Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc., and Founder, Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Tony Elumelu, has stressed the need for global organisations and multinational institutions to support the much-needed growth in the African continent; adding that ultimately, such growth will affect the world positively.
Mr Elumelu, who pointed this out on the sidelines of the 2018 World Economic Forum currently ongoing in Davos, Switzerland, said organisations must come together to provide solutions to key challenges negatively impacting African economies, especially with regards to power supply and infrastructural challenges which are the major issues that the economies have had to grapple with.
Speaking specifically about the challenge of power supply on the continent, he said, “Under the Obama administration the Power Plan programme was initiated, which helped in a number of ways. However, now, we have a number of investors, like the Transcorp Power Plc., that is working hard to improve power in the continent in the 21st century. The truth is we have a new crop of investors who know and realise that it is important to have access to power to grow the continent, and our governments have keyed into this.
“To this end, we would also continue to need support from World Bank, AfDB, and other organisations to support with the huge capital that is needed to boost that sector. We could also do with the support of America because if we improve access to electricity in Africa, it would help the world in a variety of ways.”
While noting that the private sector needs to get more involved, he cited the example of the achievements of the TEF over the past few years, which he said has begun to bear fruits, adding “We are beginning to see signs of the great things that these people are doing and they are making us proud. We have helped them realise their dreams and they are doing well.”
He seized the opportunity to commend organisations that have keyed into the TEF’s vision of empowering 10,000 African youths such as the International Red Cross Society, which according to him, has helped to create more opportunities for more Africans to benefit from the TEF’s entrepreneurship programmes.
