Lagos, Nigeria, October 14, 2017//-African philanthropist Tony Elumelu, has urged African leaders across the continent to continue to focus on creating the enabling environment for businesses to thrive.
According to him, “entrepreneurship cannot thrive without the enabling environment. So, our leaders should continue to create the conducive business environment for private sector players to grow their businesses”.
Mr Elumelu who is the Group Chairman of United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) and pan-African investment company Heirs Holdings said this when the bank hosted more than 100 African journalists at the UBA House in Lagos, Nigeria.
The journalists are in Lagos at the invitation of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) to cover its TEF Entrepreneurship Forum 2017 underway.
Mr. Elumelu, the Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation told the visiting journalists that becoming an entrepreneur is very important because it can change lives in the community, in the country, and on the African continent.
For instance, established in 2015 the Tony Elumelu Foundation Programme (TEF Programme), is his foundation’s 10-year, $100 million commitment to empowering the next generation of African entrepreneurs and surely, there are more private sector leaders that are willing to invest in the continent’s future.
“I see great entrepreneurship potential in many of the over 93,000 applicants that applied for this year alone, but the level of training, mentoring and networking that we offer means that we can only select over 1,000 this year. I call on everyone here to support those who missed the cut. This is a clear path to sustaining African economic growth.”
He explained that the TEF Programme which is the largest African sourced philanthropic gift targeting the entrepreneurial sector was inspired by three guiding principles: the inclusive economic philosophy of ‘Africapitalism’, based on the belief that a vibrant African-led private sector is the key to unlocking Africa’s economic and social potential; commitment to drive African economic growth through the empowering of African entrepreneurship; and a mission to ‘institutionalise luck’ by creating an environment where African entrepreneurs can get critical elements of support in the early stages of their business life.
“Entrepreneurship is the cornerstone to African development and the key to local value creation in Africa. I am determined to ensure that Africa’s next generation of entrepreneurs have the platform they need to turn their entrepreneurial aspirations into sustainable businesses that will drive economic growth and job creation across Africa”, Mr Elumelu stated.
The fact that billions of dollars worth of goods is exported each year outside the continent of Africa which is much more than the aid given. He opined that “International Aid organisations need to re-evaluate the way they engage Africa in the 21st century”.
“Young people need a helping hand, the kind that will make them self- reliant and self- confident so that they can add their quota to the development of the continent.
“The solution to the problem of unemployment is going to come first from within and then from all of us working collectively. I believe entrepreneurship can solve the problem of job creation”, Mr Elumelu added.
Advice to entrepreneurs
The billionaire African investor whose UBA operates in 19 African countries including Ghana advised the young entrepreneurs: “Entrepreneurship is not a short-term journey but a long term one. You have to be discipline, focus and defer your spending to enable you have a better future as an entrepreneur”.
Another attribute Mr Elumelu wants every entrepreneur to possess is the culture of excellence. As he put it: “As an entrepreneur, you must do everything quality”.
“At UBA, we preach quality, reliability and above-all professionalism. So, excellence is extremely important”.
Mr Elumelu encouraged the young entrepreneurs that they could do better, stressing: “It is just by applying the principles”.
Africapitalism
Touching on Africapitalism, Mr. Elumelu spoke about what already-established businesses could do to advance Africa’s development through an economic philosophy he calls Africapitalism – which focuses on the private sector’s critical role in driving economic and social development across Africa.
“Africapitalism means we cannot leave the business of development up to our governments, donor countries and philanthropic organizations alone,” he said. “We in the African private sector must wake up, recognize and embrace our role in driving the economic growth and the social development of Africa, and we must act on that responsibility in tangible ways.”
Mr Elumelu who propounds the Africapitalism, the economic philosophy which is predicated on the belief that Africa’s private sector can and must play a leading role in the continent’s development, used the occasion to again call on African governments to provide conducive business environment for entrepreneurs to operate.
“Entrepreneurs need more eco-systems to succeed in their business operations which will enable them to contribute to the development of the economy”.
UBA Subsidiaries
In his welcome, Kennedy Uzoka, Group Managing Director (GMD) and CEO of pan-African banking group, UBA) Plc said UBA subsidiaries operating in the 19 African countries are now contributing more than 25 percent to the Group operating revenue.
UBA is increasingly recognised as a strong pan-African brand, hailed for democratising banking in its countries of operation while participating in leading financial transactions, he told the visiting journalists.
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Lagos, Nigeria, courtesy Tony Elumelu Foundation
