Elumelu woos French businesses to look to Africa
African businessman and philanthropist, Mr Tony Elumelu, has encouraged French businesses to come and discover West Africa and the rest of Africa, find the right partners to help them navigate the business environment.
He cited the example of UBA - which has been operating profitably and successfully in Nigeria for 70 years - and its subsequent footprint into 18 countries in Africa over the last decade.
“The Nigerian economy plays an important role in West Africa and beyond. So when you invest in Nigeria, the benefits spill over to our neighbours in dozens of countries,” he stated.
Mr Elumelu said this when he visited Paris at the invitation of the French Senate, Business France and Banque publique d'investissement (BPI).
The trip presented several platforms on which he was able to continue to promote Africa as a continent ripe for investment.
Elumelu is the chairman of the United Bank for Africa(UBA), Heirs Holdings, an African proprietary investment company, and the founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation.
The first stop for him was BPIs event, ‘BIG’(BpiFrance inno generation), which witnessed a gathering of over 4,000 French entrepreneurs.
Changing the African narrative
There, Elumelu gave a keynote speech sharing his current focus, which is to change the African narrative and perception, especially to the international community.
“For too long, many people when they hear the word ‘Africa,’ they think about darkness and backwardness… I want people to think of Africa and think of possibilities.”
The chairman of UBA posits that in spite of the challenges faced by African economies and especially of the sharp drop in commodity prices, they still offered one of the highest returns on investment on the continent and beyond.
Mr Elumelu has become one of the biggest advocates for Africa today and is making a difference through his foundation’s US$100 million endowment in support of young African entrepreneurs with start-up businesses.
“My foundation created the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme to train, mentor and seed 10,000 African businesses over the next 10 years, to create 1 million new jobs and US$10 billion in additional revenue across Africa,” he stated.
In between events, Mr Elumelu met up with Rachida Dati - member of the European parliament and mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris - and also with Pierre Gattaz, the president of the MEDEF, to continue discussions which begun last year, on new ways to strengthen business ties between France and Africa.
The French ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Dennis Gauer, provided insight into the current business climate, whilst pointing out the opportunities that exist, including a stable banking system.
“Economists say that Africa is the last engine of the world growth and this engine will be driven by Nigeria” Mr Gauer said.