Africans should welcome all foreign investors and put colonial hang-ups behind them, Nigerian businessman and philanthropist Tony Elumelu has said.
Elumelu, who chairs banking and investment firms including Heirs Holdings, Transcorp, and United Bank for Africa, stated this on the sidelines of this week’s Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, co-hosted by France and Kenya.
“What we need in Africa in the 21st century… we need massive private global capital coming into Africa,” Elumelu, 63, told AFP.
“Anyone that can help us address this is welcome in Africa,” he said, from the United States and France, to Middle Eastern nations, as well as Russia or China.
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French President Emmanuel Macron recently chose Elumelu to join the Africa France Impact Coalition, aimed at promoting trade between French and African companies.
France’s colonial past means it remains a controversial partner in many parts of Africa.
Arrests were made this week in Nairobi after a small group of protesters tried to enter the summit, accusing France of “neo-colonialism”.
Elumelu rejects the criticism.
“We should stop this victim mentality. We should be cognisant of the history, our history, but more importantly, we should commit to the future.
“We should, to a large extent, let the past be. President Macron was not born 100 years ago; this is a new age. And I commit to his commitment to Africa, and I believe he’s sincere,” he stated.
Elumelu’s investment firms are involved in everything from hospitality and real estate to energy, agribusiness, and financial services.
The urgent need now is better infrastructure, he said.
“What our young entrepreneurs need in Africa is improvement in access to electricity, creation of mass transportation system, security, and ease of doing business,” he said.
“These are the things that are important.”
Africa has become a place of economic competition between multiple powers, including the United States, China, Europe, Russia, Turkey and Gulf monarchies.
“It is a good place to be at, as Africans, at this point in time,” he said.
With the median age of Africans being under 20, Elumelu said the ultimate goal of development must be rapid job creation.
“They need jobs, they need improved access to electricity, they need to join the internet… the AI bandwagon.
“What is important is providing this enablement, this infrastructure requirement, so that our young ones can take off,” he said.
Elumelu is one of Africa’s wealthiest people and founded The Tony Elumelu Foundation, which helps young African entrepreneurs.
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