Elumelu urges Africa to unlock potential via power, trade

The Chairman of Heirs Holdings and Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Tony Elumelu, has called on African governments and businesses to unlock the continent’s vast economic potential by investing in electricity, industrialisation, African capital, and regional trade rather than depending on foreign aid.

Speaking at the 25th WIMBIZ Annual Conference in Lagos on Friday, November 6, 2026, Elumelu said Africa possesses the resources, youthful population and entrepreneurial talent needed to become the world’s next major growth hub.

Delivering a keynote address titled “The Geography of Opportunity: Why the World Needs What Africa Has,” Elumelu declared that the continent represents “the single greatest commercial opportunity of this century.”

“The world needs what Africa has,” Elumelu said.

He noted that by 2050 Africa’s working-age population would expand by hundreds of millions while the continent also possesses abundant mineral resources, agricultural land, renewable energy potential and the world’s youngest population.

However, he warned that these advantages would only translate into prosperity if Africa addressed critical structural challenges.

According to him, reliable electricity remains the foundation for industrialisation and technological advancement.

“We cannot talk about industrialisation without fixing electricity. Factories cannot run without it. Hospitals and schools cannot function without it, and the AI economy everyone is talking about has two basic ingredients: power and connectivity,” he said.

Elumelu also urged African countries to move away from exporting raw materials and instead focus on processing and manufacturing value-added products.

“If the power is reliable and the environment is right, why ship raw lithium, raw cocoa and raw crude out of this continent? Refine it. Process it. Brand it. Then sell it to the world,” Elumelu said.

He further stated that Africa’s future should be driven by investment and trade rather than aid, noting that declining global aid budgets make it imperative for Africans to mobilise their own capital.

“The future is investment and trade, not aid,” Elumelu said, adding that Africa must strengthen domestic savings, financial institutions and long-term investment.

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The billionaire businessman also advocated greater intra-African trade, describing the African Continental Free Trade Area as a major opportunity that must be backed with roads, rail infrastructure, ports, payment systems and predictable regulations.

“It is easier today to ship goods from Lagos to Liverpool than from Lagos to Luanda,” he said.

Elumelu cited the expansion of United Bank for Africa into 20 African countries as proof that African businesses can successfully operate across borders.

“The question is not whether Africa will be the growth story of this century. It is who will own it. And it will be Africans—and African women,” Elumelu said.

He also highlighted investments such as Heirs Holdings’ stake in Seplat and the Dangote Refinery IPO as examples of African capital driving African development, urging governments to create stable institutions capable of attracting long-term investment.