Founder and Chairman of Heirs Holdings and Transcorp Plc, Tony Elumelu, has said the private sector accounts for more than 70 per cent of Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and over 80 per cent of total employment across the continent.
Speaking on Wednesday in Abuja at the second edition of the Abuja Business and Investment Expo, Elumelu urged private sector players to take the lead in driving Africa’s economic transformation through sustained, long-term investments in key sectors.
This, the keynote speaker said, would help unlock and catalyze prosperity and opportunities for all.
Convened by the Abuja Investment Company Limited (AICL), the summit, which held at the President Bola Tinubu International Conference Centre, drew more than 1,000 high-level participants from 40 countries, including global investors, policymakers, diplomats, financiers, industry leaders, and innovators.
Speaking on the theme, ‘Empowering sustainable growth: Unlocking potential in emerging martkets’, Elumelu, who also chairs the UBA Group and the Tony Elumelu Foundation, underscored the need for creating an enabling environment that fosters entrepreneurship, innovation, and access to capital.
The keynote speaker urged African governments to focus on developing infrastructure, ensuring policy stability, and strengthening public-private partnerships to promote sustainable growth, while commending the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, for the ongoing infrastructural advancements in the nation’s capital.
According to him, “Africa’s future lies in the hands of its entrepreneurs. When we empower our young people, support small and medium-sized enterprises, and provide access to electricity, education, and digital tools, we unlock the true potential of our continent.”
Elumelu also highlighted the role of the private sector in addressing challenges such as unemployment, poverty, and inequality, stressing that inclusive growth can only be achieved when both the public and private sectors work collaboratively.
The keynote speaker said no nation has achieved sustainable prosperity without a strong and dynamic private sector.
He said: “Private sector in Africa today contributes over 70per cent of our continent GDP and over 80per cent of our total employment. But this is not just about numbers, it’s about influence and initiative.
“The private sector drives productivity, connects markets, mobilizes investment and builds resilience from FinTech startups in Lagos to renewable energy firms in Nairobi, from agribusinesses and entrepreneurs in Kigali to manufacturing innovators in Johannesburg, the private sector is indeed re-imagining what is possible on our continent.
“This belief drives everything that we do. This is what I call Africanism, the philosophy that the private sector has a role to play and must lead our continent’s economic transformation by investing long term in critical sectors that helped unlock and catalyze prosperity and opportunities for all.
True leadership is not just about generating profits, true leadership is also about generating progress.
“Africa’s private sector must lead investing in skills, skill development, to empower Africa’s youth, championing sustainability and green growth as we industrialize, building increasing value chains that bring small enterprises and rural communities into the growth story and driving digital transformation to unlock productivity and competitiveness. This is what it means to lead at the forefront of transformation, not just to participate in growth, but to shape it. Doing well and doing good are not mutually exclusive”.
In her welcome remarks, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Abuja Investments Company Limited, Amb. Maureen Tamuno noted that the summit serves as a strategic platform to showcase investment opportunities within the Federal Capital Territory, while fostering collaboration between local and international investors.
Tamuno highlighted AICL’s commitment to driving economic diversification and promoting Abuja as a preferred destination for business and innovation. She emphasized that partnerships between the public and private sectors are essential to achieving sustainable growth, job creation, and infrastructure development.
She also expressed profound gratitude the FCT Minister for his unwavering commitment to building a smart, investment-friendly capital city.
In his remarks, the FCT Minister who was represented by the Minister of State for FCT, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, expressed the determination of the Bola Tinubu administration to build a safe city open for investment and also empowering citizens.
He noted that the FCT Administration is taking deliberate steps to create an enabling environment for investors through improved infrastructure, ease of doing business reforms, and transparent governance.
According to him, the government’s priority is to strengthen the city’s economic foundation by promoting private sector participation in housing, transportation, tourism, and technology-driven initiatives that would enhance Abuja’s global competitiveness.
Wike reaffirmed that the administration remains committed to implementing the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu by ensuring inclusive growth and sustainable development. She added that public-private collaboration would remain the cornerstone of the FCT’s long-term vision to become a model of modern urban development in Africa.
The four-day event which ends on Friday will feature plenary sessions, investment pitches, breakout sessions as well as networking.
