The project of training 1,000 young entrepreneurs in Africa being undertaken by the Tony Elumelu Foundation has not only garnered global endorsement, but more than that shows the great vision of the man in deepening the benefits of private enterprise. Correspondent, SAM NWOKORO, writes.
It is a fact that the developmental trajectories of Nigeria, nay Africa, are embedded in the inability of serial African leaders to key into trending governance methods in the world. African nations were making just trudging efforts at plural democracy as the world entered a new millennium some 15 years ago.
Right from the 1950s and 1960s when colonialism was ebbing, the economy of African states were still rigidly under state control, mostly military dictators for that matter. This bred corruption, as politicians saw political offices as the only avenue of making a living because the economic space was not accommodating enough and opportunities outside civil service was tight.
Also, the economy of the states were not creating opportunities for the mass of the people, especially school-leavers. Until the turn of the century, such words as entrepreneurship, business school, share price, bond etc. are not familiar in everyday vocabulary, due to the poor development of Africa’s potential centralisation of economic decisions in the hands of the states. Private property, which creates opportunity, was non-existent. Thus Africa’s slow march to industrialisation is traceable to the poor development of the African potential in self-development. This is perhaps what motivated the Tony Elumelu Foundation to embark on the training of African entrepreneurs.
It is a historic record that one man can accept a task which some countries in Africa has not been able to embark on: training 1,000 entrepreneurs in country of Africa. Multiply the aggregate by 54 countries, and what you get is a Guinness Book of Records effort to turn the famished African landscape overnight from one of primitive subsistence to one of Eldorado, one huge mass of production incubation where ideas and theories leave the textbooks and smartphones Apps to production lines and warehouses.
Man of vision
Tony Elumelu has been a source of inspiration for youths of this generation for his innovative business ideas. His business expansionist ideals and African capitalism have been a huge source of motivation for many a young business upstarts nowadays.
Policy-makers, local and foreign, appreciate Elumelu’s forages in mergers and acquisitions that trailed the consolidation of the banking industry between 2005 and 2006. His daring take-over of United Bank of Africa (UBA) through the Standard Trust Bank (STB) marked one of the nation’s most successful and seamless take-over that brought two niche financial institutions in a symbiotic relationship that spurred many banks into synergies. For example, ECOBANK was peeved by the successful take-over of UBA by Standard Trust that it successfully ‘swallowed’ Oceanic Bank in the post-consolidation era when banks were going through regulators’ examinations.
The advantage of that STB-UBA merger was that the UBA brand name got more exposure and strength from the marriage.
The Elumelu myth registered in many other sectors. He resuscitated the near-bankrupt PZ Industries and what emerged is Heirs Holdings, a home-bred conglomerate involved in critical sectors of the Nigerian economy.
National service
Elumelu has been of immense benefit in the nation’s search for ideas. His treatise on burning national issues provided compass for charting developmental policies. Soon after the banking consolidation of 2005 to 2008, Elumelu prophesied: “The just-concluded banking consolidation exercise will unleash credits in the economy. It would result in start-ups in diverse aspects of the economy. A lot of sectors will gain recognition as credits would contribute to their growth. Many participants will engage in various sectors and that will unleash various latent potentials.”
True to his prediction, the economy has been witnessing increased burst of activities in the past decade, since the consolidation took place. He did predict that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would follow the banking consolidation exercises, and it took place as Nigeria recorded $510 billion growth according to global ratings.
Also, the cerebral ingenuity of Elumelu has inspired many youths to form the habit of availing themselves of regular business techniques. It is owing to the enthusiasm that lads these days want to update skills in management sciences that motivated the Tony Elumelu Foundation into the idea of training 1,000 graduates per country in Africa.
Essence of the project
The issue of producing viable entrepreneurs in Africa has been of immense concern to policy-makers who are battling over unemployment figures in their countries. The Tony Elumelu Foundation’s determination to train entrepreneurs in Africa, according to the Foundation’s directors, is in line with the UN’s mandate towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – both agenda hoped to halve poverty in the world by 2015 and eradicate it by 2030. It is revealed that the 1,000 per entrepreneur project would open up at least 54,000 enterprises across various sectors and countries by 2030.
Aside this gargantuan project, the entrepreneur has contributed in policy idea formulation through the Nigerian Economic Council, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the Nigerian National Merit Council.
Quintessential Tony is also a friend of the media. His African development model he is preaching through the African capitalism is a value orientation to make the Nigerian entrepreneur believe in the Blackman’s capacity to accelerate his own growth.
He encourages African businessmen to form the habit of investing in the local economy, of listing in the African-rated stock exchanges, of nudging transnational alliances not only with big names in Europe and Americas but also within African economies.
By this, the entrepreneur wants the Nigerian policy-maker to also fashion policies in a manner to empower the Nigerian entrepreneur, to provide the conducive environment necessary to make the investor come and institute good governance code
An entrepreneur’s timeless value
By all standards, Elumelu’s values demonstrated in many of his actions in private and public domain pass one important message to men of this generation: grow your tomorrow today by what you do to uplift humanity while you are still here. Little wonder, world figures like Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, George Bush and UN Scribe, Ban Ki-moon continue to identify with Elumelu’s vision of economically repositioned Africa through the 1,000 entrepreneurs per country because it holds a strategic key for meeting the MDGs, which is ending this year, and the SDGs, which certainly is capable of ending poverty in Africa by 2030 if African governments identify with Elumelu in this grand vision.