Tony Elumelu Explains How Africapitalism Will Stimulate All-Inclusive Prosperity

Tony Elumelu, the chairman of one of Nigeria’s largest quoted conglomerates, Transcorp, -whose subsidiaries include Transcorp Power, one of the leading producers of electricity in Nigeria and Transcorp Hotels Plc, Nigeria’s foremost hospitality brand – has shared graphic details of how his economic philosophy, Africapitalism will stimulate all-inclusive prosperity across the continent.

Africapitalism positions that the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, are the catalyst for the social and economic development of Africa.

The leading investor provided telling details on Tuesday, October 24, 2023, at the 7th edition of the Future Investment Initiative: The New Compass in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where he was a guest of Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan, Governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Richard Attias, Chairman of the FII Institute,

The chairman of Pan- African financial services group operating in 20 countries across Africa, the United Kingdom, France, the UAE, and is the only African bank with a commercial deposit-taking presence in the United States- United Bank for Africa (UBA) disclosed that at the heart of Africapitalism is the advocacy that private sector make long-term investments in the critical sectors of the African economy with the potential to propel economic empowerment and prosperity on the continent.

“Africapitalism is a call on the private sector to invest long-term in critical sectors of the African economy that have the potential for transforming and catalyzing economic empowerment and prosperity on the continent. So that at the end of the day, we all go far and go together and no one is left behind. And embedded in it is the philosophy of inclusive growth, the philosophy of empowering young men and as well as our women who have for a long time been left behind” the front-row philanthropist explained in a fireside chat with Richard Attias on ‘How Africapitalism drives Inclusive Growth’

And provided a very clear example” I think one of the reasons that Africapitalism has been accepted and being practiced by a lot of people is that we don’t just preach, We don’t just theorize, we practice. So in our (Transcorp) Group, we have Transcorp (Power)which is the largest electricity generating company in Nigeria today. Transcorp (Power) has a combined energy-generating capacity of 2,000 megawatts. So for an ordinary eye, that is an economic investment that yields profit. for the investors.

” Fine, I will support that. but more importantly, we all know that access to electricity is the single most critical factor that we need to fix if we must develop Africa, For our young ones to go to school they must have access to electricity, for our hospitals to function very well, they must have access to electricity, for businesses to grow, develop – they must have access to electricity. so that is Africapitalism in action where investing, you make profit at the same time, simultaneously without waiting for the other you also invest in critical sectors, not just trading, critical sectors that help to move the needles.

We need massive investment in electricity on the continent. So an investment in electricity is not just for profitability, it is for profitability because we need sustainability, but more importantly, it helps to fix the challenges that we have, the challenges that hold us from taking off as a continent, that is the philosophy of Africapitalism.”.

In moving forward to leverage existing gains, Elumelu advocated putting in place structures to foster intra-Africa trade by removing all apparent and inherent barriers.

Insisting that all hands must be on deck to develop the continent, the Chairman of Heirsholdings, the family-owned investment company, committed to improving lives and transforming Africa, through long-term investments in strategic sectors of the African economy, including financial services, hospitality, power, energy, technology and healthcare emphasized that “We need to empower the young generation of Africans to be able to create. because if you trade, and you don’t produce what your neighbor needs, your neighbor would go outside to look for who can produce it. so we need to make sure that in Africa, we are able to produce what we need and again that speaks to the philosophy of Africapitalism, we must realize that no one owes us our development, We as Africans must work hard to develop our continent.”.

The prominent champion of entrepreneurship in Africa through the leading philanthropy empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, The Tony Elumelu Foundation used the opportunity of the global platform to canvass massive global capital infusion for the continent.

Noting that some of the huge potentials on the continent as the large population of young people and the abundance of natural resources, the member of the World Economic Forum Community of Chairmen and the Global Leadership Council of UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited explained that “We need a marshal plan for Africa. We need to mobilize long-term capital into the continent to enable us to leapfrog and enable us to fix the infrastructure that we need to develop. Japan, Germany, Korea and even China have benefited from massive global capital infusion, Africa needs this and I use this opportunity to draw the attention of the world to the opportunities on the continent, the need to come invest in Africa, the need to collaborate with African business leaders and more importantly, those like the Tony Elumelu foundation who like to support young African Entrepreneurs, let see how we can work together to create better future for everyone.”.