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Monday, December 09, 2019 / 13:57PM / By Tony Elumelu /
Header Image Credit: TEF
Being a keynote address by Tony O. Elumelu, CON, entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist
at the ACP Business Summit 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya, Sunday, December 08, 2019.
Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen
I would like to thank the ACP for organising
this event and my big brother, President Kenyatta for the warmth and
hospitality his government has shown by hosting such an important forum
Let me begin by saying it an honour to be able
to speak here before you
The ACP is an institution that I have profound
respect for - and that has an important - indeed critical - mission
Let me be frank and candid. We all share
common concerns, but also common opportunities: In our world of sometimes
brutal geopolitics, we need to have our voices heard - our issues on the table
and our agenda addressed. Our countries face the greatest challenges from
climate change, from unfair trade practices, from the tragedies of emigration
Therefore, I salute the ACP for giving us a
voice and recognitions globally - for making sure our agenda is heard and
actioned
I am here today as the Chairman of United Bank
for Africa, Africa's global bank with a presence in 20 African Countries - including Kenya - as well as operations in three major financial centres of the
world: Paris, London and New York
UBA is a force for development in Africa,
through infrastructure investment and leading the way in cross border payments
and services, with the objective of encouraging trade across the continent.
Through our offices in New York, London and
Paris, we work with large development finance institutions, multilateral
organisations and corporates by facilitating capital flows into Africa and
providing international trade services.
Now, we have been asked to discuss industrialisation.
I trained as an economist - I travel
frequently. Time and time again, I see the product of our failure to pursue
policies that ensure value creation occurs in our countries, - that we benefit
from our extraordinary resources, - that these unique opportunities create
wealth and infrastructure domestically.
But equally I see successes - here in Kenya,
sensible, long term government thinking has created a thriving industrial and
broader business sector, that exports across the region and globally - Kenya’s
agriculture products are renowned - her prowess in fin-tech is known worldwide.
We need to replicate this in ACP states.
Let me focus on a theme, which drives me - in
everything I do - which is central to how our economies grow sustainably and
equitably: Our countries have growing youth populations.
Our young people, increasingly educated,
increasingly confident, globally-connected through their smartphones are hungry
for economic improvement, need opportunities and solutions
I think we are all aware of this - and all of
us need to drive change to meet this challenge and indeed capture and channel
what is an extraordinary opportunity.
I am a businessman. Through tenacity,
foresight, strategy - but also at times luck, I have built successful
businesses, that now span Africa. In banking, in power, in resources, in health
and hospitality.
But to me, economic success is not a
reward, unless our societies are just, sustainable.
10 years ago, I created a Foundation and ceded
it $100m, with one aim - to catalyse entrepreneurship in Africa.
It implements my economic philosophy of
Africapitalism - the belief that entrepreneurship is the answer, that
investment needs to be for the long term - that business needs to create social
as well as economic wealth.
I fundamentally believe that by unleashing
entrepreneurial enterprise, by getting public and private sectors to work
harmoniously together, we not only address our problems, we can unleash
extraordinary opportunity.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation is Africa's leading philanthropy
committed to empowering entrepreneurs - from across the 54 countries on the
continent and through our flagship programme - the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship
Programme - has already empowered 7,500 young entrepreneurs across the
continent - with training - with capital - with mentorship.
This year we are expecting over 400,000
applications - yes 400,000 - to our programme. We created TEF Connect - a
digital hub - where over 750,000 entrepreneurs trade and connect, learn and
engage.
If you have not been to the ACP village,
please take time out to check out the TEF Connect stand and learn more about
how you as an individual can contribute to our socio-economic development
through mentoring young and eager entrepreneurs.
We get young people from across the African
continent to reach out to one another and develop partnerships.
We are breaking down
the barriers our young people
face in order for them to create innovative solutions to address the problems
we face.
Organisations such as the UNDP, African
Development Bank, the ICRC and GIZ have helped increase the
number of young entrepreneurs we can support, and we thank them for that!
Here in Kenya, Mr. President, we had our third
largest number of beneficiaries in Africa, with 113 entrepreneurs selected for
the 2019 cohort of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme.
To date, we have 497 in Kenya, 596 in Uganda,
187 in Tanzania and 194 in Rwanda. This brings the total number of TEF
Entrepreneurs in East Africa so far to 1,474, so far.
Most of our entrepreneurs are already
leveraging technology in their businesses in one way or the other and we must
applaud them.
In Kenya, TEF Entrepreneurs such as:
1.
Dickson Ayuka whose company leverages data analytics and soil analysis to optimise crop
yields, helps thousands of farmers to be more efficient in their practices
contributing to food security in his country.
2.
