Elumelu: Properly Run Capital Market Can Democratise Wealth, Sustain Growth

Ugo Aliogo

The Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Tony Elumelu, has stated that a properly run capital market can democratise wealth and sustain growth, noting that wealth creation should follow the concept of Africapitalism.

He said his companies have invested long-term in strategic sectors of the Nigerian economy to create wealth, while promoting social good.

Elumelu, who disclosed this at a virtual meeting of the 2022 Annual Conference of The Jamaican Stock Exchange (JSE), 17th Regional Investment and Capital Markets, said Africans must find ways to collaborate and strengthen opportunities for its people.

He added that the digital age presents a unique opportunity to improve collaboration through focused strategies.
He also stated that Africapitalism positions the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the African continent, “business needs to do well and to do good.”

Elumelu remarked that in every small organization there is the tendency to overlook things such as corporate governance as a fanciful thing reserved for large corporates but that is not true.

He also revealed that often times the foundations built at the early stages of a business determine the trajectory of that company adding, “This is a message to all entrepreneurs, ensure you get your corporate governance right; it is most important to address these issues when you are small as opposed to when you are a larger organization.”
The United Bank for African, Chairman, stated that his companies have not just created wealth but also social good, “Africapitalism is all about doing good and doing well.”

He disclosed that a key tenet of Africapitalism is the importance of the public sector in supporting the private sector’s efforts through the creation of the enabling environment that will support entrepreneurs and their businesses.

He stated that there is need to ensure that the cultural linkages that connect Africa and the diaspora are strengthened not weakened.

Elumelu added that there is so much to learn from one another, experiences and knowledge must be harnessed for the upliftment of Africa, the Caribbean, and the diaspora everywhere.

According to him, “We must foster collaboration among the African diaspora, no one will develop our communities but us. I want to see close linkages between entrepreneurs in Africa and the Caribbean. I offer myself as one of the private sector leaders of AfricaCaribbean in this pursuit. Brothers and sisters, let us join hands to create sustainable wealth and prosperity for all.

“Today through partnerships with global development organisations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the European Union, the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), and the African Development Bank, we have been able to increase the number of young entrepreneurs we support across the continent.

“In November, for our 2021 cohort, we were proud to announce that 5,000 young African entrepreneurs were selected as beneficiaries to receive the non-refundable seed capital, mentorship, and business training of the Foundation.

We were equally pleased to see that 70 per cent of those selected in 2021 were women driving gender inclusivity.

“Our partners have seen the components of our holistic programme and decided to work with us towards a shared vision of a more prosperous Africa. An Africa that is able to better utilise its resources for the benefit of the continent.

“Our most important resource is our people so we must constantly encourage and support them. And this is true for Jamaica and the Caribbean. This way, we reduce the vices associated with unemployment and large youth populations, such as terrorism, illegal migration, violence, and all forms of extremism.

“In due time we took the distressed bank and merged with a historically significant Nigeria bank to become todays UBA, a truly pan-African institution. This was something that had never been done, to turn around a financial institution in distress and then merge with a systemically important bank. If we were not bold and audacious back then, I daresay, the Nigerian banking sector would look very different today.”