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Elumelu says unreliable electricity, inadequate capital, poor value addition, and weak intra-African trade are holding back Africa’s economic potential.
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Discloses that Tony Elumelu Foundation has invested over $120m in 24,633 entrepreneurs across 54 African countries, with women accounting for 48 per cent.
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Says foundation-backed businesses have created more than 1.5 million jobs and generated $4.2bn in revenue.
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Challenges African governments and business leaders to strengthen institutions, promote women into leadership positions and create an enabling investment environment.
November 6, (THEWILL) – Chairman of Heirs Holdings and Transcorp Group, Tony Elumelu, has identified unreliable electricity, inadequate access to capital, poor value addition and limited intra-African trade as major obstacles to Africa’s economic development, calling for urgent reforms to unlock the continent’s enormous potential.
Elumelu said Africa must prioritise investment in infrastructure, mobilise domestic capital, strengthen institutions and promote women’s participation in economic leadership to translate its abundant natural resources and youthful population into sustainable prosperity.
He made the call on Friday while delivering the keynote address at the 25th annual conference of Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), held at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Speaking on the theme, “The Geography of Opportunity: Why the World Needs What Africa Has”, the businessman and founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation described Africa’s mineral resources, agricultural potential, youthful population and expanding consumer market as the greatest commercial opportunity of the 21st century.
He, however, cautioned that the possession of abundant natural resources did not automatically translate into prosperity, citing Singapore and South Korea as examples of countries that achieved remarkable economic transformation despite limited natural resources or the devastation of war.
“By 2050, our working-age population will grow by hundreds of millions. We hold the minerals that will power the energy transition. We have the land, the sun, the rivers and the youngest population on earth. That is not a problem to be managed. This is the single greatest commercial opportunity of this century, and it is ours,” he said.
Elumelu, however, warned that Africa’s potential would remain unrealised without deliberate investments and policy decisions capable of creating an environment for businesses to thrive.
Power, Capital and Value Additional
Identifying electricity as the first major requirement for unlocking Africa’s economic potential, Elumelu said industrialisation would remain difficult without reliable power supply.
He noted that manufacturing plants, hospitals, schools and emerging technology industries, particularly those driven by artificial intelligence, required stable electricity and adequate connectivity.
“Africa has the young, creative minds. What they lack is the grid. Fix electricity, and Africa will take off,” he said.
He also called for a departure from the traditional economic model in which African countries export raw materials and import finished products, urging governments and businesses to invest in local processing, refining and manufacturing.
According to him, the continent must move beyond extracting and exporting its natural resources to creating greater economic value from them.
“For a hundred years, the question asked of Africa has been: how much can be extracted? I want to change the question. How much value can be created here?” he said.
Elumelu argued that Africa should process its lithium, cocoa and crude oil locally before exporting finished or value-added products to international markets.
On financing, he said African countries must reduce their dependence on foreign aid and develop stronger domestic investment capacity through savings and capital formation.
“Aid at its best kept people alive. It rarely made them owners. The future is investment and trade, not aid,” he said.
Elumelu urged African pension funds, insurance companies, banks and family offices to invest more in businesses and infrastructure across the continent.
The businessman cited his group’s investment in Seplat Energy, the London and Lagos-listed oil company, as an example of the potential of African investment, saying its share price had risen from £3 to £9 since the investment, while its market capitalisation stood at $7 billion at the time of his address.
He also commended Aliko Dangote for mobilising retail African investors through innovative approaches towards the planned initial public offering of Dangote Refinery.
Elumelu said African capital must increasingly finance African businesses, adding that the continent’s economic transformation would depend on Africans taking greater ownership of their resources and economic destiny.
Calls For Stronger Intra-African Trade
The Heirs Holdings chairman also identified limited trade among African countries as a major constraint to economic integration, lamenting that it was easier to transport goods from Lagos to Liverpool than from Lagos to Luanda.
