Businessman and philanthropist Tony Elumelu has joined United States Vice President Kamala Harris at the inaugural meeting of the steering committee of the United States Government’s initiative known as Gender Inclusion in the Digital Economy.
The summit took place on April 1 in Lusaka, Zambia.
Elumelu participated in the summit on Harris’s invitation.
His attendance represents a further recognition of his advocacy of the transformation of Africa, through a dynamic private- public sector approach, made most recently at the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit, held in Washington DC and hosted by President Joe Biden in December 2022.
Elumelu welcomed the increased engagement of the US administration with Africa, a partnership that he has stressed should be based on equity and mutual respect. As one of Africa’s leading entrepreneurs, Elumelu said he sees many common values between the entrepreneurially-driven US economy and the opportunities in Africa, not least in creating the enabling environment to support Africa’s highly entrepreneurial youth.
The group chairman of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Heirs Holdings is an ardent advocate of Africapitalism, his belief that Africa’s economic renaissance will be catalysed by the collaboration between public and private sectors, and that the private sector must create social good, as well as economic wealth.
