation, with Elumelu’s image overshadowing the institution. In communications theory, this is known as the founder’s shadow – the danger of conflating a brand’s success with the persona of its most visible leader.
Critics note that Elumelu’s omnipresence on social media and in UBA campaigns can blur the boundary between corporate and personal achievement. The brand narrative sometimes seems to orbit more around the man than the organisation. Analysts worry that this concentration of symbolic power may limit institutional succession and make it harder for emerging executives to build their own leadership identities within UBA or Heirs Holdings.
Others question the performative dimension of his digital storytelling. The meticulously curated imagery—the polished suits, motivational captions, and luxurious settings—while aspirational, can appear detached from the lived realities of average Africans. This tension between aspiration and accessibility poses a challenge: balancing the glamour of success with the grit of empowerment.
Moreover, some media critics have described Elumelu’s branding as “corporate paternalism,” where the leader’s benevolence overshadows collective contribution. While he emphasises empowerment through TEF, sceptics argue that such philanthro-capitalism risks framing systemic economic issues as solvable primarily through elite-driven initiatives.
Even within the UBA ecosystem, his leadership style has occasionally been characterised as centralised and image-conscious, relying heavily on loyalty and narrative control—traits that critics say may stifle dissent or innovation. However, supporters counter that this discipline sustains brand integrity in an environment where corporate inconsistency is rampant.
Still, Elumelu’s critics rarely deny his effectiveness. The Harvard Business Review has observed that leadership legitimacy often depends on visible symbols of power and achievement in high-context societies like Africa. Elumelu’s strong personal presence thus becomes not vanity, but strategy—a way to embody trust and stability in volatile markets.
In the same way that Elon Musk’s personality magnifies Tesla’s and X’s identities or Oprah Winfrey’s charisma defines her OWN media empire, Elumelu’s persona magnifies UBA’s reach. The risk of overexposure is real, but so is the value of authenticity. His credibility rests on a long record of business success, philanthropy, and mentorship – real achievements that transcend branding.
Tony Elumelu’s leadership demonstrates that personal branding, rooted in vision and authenticity, can be a force multiplier for corporate reputation. Through disciplined symbolism – his signature red attire, digital fluency, and consistent storytelling – he has built emotional resonance around UBA’s promise of a prosperous Africa.
Yet, his approach also illustrates the paradox of charismatic branding: the same charisma that inspires can also overshadow. The challenge for Elumelu and UBA’s future leadership is to ensure that the brand remains bigger than the man and that Africapitalism evolves from a personal creed into a collective legacy.
In the final analysis, Tony Elumelu’s story affirms a truth that branding theorist Wally Olins echoed: “The most powerful brands are those whose leaders live their message—yet know when to step aside so the message outlives them.”
Dr. Onyima, a former MD of The Sun, teaches media and communication at Paul University, Awka.