He said less than 20 per cent of Africa’s trade was conducted within the continent, despite the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which he described as the world’s largest free trade area by number of participating countries.
Elumelu maintained that the agreement would achieve little without adequate infrastructure and institutional arrangements to facilitate cross-border commerce.
“We cannot build a continental market merely by signing documents. We must build the physical, financial and institutional infrastructure that makes continental trade commercially viable,” he said.
Elumelu listed roads, railways, ports, efficient payment systems, customs procedures and predictable regulations as essential requirements for improving trade among African countries.
He also urged African businesses to see the continent as their natural market, while calling on banks to finance cross-border expansion, manufacturers to develop regional supply chains and technology companies to provide solutions on a continental scale.
Recalling his experience in expanding United Bank for Africa (UBA) into 20 African countries, he said the achievement demonstrated that African businesses could successfully operate across national boundaries.
“When I built UBA into twenty African countries, people told me Africans would not bank across borders. They were wrong,” he said, adding that Africa’s economic future would be determined not only by the opportunities available but also by who owned and controlled the businesses created to exploit them.
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Foundation Invests Over $120m in African Entrepreneurs
Addressing inclusive prosperity and women’s participation in economic leadership, Elumelu disclosed that he and his wife, Dr Awele Elumelu, had invested more than $120 million in 24,633 young entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries through the Tony Elumelu Foundation over 15 years.
He said women accounted for 48 per cent of the beneficiaries, while businesses established by the entrepreneurs had collectively created more than 1.5 million jobs and generated over $4.2 billion in revenue.
According to him, the foundation’s selection process is based on the quality of business proposals rather than gender considerations.
“Not because of a quota. Because our selection process is objective and we judge on the quality of the business plan alone,” he said.
He noted that women entrepreneurs had demonstrated significant capacity to establish successful businesses, reinvest profits and create employment opportunities.
To illustrate the impact of the foundation’s intervention, Elumelu cited the experiences of three Nigerian women who received $5,000 each in seed capital and subsequently developed successful enterprises.
They include Princess Adeyinka Tekenah, founder of Happy Coffee, who established a coffee production business sourcing beans from women farmers in Taraba State.
Elumelu said the business had created more than 1,000 jobs in Nigeria, where about 90 per cent of coffee consumed is imported. He added that Tekenah had also organised the first Lagos Coffee Festival and was working towards establishing the first publicly listed Nigerian coffee brand.
He also highlighted Olamide Ayeni-Babajide, who established a recycling company using waste tyres after receiving support from the foundation in 2016.
According to him, the company’s revenue has increased more than 20-fold, while it has trained 15,000 people, most of them women and girls.
The third entrepreneur, Nkem Okocha, founded Mama Moni, a financial technology social enterprise providing access to credit for low-income female entrepreneurs in rural communities and urban slums.
Elumelu said the platform connects socially conscious investors with women seeking loans to expand their businesses.
Using the examples, he said relatively modest seed investments could generate substantial economic benefits when directed at entrepreneurs with viable business ideas.
He further disclosed that 265,529 young Africans applied for the foundation’s entrepreneurship programme this year, but only 3,200 could be selected for funding.
He said the number of unsuccessful applicants underscored the enormous entrepreneurial potential across Africa and the urgent need to mobilise more capital to support promising businesses.
“That is not a shortage of entrepreneurial talent; it is a shortage of capital,” he said.
Elumelu insisted that women’s economic advancement should be regarded as an economic necessity rather than an act of charity or merely a social responsibility.
“Women’s economic leadership is not a concession to fairness. It is a requirement for competitiveness,” he said, adding that no serious economy could afford to systematically underutilise half of its talent.
Highlights Women in Leadership Positions
To demonstrate his commitment to women’s advancement, Elumelu highlighted the number of women occupying senior management and leadership positions across companies within his investment group.
