In an impassioned key note speech, delivered before global leaders, at
\nthe 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in
\nYokohama, Japan, African investor and philanthropist Tony O. Elumelu
\nCON, challenged the Government of Japan to invest 5% of its $50billion
\ncommitment to Africa, in empowering African entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
“At TICAD 2016 in Kenya, Japan pledged $30billion for Africa. This year
\nyou have generously increased this to $50 billion. If we invested just
\n5% in Africa’s new generation of entrepreneurs, following my
\nFoundation’s robust, proven model of getting capital directly to those
\nbest placed to catalyse growth and create real impact, we could touch
\n500,000 lives, across the 54 African countries, broadening markets,
\nfacilitating job creation, improving income per capita, and laying the
\nkey foundation for political and economic stability”, said Mr Elumelu.<\/p>\n
Mr. Elumelu’s statement captured his vision of a relationship between
\nJapan and Africa, which prioritizes economic and shared prosperity. He
\noutlined the three key pillars of a bold and transformative structure:
\ninvestment in infrastructure, partnership with the African private
\nsector, and investment in Africa’s youth.<\/p>\n
He urged Japan to learn from the example of the Tony Elumelu Foundation,
\nwhich champions empowering African entrepreneurs, as the most
\nsustainable means of accelerating the development of Africa. The Tony
\nElumelu Foundation, in just five years has assisted over 7,500 African
\nentrepreneurs across every African countries, with seed capital,
\ncapacity building, mentorship and networking opportunities through its
\n$100 million Entrepreneurship Programme.<\/p>\n
Elumelu’s advice carried the weight of his track record of business
\nsuccess, founding Africa’s global bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA),
\nwhich has grown its presence to 20 African countries, as well as in the
\nUnited Kingdom, France, and the USA; and Heirs Holdings, Africa’s
\nprivate investment company which actively invests in key sectors of
\nAfrica’s economy and controls millions of dollars in its investment
\nportfolio. Together, they employ over 30,000 people and transform the
\ncommunities they operate in.<\/p>\n
“Africa is one of the world’s viable destinations for investment. Our
\nhuge population, of nearly 1.3 billion people, creates one of the most
\nattractive markets anywhere in the world. The world is paying close
\nattention to Africa, but is Japan at the centre of this conversation or
\nis it on the sidelines?” he queried.<\/p>\n
Mr. Elumelu’s philosophy has become increasingly popular on the African
\ncontinent, where he is acknowledged as the pioneer of a
\nprivate-sector-led approach to accelerating development. He repeated the
\nmessage at the Generation Unlimited breakfast meeting with H.E. Paul
\nKagame, President of Rwanda and UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta
\nFore, with its focus on job creation in Africa, where he emphasised the
\nrole the African youth plays in this narrative.<\/p>\n
President of South Africa and Co-Chair, TICAD, H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa
\ncorroborated Mr. Elumelu’s stance. He said: “If you want really good
\nreturns, as Mr. Tony Elumelu said, come to Africa. Africa presents
\nrisk-adjusted returns and is a market in which investments are flowing
\nat a hundred billion dollars – that is the new profile of Africa that is
\nbeing presented to the world.”<\/p>\n
Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator praised Tony Elumelu’s Private-Sector
\nled approach to development in Africa. He said: “I want to refer to my
\ndear friend and colleague Tony Elumelu because he alluded to the vital
\nrole that business can also play in investing in the future of the
\nyouth. These are the kinds of partnership that will drive business and
\ndevelopment agenda to very different heights in the future”.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the potential of the African continent, Prime Minister
\nShinz\u014d Abe of Japan said: “In Africa, some countries have joined top
\nnations in the ranking on ease of doing business. The scale of the
\nmarket continues to expand. We can envision a day when the entire
\ncontinent of Africa becomes an enormous economic zone.”<\/p>\n
Organised by the Japanese Government, TICAD is a three-yearly forum for
\nadvancing Africa’s development through people, technology, and
\ninnovation, bringing together government, business leaders, companies
\nand other stakeholders. The event hosted Presidents and private sector
\nleaders including Prime Minister Shinz\u014d Abe of Japan; H.E. Mr. Muhammadu
\nBuhari, President of Nigeria; H.E. Mr. Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, President
\nof Egypt and Chair of the African Union (AU); H.E. Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa,
\nPresident of South Africa; and H.E. Mr. Paul Kigame, President of
\nRwanda.<\/p>\n
In an impassioned key note speech, delivered before global leaders, at the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama, Japan, African investor and philanthropist Tony O. Elumelu…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n