Dr. Awele Elumelu is a leading voice in African healthcare.

As the Chairperson of Avon Healthcare Limited, Nigeria’s leading health insurance provider, and the Founder / CEO of Avon Medical Practice, a growing network of full-service clinics and onsite facilities with corporate institutions, she is focused on expanding and improving access to quality healthcare in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation.

Having identified poor health infrastructure, absence of medical equipment, and poor healthcare coverage as some of the challenges facing healthcare delivery in Nigeria, she established the two organizations to provide affordable medical insurance and services to Nigerians from all walks of life. This is helping to improve access to adequate and effective healthcare services in Nigeria.

In January 2018, Dr. Elumelu was appointed as a Private Sector Champion for Immunisation in Africa by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. In this role, she leverages her knowledge, corporate networks, and expertise from the healthcare and business sectors to champion vaccination and immunization in Africa, where almost 10 million children are yet to be fully immunized.

Dr. Elumelu is particularly passionate about and advocates extensively for the rights of Africans, women, and children. In line with her commitment to the economic philosophy of Africapitalism, which calls on the African private sector to lead the charge in developing the continent, she continues to work to bring together public and private players to deliver economic opportunity, social good, and greater health and opportunity to all Africans.

Dr. Elumelu serves as a Director on the Board of Heirs Holdings, a family-owned investment company committed to improving lives and transforming Africa and is a Trustee of The Tony Elumelu Foundation, the leading philanthropy empowering entrepreneurs and championing entrepreneurship in Africa.

Dr. Elumelu holds a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Benin. Her experience as a medical doctor includes medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology, and emergency medicine. She has worked with the Lagos University Teaching Hospital in Nigeria, and with Grantham and District Hospital Grantham in the United Kingdom.