Good to speak at CNN’s Global Perspectives on Africa in London with my good friend Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild and moderator Eleni Giokos. Great that CNN chose Africa for their first Global Perspectives – there is no greater global priority.
It was good to see my friends Richard Quest, Ozwald Boateng, Masai Ujiri, Zain Asher, and Phil Nielson, etc. Africa’s voices need to be heard. African success needs to be championed. African challenges faced. Our young, the largest cohort in the world. Primed for success, talented and ambitious. A global force for good. But we need to channel that ambition.
Africapitalism and Inclusive Capitalism call for deliberate value creation, local production, and sustainable development that drives shared prosperity. Africa must move from extraction to creation, from consumption to production, from dependence to dignity. I share a deep conviction that profit and purpose are not rivals; they are partners for Africa’s renaissance.
At The Tony Elumelu Foundation, we have catalysed over 24,000 young African entrepreneurs across all 54 countries, because we believe the private sector’s greatest investment is in its people. Africa must align with partnerships that truly serve our continent’s long-term interests: job creation, youth empowerment, and inclusive growth.
We need partnerships that build local capacity, process our own resources at home, and create opportunities for all. As I looked around the room at the young people to whom the future belongs to, including my dear daughter Oge Elumelu, I feel the urgency of our mission: to catalyse economic prosperity for all on the continent.