Maureen Amakabane whose company, 'Usafi Sanitation', was founded with the vision of
bridging the sanitation gap in schools by providing waterless toilets. The
company partners with youth and women from local communities, training them to
be subcontractors and service providers.
3.
Dr Peter Gichuhi Mwethera, a 2015 TEF
Entrepreneur is doing great things in the field of Medicine. He has developed a
contraceptive gel, Uniprin, which aims to prevent the HIV infection. The
drug is entering a critical final trial phase and if the human trials are
successful, Kenya could be the first country in the world to put an effective
anti-HIV drug in the market. He is a 2015 beneficiary of the Tony Elumelu
Foundation Entrepreneurship programme. We are proud of what our seed capital,
mentoring, 12-week business education and entrepreneurship training can do for
our people. He has gone further to win the 2019 Kenya National Innovation
Agency/Newton Fund Award and has been showcased by the Royal Academy of
Engineering in London.
4. "Desserts Anyone" was started by
founder Edwin Ngarari. He started his business with the seed capital he
received from the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme. Today his business is
flourishing serving b2b and b2c clients.
An industrial revolution is occurring in our
countries, but we must help our young to accelerate this.
Talent is not hard to find in Africa
I am sure this is true in all ACP countries - nor is dedication, nor ideas, nor discipline - the components of
entrepreneurial success. These brilliant ideas cannot exist in a vacuum and it
is up to the governments across the developing world to help the growth of
SMEs.
The enabling environment is the backbone of
success with industrialisation and wealth creation for our countries. Without
creating the enabling environment, the dream of industrialisation will be a
fleeting illusion.
Policies that support rather than hinder them
must be implemented; we must streamline our bureaucracies, provide
infrastructure and stable access to power
Power is critical, in Nigeria, where I come
from, about $10 billion yearly is spent by people and businesses who provide
power for themselves
Now imagine if that money was spent on more
productive activities
We cannot hope to industrialise if we do not
fix the issue of power, if our entrepreneurs spend so much money to power their
businesses, how then are they expected to make the investments necessary to
upgrade and industrialise
We must look at ourselves and be honest. - If
we do not tackle these issues, we will be unable to achieve industrialisation,
wealth creation and poverty reduction
We cannot allow our youth dividend to be
wasted!
Neither can we exclude our women from our
development agenda.
To this effect, I would like to commend the
European Investment Bank, represented by Mr. Fayolle, for its initiative SHE
INVEST, focusing on mobilizing 1 billion Euros for women across Africa, through
innovative digital solutions, financial products, climate responsiveness as
well as capacity building. We at the Tony Elumelu Foundation strive to reach
the same goals of uplifting women out of poverty and empowering them with
knowledge and resources. This is an invitation to join forces as we have done
with the UNDP to lift 100,000 young African boys and girls out of poverty and
thereby stemming migration challenges.
We must develop our industry, improve our
knowledge base, the technical capacity of our people must be upscaled. Power
and infrastructure are crucial to our success if we are to compete in an
increasingly interconnected world with rapidly advancing technology
We need the private sector, Governments and
Policy Makers, Development Partners, all working together through positive
engagement to create the right environment and give hope to our young ones so
that their latent talent can be realised for the development of our countries and
for peace in the world.
Thank you
Related to The Tony Elumelu Foundation
1. Tony
Elumelu, Dangote, Otudeko, Ali to Receive Nigeria's National Productivity Order
of Merit Award - Nov 26, 2019
2. Tony Elumelu
Foundation Announces Opening Of Application For TEEP 2020
3. TEF 2019:
Osinbajo Confident That Young Entrepreneurs Will Transform Africa
4. The Tony Elumelu
Foundation to Announce Selected Entrepreneurs for 2019 Programme on March 22,
2019
5.
The Tony Elumelu
Foundation Opens Applications for 5th Cycle of $100m Entrepreneurship Programme
6.
4th Annual Tony
Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Forum Announced For Oct 25, 2018
7.
Tony Elumelu
Foundation Selects 1,000 Entrepreneurs for 2018 Programme
8.
Tony Elumelu
Foundation (TEF) Wraps Up 2017 TEF Entrepreneurship Forum
9.
Tony Elumelu
Foundation to Host Largest Gathering of African Entrepreneurs in the World
10. Sultan of Sokoto
commends the Tony Elumelu Foundation
11.
Tony Elumelu
Foundation 2017 Entrepreneurship Programme Selection Announced
12. Entrepreneurship
is the Key to Unlocking Economic Development on Our Continent - Tony Elumelu - Oct 29,
2018
13. #TEFforum2018:
AkuffoAddo, Kenyatta Laud Tony Elumelu for Investing in Young African Entrepreneurs - Oct 26,
2018
14. Tony
Elumelu Pledges N500 Million Exclusively To Delta State Focused
Entrepreneurship Programme - Jul 16, 2018
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