Africa needs investment, not aid — Elumelu

Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Tony Elumelu, has said Africa needs investment and trade, not aid, to drive its development and unlock the continent’s economic potential.

He explained that Africa’s biggest challenge is not a shortage of entrepreneurial talent but inadequate capital to support businesses and unlock the continent’s economic potential.

Elumelu stated this on Friday while speaking at the second day of the 25th annual conference of Women in Management, Business and Public Service, held at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

He said the foundation received 265,529 applications from young Africans with business ideas in 2026 but could only fund 3,200, leaving more than 262,000 applicants without support.

“This, therefore, is not a shortage of entrepreneurial talent in Africa. It is a shortage of capital,” he said.

Elumelu, who spoke on the theme, “The Geography of Opportunity: Why the World Needs What Africa Has,” said the continent needed to mobilise more local investment to support entrepreneurs and drive development.

He said, “The future is investment and trade, not aid,” adding that African countries must build the capacity to finance their own development rather than depend heavily on external assistance.

According to him, Africa’s pension funds, banks, insurance companies and family offices should play a greater role in financing businesses instead of concentrating investments in government securities or keeping funds abroad.

“The most important thing Africa needs to build in the next decade is African capital that invests in Africa,” he said.

The businessman also identified electricity, value creation and access to capital as major barriers to the continent’s economic growth, adding intra-African trade as a fourth challenge.

On electricity, he said industrialisation and the development of artificial intelligence would remain difficult without reliable power and connectivity.

“We cannot talk about industrialisation without fixing electricity. Factories cannot run without it. Hospitals and schools cannot function without it,” he said.

He also urged African countries to move beyond exporting raw materials and focus on processing and adding value to their resources locally.

“If the power is reliable, if the environment is right and enabling, why ship raw lithium, raw cocoa, raw crude out of this continent, refine it, process it, brand it, then sell it to the world?” he asked.

On trade, Elumelu said less than a fifth of Africa’s trade was conducted among African countries, despite the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

“It is easier today to ship goods from Lagos to Liverpool than from Lagos to Luanda. Less than a fifth of our trade is with each other,” he said.

He called for improved roads, railways, ports, payment systems and customs procedures to make cross-border trade easier, urging African businesses to see the continent as a common market.

Speaking on women’s participation in business, Elumelu said women had continued to demonstrate their capacity to lead and build successful enterprises but were often denied the capital and recognition they deserved.

“Women’s economic leadership is not a concession to fairness; it is a requirement for competitiveness,” he said.

He cited the experience of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, through which he and his wife, Awele, have provided more than $100m in seed capital to 24,633 young entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries over 15 years.

According to him, businesses supported by the foundation have created more than 1.5 million jobs and generated over $4.2bn in revenue.

He said women entrepreneurs supported by the foundation had demonstrated strong business performance, adding that they reinvested and employed workers at rates their male counterparts should emulate.

“We see our women entrepreneurs at the Tony Elumelu Foundation reinvest, and we see them rehire at rates our male entrepreneurs should envy,” he said.

Elumelu also recalled how his mother, who ran a small restaurant, shaped his understanding of business and taught him lessons in risk, cash flow, discipline and resilience.

“When people ask me whether women can lead African business, I find the question strange because in my own experience, they already do. We have simply not given them the capital, the title, or the credit they deserve,” he said.

The 25th annual WIMBIZ conference, themed “Rooted, Rising, Ready: Born in Africa, Built for the World,” was held from Thursday to Friday in Lagos. WIMBIZ is a non-profit organisation focused on promoting and supporting women in management, business and public service.