Businesses not creating value on African continent – Elumelu

The Chairman of United Bank of Africa (UBA), Tony Elumelu, has said that businesses have not created value on the African continent but traded commodities for short-term profit, not long-term investment.

In a statement titled, ‘Why Youth Entrepreneurs Are Key To Tackling Climate Change in Africa’, Elumelu stated that sustaining young entrepreneurs is a crucial pathway to achieving long-term climate solutions.

He said: “I am also a philanthropist and entrepreneur –and I have seen firsthand that to effectively tackle climate change within the African context, from Egypt to Nigeria to South Africa, we must look to the people it impacts.

“Too often our businesses have not created value on our continent or traded commodities for short-term profit, not long-term investment. Fostering entrepreneurship, sustaining young entrepreneurs, who will grow businesses and create sustainable employment, is a crucial pathway to achieving long-term climate solutions.

“In 2010, my wife and I had an idea. Concerned with escalating poverty, we founded the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) and committed $100 million to identify, mentor, and fund young African entrepreneurs – young people with brilliant ideas and the drive to tackle the continent’s most pressing challenges. They lacked capital, connections, and mentors. They lacked luck. We wanted to change that.

“It was a bold bet aimed at empowering Africa’s most vulnerable and populous demographic, encouraging them to create their own wealth, rather than relying on aid. And the bet paid off.

“Since its inception, the foundation has empowered 20,000 entrepreneurs across 54 African countries, who have created 400,000 direct and indirect jobs and generated over $2.3 billion in revenue.

We have provided access to business training to more than 1.5 million young people.

“Given the scale of the task, we partner with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the European Union (EU), and other partners to deepen our reach and impact. We provide funding, mentorship, business training, and advocacy support to entrepreneurs – specifically, in fragile regions, conflict zones, and underserved communities.”