Mr. Tony Elumelu, founder, The Tony Elumelu Foundation and Group Chairman, United Bank of Africa, Tony Elumelu has said that Africa must play a key role in global climate conversations as meaningful participants.
Elumelu disclosed this during a conversation with former United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton themed, ‘Taking Action Together for the Most Vulnerable on the Climate-Health Nexus’, at the ongoing COP28 conference in Dubai. According to him, Africa needs to be heard because it is the future. He noted that the continent has been the least contributor to climate change but needs attention due to the impacts it is now suffering.
He stated, “Addressing climate change is the paramount challenge of our era. The urgency is unmistakable. It is critical that Africa, as a continent, and African voices, play a key role in global climate conversations, as meaningful participants, and no longer as bystanders. Africa is least responsible and is disproportionately impacted by climate change. I am investing in a generation of green entrepreneurs, and we are extending the hand of partnership so that others can benefit and use the infrastructure and platform we have created to reach entrepreneurs across Africa.”
During the talks, Elumelu explained how the infrastructure and experience of his foundation’s 10-year $100m entrepreneurship programme has tried to address climate change and drive broader wealth creation across Africa.
Also, at COP28, the Tony Elumelu Foundation, in partnership with the United Bank for Africa hosted a high-level session that gathered Africans and key players in the Gulf, Europe and the Americas. Speakers included the Director General, World Trade Organisation, Dr Okonjo Iweala; Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa, United Nations Development Programme, Ahunna Eziakonwa; CEO, United Nations Children’s Fund Generation Unlimited, Kevin Frey and more.
Speaking at the TEF #COP28, the DG, World Trade Organisation, Dr Okonjo Iweala, stated, “I am proud of what my brother, Tony Elumelu has done in empowering and inspiring so many young entrepreneurs. We have no choice; the future is green. The future of growth is two things – it is green, and it must be inclusive. I am very interested in partnerships with organisations like TEF.”
The Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa, UNDP, Ahunna Eziakonwa added, “The reason why UNDP associated itself with the Tony Elumelu Foundation years ago is because of the leadership and courage of the Foundation to trust and invest in young Africans. It was one of the first organisations to do so at that scale.
At a series of events across COP28, Tony Elumelu delivered a single message to world leaders: “Africa needs to be heard, Africa’s future is the world’s future and the continent that is most impacted by and the least contributor to climate change, needs our attention. With African youth set to make up one-third of the global population later this century, the future of Africa’s youth, entrepreneurial, ambitious, and resilient needs to be given the highest priority.
The annual COP UN Climate Change Conference unites the world to assess progress in combating climate change. Elumelu is one of Africa’s leading advocates for an equitable agenda for climate action and through the Tony Elumelu Foundation has empowered thousands of green entrepreneurs, shaping a more sustainable future for Africa.
Elumelu represented the African private sector at the 2023 New Global Financing Pact in Paris at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron and the Climate Finance Mobilization Forum in London, at the invitation of King Charles III of the United Kingdom and U.S. President Biden.
At the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78) in New York, the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) launched a first-of-its-kind Green Entrepreneurship Programme, the #BeGreenAfrica Initiative, in partnership with the IKEA Foundation, Dutch Government, and UNICEF GenU, to support green entrepreneurship and youth development.
Foundation has connected over 1.5 million young Africans on its digital hub, TEFConnect and disbursed nearly USD$100 million in direct funding to 18,000 African women and men, who have collectively created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs.
The Foundation’s mission is rooted in Africapitalism, which positions the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the African continent.
Tony is a role model, a source of inspiration for many African entrepreneurs, who started life as a copy machine salesman. His secret to success secret? He is a business executive in Africa, a philanthropist and an investor in many countries on the continent. Tony says he does business in more than 20 countries in Africa, which gives him the opportunity to see and know about different cultures, from one country to another, and how people influence each other in a positive way.
While he asks people to adopt an entrepreneurial attitude, The Heirs Foundation chairman implores governments to help entrepreneurs succeed by deliberately deciding to support them and create an enabling environment. “This is what most African governments should do. If you see a country where the private sector is growing, where entrepreneurs are thriving, then the government has done it right. African leaders must therefore ensure that they support their entrepreneurs to succeed,” he stated.
Tony says he succeeded because he believed in himself, advising that people have a positive attitude towards life. “I am not the son of a billionaire and yet, I succeeded in Africa. It means that you too can succeed, even better than me. But you have to work hard. Be resilient. Concentrate. Ready to make sacrifices. And there you will go far in life. The entrepreneurial adventure is not easy. It’s made up of ups and downs. So you have to stay focused and have a long-term view because that’s when it’s all going to happen. You may be suffering today. But, tell yourself that things will eventually get better. It is this hope that carries you. And then the universe makes good things happen,” he posits.
-Folorunsho Hamsat and Rahman Ismail