He said his wife, Dr Awele Elumelu, co-founder of Heirs Holdings, chairs Avon HMO, Avon Medical, Heirs Insurance Brokers and Transcorp Hotels.
He also disclosed that she chairs Heirs Energies, which he described as Nigeria’s sixth-largest oil producer, with daily production of about 70,000 barrels.
The businessman recalled appointing Owen Omogiafo as President and Group Chief Executive Officer of Transcorp Group in 2020, describing her as the youngest chief executive on the Nigerian Exchange at the time and the first woman to lead the conglomerate.
He said Omogiafo’s appointment followed her performance at Transcorp Hotels, adding that the group had continued to promote qualified women into strategic leadership positions.
He identified Uzo Oshogwe, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Transcorp Hotels, and Somachi Chris-Asoluka, Chief Executive Officer of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, among other women leading businesses within the group.
Other female executives he mentioned included Agatha Obiekwugo of Afriland Properties, Catherine Nwosu of Africa Prudential, Dr Odiri Ogini of United Capital Asset Management, Adetola Fasuyi of United Capital Wealth Management and Esther Adeola Balogun of UCEE Microfinance Bank.
He also listed eight female leaders within the UBA Group, including regional and country chief executives across its African operations.
Elumelu said the appointments were based on competence and performance rather than attempts to generate publicity.
“I did not do it for a headline. I did it because they were the best people for the jobs,” he said.
He challenged business owners and corporate executives to examine their organisations and provide more opportunities for qualified women to occupy leadership positions.
“To the men in this room, and I know there are some: the women you promote will not thank you with loyalty alone. They will thank you with results,” he said.
Urges Governments to Strengthen Institutions
On the role of institutions in economic development, Elumelu said investors were primarily concerned about the predictability of government policies, enforcement of contracts, regulatory stability, an effective judicial system and reliable infrastructure.
He maintained that capital would flow into economies where investors were confident that their investments would be protected and business agreements respected.
“Capital goes where it is safe, and it stays where it is respected,” he said.
He urged African governments to focus on creating an enabling business environment rather than relying solely on international engagements to attract foreign investors.
According to him, credible institutions, accountable leadership and respect for contractual obligations would encourage investment and support long-term economic growth.
Elumelu also challenged private sector operators to uphold good corporate governance, pay their taxes, publish accurate accounts, promote employees on merit and ensure effective oversight of management.
He stressed that institution-building was not exclusively the responsibility of government, noting that businesses also had a duty to promote transparency, accountability and professionalism.
Concluding his address, Elumelu said Africa’s development must be driven primarily by Africans rather than donors, international financial institutions and external partners.
He urged women to take advantage of available opportunities, build businesses, seek leadership positions, deploy capital and mentor younger generations.
He also challenged WIMBIZ to expand its advocacy and economic empowerment efforts over the next 25 years, noting that access to capital would be critical to advancing women’s participation in business and leadership.
“Advocacy got women into the room. Capital will get them to the head of the table,” he said.
He disclosed that the Tony Elumelu Foundation had funded 13,360 female African entrepreneurs and expressed his commitment to supporting more women-led businesses.
Addressing young women at the conference, he urged them not to wait for opportunities to be handed to them but to take deliberate steps towards building successful careers and enterprises.
“In another twenty-five years, the women on this stage should be reading your name. That is what rooted, rising and ready means. Not a slogan. A call to action,” he said.
He concluded that Africa’s most valuable resource was not its oil, lithium, or land but its people, particularly its young population and women.
“Born in Africa. Built for the world. The world needs what Africa has. And what Africa has, more than oil, more than lithium, more than land, is you,” he said.
Felix Ifijeh is a journalist with years of professional reporting experience. Known for his keen news sense, compelling storytelling and commitment to accurate, impactful reporting, he has built a reputation for turning leads into clear, engaging, and well-structured reports that resonate with readers. His work reflects deep newsroom experience and a commitment to accurate, impactful journalism.
