“Understanding Elumelu’s Africapitalism” – Olusegun Adeniyi’s review of ‘Africans Investing in Africa’
By Olusegun Adeniyi
Ever since the Chairman of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), Mr Tony Elumelu, began to proclaim his Africapitalism phrase, I had developed a cynical disposition to what I saw as another meaningless jargon. While I share in the ideal that African businessmen with immense financial capital should help with long-term investments to create both economic prosperity and social wealth on the continent–and I consider it commendable that Elumelu would invest $100 million (N21 billion) in pursuit of that objective–I have always dismissed the whole campaign as hollow. That was until I read the book, “Africans Investing in Africa: Understanding Business and Trade, Sector by Sector” edited by Terence McNamee, Mark Pearson and Wiebe Boer.
The book highlights the difficulties connected to doing business in Africa as it relates to government policies and regional influences. Africa’s economic growth will bring about its development only when all and sundry are involved in the processes that will eventual give birth to the Africa everyone is craving to see. On that score, the writers make a compelling argument for an integrated economy that will address the critical issues affecting doing business on the continent as well as the impediments to harnessing the skills of the people and the potentials that abound.
By launching the $100 million Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) to provide mentoring, training, networking and funding for 1,000 African start-ups per annum for the next ten years, Elumelu is showing the way on what needs to be done to reposition our continent. As Dayo Ogunsola, the Lead Organiser for Africa Infrastructure Development Partnership (AFIDEP) that is holding a global convention in Zurich, Switzerland next month says, “when there are no economic opportunities at home, the risk of losing one’s life on the journey to Europe becomes worth it.”
Read the full review here.
