I have never accepted that Africa is just a place for charity, aid, or even well-meaning condescension.
Our continent has so much more to offer.
We have the resources. We have our young and entrepreneurial population. We have vast energy potential, productive land, accelerating consumer markets and African businesses that are competing globally.
At Heirs Holdings, we grasp this potential every day. United Capital recently played a key role in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery IPO, a demonstration of Africa’s growing capacity to mobilise capital for businesses of global scale. Investee, the United Bank for Africa (UBA), Africa’s Global Bank, operates across four continents, connecting Africa to the world and enabling the financial intermediation that supports trade and investment.
Through HH, we are investing in the private sector, executing our long-term approach that is fundamental to Africa’s transformation. Through the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we are investing in our most important resource: our young people. The return on investment through doing good and doing well encapsulates Africapitalism.
It was this belief that I carried to New York, for the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
I met global business leaders, policymakers, development institutions, philanthropists, and entrepreneurs. The subjects varied: capital markets, energy, artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship, trade and economic security, but they were all connected by one question: what will it take to convert Africa’s enormous potential into sustained economic and social prosperity?
The answer begins with changing how we think about Africa.
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Africa Must Be Part of the Global Growth Conversation
My UNGA engagements began at the special UNGA edition of the Qatar Economic Forum, where we discussed how governments and businesses are navigating an increasingly fragmented global economy.
Our world is changing rapidly. Supply chains are volatile, technology is transforming entire industries, and countries are searching for new sources of growth.
Africa will not be peripheral to these conversations.
Our demographic advantage alone makes that unthinkable. Africa has the youngest population in the world. This is an extraordinary economic opportunity, but only if we make the investment required to turn population growth into productive capacity.
African Capital Can Fund African Ambition
Later that day, I met Dr. George Elombi, President and Chairman of Afreximbank.
Afreximbank is an important partner to our Group. Its support demonstrates the catalytic role African financial institutions can play when they back African businesses with the capital required to invest, grow and create value.
Our conversation looked forward. We discussed deepening our partnership, funding transformational projects across the continent and opening up African capital markets, so that more long-term financing can reach African businesses and infrastructure.
Power Will Determine Africa’s Place in the AI Economy
My meeting with IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva gave us an opportunity to discuss Africa’s economic outlook, investment and the technological changes reshaping the global economy.
AI offers enormous possibilities, but there is a fundamental disconnect in discussing Africa’s AI future without addressing our power deficit. AI needs electricity. Manufacturing needs electricity. Digital infrastructure, hospitals, schools and SMEs need electricity.
Reliable power is no longer simply a development objective; it is fundamental to Africa’s competitiveness. We must accelerate harness our gas resources to provide the energy required to industrialise. Transcorp Group and Heirs Energies are leading on this.
Our Young People – The Most Precious Resource
As a member of UNICEF Generation Unlimited’s Global Leadership Council, I joined conversations on preparing young people for productive futures.
I often say that the future of Africa, and indeed the world, lies in the hands of our youth. This is why my wife and I created the Tony Elumelu Foundation.
Through BeGreen, the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Generation Unlimited and IKEA Foundation are helping young Africans move from learning to earning through training, mentorship and seed capital.
Trade and Investment, Not Aid
On Tuesday, I joined Ambassador Michael Froman, President of the Council on Foreign Relations for the Darryl G. Behrman Lecture on Africa Policy.
I made the case I have made consistently throughout my career: Africa needs trade and investment, not aid.
Africa needs to industrialise. To industrialise, we need electricity, transportation and infrastructure. We need capital. And we need policies that give investors confidence to make long-term commitments.
The private sector must then do what it does best: invest, innovate, operate efficiently and create jobs. That is Africapitalism in practice, the understanding that the private sector has both the ability and the responsibility to contribute to Africa’s economic and social development.
Economic Opportunity Is a Security Issue
Later that day, I joined my good friend President Bill Clinton and other global leaders at the Clinton Global Initiative Executive Roundtable on “Economic Opportunity and Security in a New Era.”
I have long believed that we make a mistake when we separate conversations about economic development from conversations about security. Where economic hope disappears, instability finds fertile ground. Working with the UNDP in fragile states, TEF has shown the power of entrepreneurship to deliver societal change, stability, and combat fanaticism and forced migration.
That is why I believe philanthropy should not create permanent dependency, but help people and businesses reach the point where they no longer need philanthropy.
Fifteen Years of Proof – TEF Impact
Wednesday was special.
We launched the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s 15-Year Impact Report, bringing together our partners, entrepreneurs and global development leaders.
Fifteen years ago, Awele and I set out to prove that empowering African entrepreneurs could transform Africa. Today, the evidence is compelling.
TEF entrepreneurs have created more than 1.5 million direct and indirect jobs and generated over US$4.2 billion in revenue. Eighty per cent of entrepreneurs funded since 2015 remain in business, more than 25% have attracted additional investment, and we have empowered more than 7,183 women, 85% of whom lead their businesses. An independent assessment also found that businesses supported with our US$5,000 seed capital created jobs at a cost of less than US$80 each.
These numbers demonstrate something we have always believed: African entrepreneurs are investible.
We also convened the Foundation’s Advisory Board, bringing together distinguished African and global leaders who will help strengthen our governance and advance the Foundation’s mission in its next chapter.
The 15 Year Impact Report can be found here
An Honour That Carried a Different Meaning
That evening, I attended the 61st Annual Appeal of Conscience Awards Dinner.
In 2025, I was honoured by the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, but could not attend following the tragic Afriland Towers fire, which claimed precious lives of our United Capital colleagues. Returning a year later to receive that recognition was a moment of gratitude, reflection and remembrance.
The Work After New York
My final engagements, including a meeting with World Bank Group President Ajay Banga, reinforced the importance of partnerships that work with Africa, not simply for Africa. Rather than beginning with what Africa lacks, we should ask how we multiply what Africa already has: entrepreneurs, resources, young people and capital.
I have often said that no one but us will develop Africa.
This is not a call to turn inward.
Africa needs the world, and the world needs Africa. But we must engage as partners, bringing our markets, resources, capital and entrepreneurial talent to the table, while taking greater responsibility for our own prosperity.
That was the thread connecting my week at UNGA81.
Africa’s potential is no longer in question. Our task is to turn that potential into sustained prosperity through investment, enterprise and partnerships that deliver real impact.
The work does not end when UNGA ends. That is when the real work begins.
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