{"id":27418,"date":"2026-10-09T08:57:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T07:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.heirsholdings.com\/?p=27418"},"modified":"2026-10-09T08:57:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T07:57:49","slug":"president-bio-and-tony-elumelu-rally-west-african-private-sector-to-turn-regional-potential-into-investment-industry-and-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heirsholdings.com\/fr\/president-bio-and-tony-elumelu-rally-west-african-private-sector-to-turn-regional-potential-into-investment-industry-and-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"PRESIDENT BIO AND TONY ELUMELU RALLY WEST AFRICAN PRIVATE SECTOR TO TURN REGIONAL POTENTIAL INTO INVESTMENT, INDUSTRY AND JOBS"},"content":{"rendered":"

-\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ahead of the inaugural West Africa Integration and Investment Summit, Co-chairs Sierra Leone\u2019s President Bio and Elumelu, convene investors and financial institutions to accelerate capital mobilisation and regional integration<\/em><\/h3>\n

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LAGOS, NIGERIA | 7 OCTOBER 2026<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 The President of Sierra Leone and Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, His Excellency Julius Maada Bio, and leading African investor and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony O. Elumelu, CFR, have called on West Africa\u2019s private sector to move decisively from the promise of regional integration to its delivery \u2014 mobilising capital, building competitive industries, creating jobs and transforming the region\u2019s vast economic potential into shared prosperity.<\/p>\n

Hosting President Bio in Lagos ahead of the inaugural\u00a0West Africa Integration and Investment Summit (WAIIS)<\/strong>, Mr. Elumelu brought together leading private sector and financial institution leaders for the inaugural physical meeting of the\u00a0WAIIS Private Sector Advisory Board<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The meeting focused on four strategic areas with the potential to reshape West Africa\u2019s economic future:\u00a0energy trade and industrialisation; strategic minerals; agribusiness; and digital transformation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

President Bio set out an ambitious vision for WAIIS to consolidate a regional market of more than 400 million people and mobilise businesses from within West Africa and across the world to deepen trade, investment and economic cooperation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are partners in execution \u2014 let us transform ideas into partnerships, partnerships into investments, and investments into lasting prosperity for our continent,\u201d President Bio told members of the Advisory Board.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cBut potential is not prosperity. Our task is to convert these advantages into productive enterprises, competitive industries, regional value chains, jobs and wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Elumelu welcomed President Bio\u2019s initiative to place private capital and enterprise at the heart of the regional agenda, reaffirming his commitment to mobilising African and international investment alongside leading African financial institutions, including the\u00a0Africa Finance Corporation, Afreximbank<\/strong>, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Ecobank, etc. to support the execution of priority projects.<\/p>\n

The approach reflects Mr. Elumelu\u2019s philosophy of\u00a0Africapitalisme<\/strong>\u2014the belief that the African private sector has a defining role to play in catalysing the continent\u2019s economic transformation through long-term investment in critical sectors.<\/p>\n

Elumelu stressed that Africa\u2019s businesses must increasingly look beyond national borders and combine capital, expertise and capabilities to build enterprises and industries capable of competing at scale, while creating jobs and expanding opportunity across the sub-region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is consistent with our aspirations to create jobs for our young people,\u201d Mr. Elumelu said. \u201cWe have all it takes to be prosperous.\u201d<\/p>\n

But private sector ambition, Elumelu noted, must be matched by decisive government action. \u201dGovernments must provide the policy certainty, regulatory efficiency and security required to give investors the confidence to commit capital for the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lagos State Governor,\u00a0Babajide Sanwo-Olu<\/strong>, underscored the importance of industrialisation and the free movement of goods and services in building a truly integrated West African market. He stressed that political leaders must provide the enabling environment, certainty and assurances required for businesses to invest, produce and trade across borders.<\/p>\n

At the centre of the discussion was a shared conviction that West Africa has the scale, resources, talent and entrepreneurial capacity to become one of the world\u2019s most dynamic economic regions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the Summit now less than two months away, President Bio called on members of the Advisory Board to move from advocacy to active mobilisation: engaging prospective investors directly, matching them with viable projects, and identifying the financing gaps, policy decisions and other interventions required to move transactions forward.<\/p>\n

WAIIS will take place on 17\u201318 November 2026 at the Julius Maada Bio International Conference Centre in Lungi, Sierra Leone<\/strong>, bringing heads of state, investors and business leaders together to advance investment across energy, strategic minerals, agribusiness and digital transformation.<\/p>\n

The WAIIS Private Sector Advisory Board:<\/p>\n