BY NADIA NTIAMOAH
Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, has called for a fundamental shift in Africa’s development model, urging the continent to move away from dependence on foreign aid and embrace trade, investment, entrepreneurship and private sector-led growth.Elumelu made the call during a fireside chat on the sidelines of the 2026 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
The session, titled the “Darryl G. Behrman Lecture on Africa Policy,” was moderated by Michael Froman, President of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and examined Africa’s changing role in the global economy, entrepreneurship, energy security, private sector development and the future of US-Africa relations.
Elumelu argued that Africans must increasingly take ownership of the continent’s economic transformation, while international investors and policy partners should abandon outdated perceptions of Africa as primarily an aid-dependent continent.
He urged global investors to instead view Africa as a commercial investment destination, with significant opportunities for returns through partnerships with the continent’s private sector.
He also challenged investors to distinguish between perceived risks and the realities of operating across Africa, arguing that treating the continent’s 54 countries as a single high-risk market overlooks significant differences in economic conditions and investment opportunities.
According to him, global capital seeking growth can find substantial opportunities when international investors establish strategic co-investment partnerships with credible local businesses that understand their respective markets.
Renews call for Africapitalism
The businessman reaffirmed his philosophy of Africapitalism, which promotes private sector-led development and the use of business as a catalyst for Africa’s economic transformation.
He acknowledged that aid programmes could provide short-term relief but argued that they could not substitute for sustainable industries or the structural impact of deploying domestic capital.
Elumelu called on venture capital firms, pension funds and development finance institutions to partner with African financial institutions to finance critical infrastructure and strengthen key trade corridors.
Youth unemployment and entrepreneurship
The Heirs Holdings chairman also placed Africa’s youthful population at the centre of his development argument, describing young entrepreneurs as critical to the continent’s economic development, security and global stability.
He said tackling youth unemployment was essential to reducing irregular migration and preventing social instability.
Drawing on the work of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, which has committed $100 million to empowering young African entrepreneurs, he argued that providing entrepreneurs with $5,000 in non-refundable seed capital, alongside business training, could stimulate job creation in both rural and urban communities.
He therefore urged international philanthropies, multilateral agencies and corporations to support the expansion of youth-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises across Africa.
Africa needs reliable energy
On energy security and climate policy, Elumelu called for a pragmatic and equitable approach to the global energy transition.
He noted that more than 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity, arguing that industrialisation and digital transformation would remain difficult without reliable and affordable power.
He advocated the use of Africa’s abundant natural gas resources as a transition fuel to power industries and stabilise electricity grids while investments in renewable energy infrastructure continue.
US-Africa trade must go beyond aid
Elumelu also called for a new approach to US-Africa economic relations, arguing that future partnerships should move beyond traditional concessionary frameworks.
While supporting the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), he said greater attention must be given to the cost of producing and delivering African goods to US markets.
He further advocated bilateral trade arrangements that would support supply-chain integration, domestic manufacturing and the removal of regulatory bottlenecks that continue to constrain intra-African trade as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) gathers momentum.
