Tony Elumelu, the renowned entrepreneur, philanthropist, and Group Chairman of Heirs Holdings, United Bank for Africa (UBA), and Transcorp, has urged African leaders to take full ownership of the continent’s development agenda by investing decisively in infrastructure, youth, and energy.
He made the call while delivering the keynote address at the 2025 African Caucus Meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Bangui, Central African Republic.
Speaking on the theme “Resilient Infrastructure, Human Capital, and Green Assets,” Elumelu described the gathering as timely, coming at a moment when Africa must strengthen its voice and assert its priorities on the global stage.
He acknowledged the volatility and complexity of the global environment and noted that the so-called global community has not always served Africa’s best interests.
While African resources and talent are central to solving many of the world’s challenges from mineral supply for technology to agriculture for global food security, Elumelu insisted that these opportunities must be realised on African terms, with African people as the principal beneficiaries. For this to happen, he said, African governments must also do better, making deliberate efforts to build institutions and policies that create value locally.
Elumelu identified the continent’s infrastructure gap as a major barrier to economic progress.
He highlighted that Africa continues to lag in the availability of roads, ports, internet connectivity, and most critically, electricity. According to him, prosperity is impossible without modern infrastructure.
He called for stronger fiscal capacity, greater efficiency, and the unlocking of innovative financing mechanisms that enable the private sector to co-lead infrastructure development across the continent.
On energy, Elumelu painted a sobering picture of widespread electricity deprivation. He noted that as much as 70 percent of Africa’s population still lacks access to electricity, pointing out that Nigeria, with a population of over 200 million, generates less than 7,000 megawatts of power.
He emphasised that Africa cannot industrialise, create meaningful jobs, or compete in the era of artificial intelligence without urgent and aggressive investment in energy.
Citing the example of Transcorp and Heirs Energies, he explained how his companies are addressing these challenges by generating power from gas resources and exporting electricity through the West African Power Pool.
This, he said, is Africapitalism in action, the use of private capital to solve public challenges.
He stressed the need for government and private sector collaboration, with government creating enabling environments, private enterprises deploying capital and innovation, and development partners supporting Africa’s unique realities, including the recognition of natural gas as a viable transition fuel in the move towards clean energy.
Turning to human capital, Elumelu described Africa’s youthful population as its greatest asset. With over 60 percent of Africans under the age of 35, he warned that the future of the continent hinges on how well this demographic is empowered.
If well equipped, African youth can become transformative forces for the continent’s development; if neglected, they risk becoming a source of instability.
He highlighted the work of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, which has provided over 24,000 young African entrepreneurs with non-refundable seed capital of $5,000 each, trained 1.5 million youths across all 54 African countries, and catalysed over 1.2 million jobs.
Elumelu reiterated that Africa’s development is its own responsibility and that no one else will build the continent if Africans do not lead the effort.
He underscored the centrality of power to any industrial or economic transformation and restated that youth investment is not just about the future, it is also about the present. He expressed optimism about growing global attention to Africa’s development, applauding initiatives like Ajay Banga’s ‘Mission 300’ at the World Bank, which aims to connect 300 million Africans to electricity, and the IMF’s increasing focus on entrepreneurship and job creation.
Elumelu called for action, declaring that Africa is ready and that this moment must be seized to build a prosperous, inclusive, and empowered continent.