The Tony Elumelu Foundation’s Africapitalism Institute and Durham
University Business School, one of the oldest universities in the United
Kingdom, co-hosted a day-long academic symposium on the economic
philosophy called “Africapitalism” at the Foundation’s headquarters in
Lagos.
Africapitalism – the belief that the private sector must play a leading
role in Africa’s development – is the economic philosophy first developed
by Tony O. Elumelu, CON, back in 2010, and has been heavily influenced by
his long career as a banker, investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist.
The primary goals of Mr. Elumelu’s Africapitalism mission are to promote
public policies that facilitate private sector growth, to educate
established businesses about how Africapitalist business practices can
enhance both profits and prosperity, and to address the specific needs of
Africa’s emerging entrepreneurs as the best source of new and inclusive
local value creation.
“The purpose of today’s discussion is to explore the key issues
influencing Africapitalism as an economic philosophy from the perspective
and scrutiny of academia,” said David Rice, Director of the Africapitalism
Institute at the Tony Elumelu Foundation. “Years ago, Mr. Elumelu
developed this philosophy from the perspective of a practitioner and his
role as a banker, businessman, investor, and entrepreneur. Now his
Foundation is supporting the rigorous, independent analysis of
Africapitalism’s merits.”
Several distinguished faculty members from Durham University made
presentations to a diverse audience that included scholars, students,
business people and investors. Participating faculty members included
Professor Geoff Moore, Chair of Business Ethics and Deputy Dean; Professor
Mehmet Asutay, an expert in Islamic Finance; senior lecturer Dr. Emmanuel
Adegbite, who spoke about Africapitalism and corporate governance; and
Mark Learnmonth, Professor of Organizational Studies. The day’s agenda
was driven by Dr. Adegbite, who is a member of the Africapitalism Research
Project team led by Professor Kenneth Amaeshi, who has appointments at
Edinburgh University in Scotland and at Lagos Business School.
“Africapitalism is in the early stages of development with respect to
academia,” said Dr. Emmanuel Adegbite of Durham University. “But we see
the transformative potential of this initiative and by applying our
rigorous standards of analysis, our intent is strengthen the concept by
putting it through its paces, just as we’ve done here today.”
The symposium is just the latest formal critique of Africapitalism from
global academia. In June 2015, the first article on Africapitalism was
published in a refereed, peer-reviewed academic journal, and in August the
Academy of International Business will further explore Africapitalism’s
merits during their annual conference for scholars in South Africa.