June 05, (THEWILL) – The multi-billionaire businessman and Chairman, United Bank for Africa Plc, Mr Tony Elumelu, has emphasised the need for a vibrant private sector to develop Africa into a robust economy.
He said this could be achieved through Africapitalism, an economic philosophy developed by him and predicated on the belief that Africa’s private sector can and must play a leading role in the continent’s development.
Elumelu made this assertion while featuring on BBC’s Business Daily interview captioned “Rethinking the Role of Business in Africa.”
He noted that Africapitalism is a call-to-action for businesses to make decisions that will increase economic and social wealth, and promote development in the communities and nations in which they operate.
Such a decision, he said, will ultimately help businesses become more profitable as the communities they serve become well-off consumers, healthy and better-educated employees, and even entrepreneurs who go on to become suppliers and service providers
Elumelu, who is also the Chairman of Heirs Holdings Plc, stressed that “Africapitalism means we cannot leave the business of development up to our governments, donor countries, and philanthropic organizations alone. The private sector must be involved in the business of development.”
“As a person and as an African, I believe that there is so much we can do to uplift humanity, I believe that Africa is not well understood and every day I want to see my living as an opportunity to showcase what Africa is made of and to tell the world that in Africa, we have entrepreneurs, we have economists, we have philanthropist, we have business people, we have people work a living in a very straight way,” he said.
“So across Africa, I got to see and appreciate the commitment of all of us towards the development of Africa. The success of the private sector is not out of line with what the government and public sector wants to achieve and what you see is that there is a need for intersection, businesses are doing good and that forms people’s basis and inspiration for Africapitalism.
Asked to elaborate on his concept of Africanism and the impact expected on the continent, Elumelu said:
“Africapitalism is about the private sector accord and the private sector stepping forward, investing because that is what we know how to do in the private sector, investing in critical sectors of the African economy that will help us ultimately to drive economic prosperity and human improvement.
“For instance investment in power, when you invest in power in Africa, it is not just about profitability but it is about creating prosperity and uplifting Africa because without access to electricity we don’t develop as a continent.
“The people we support at the Tony Elumelu Foundation, the young entrepreneur, I say to them, tell me how your business can help create prosperity for you and prosperity for society, it is one of the eligibility criteria that we use in choosing who benefit from the programme because we just want to build, to inculcate it into the subconscious of upcoming Africa entrepreneurs and private leaders to know, it is not just about you succeeding in business, it is about you succeeding in business uplifts everyone, you, your business, your communities are involving and everyone because that is how we can help develop Africa.”
Africapitalism is a principle that operates on eight anchors: Entrepreneurship, Long-term Investments, Strategic Sectors, Development Dividend, Value-added growth, Regional Connectivity, Multi-Generational Development and Shared Purpose.
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
