To mitigate the effects of this, the continent will need to create more jobs, policies and implementation plans that will allow for a more competitive private sector that favours business growth, job creation, and the stimulation of African economies.

For a long while, in dealing with conflict-prone areas and the effects of extreme poverty, Africa has had to depend on foreign aid, and the need for this remains imperative to reduce immediate suffering. However, many have begun to recognise the need to move away from aid for long term positive impact and a more sustainable model of developing the continent.

Africa desperately needs long-term investments in the private sector- the infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing industries, in order to address growing food insecurity, boost incentives and create the necessary employment opportunities for African youth.

Foreign aid, so far, has done little to improve the living conditions of people at the bottom of the social strata who live below the poverty line.

Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Tony O. Elumelu continues to assert that a better approach to the cycle of dependency created by the approach of foreign aid to Africa’s problems, is to fund private, for-profit ventures.

Mr. Elumelu’s philosophy has become increasingly popular on the African continent, where he is acknowledged as the pioneer of a private-sector-led approach to accelerating development.

In 2020, at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) conference held in Japan, he reiterated his stance on Africa’s huge return on investment, “Africa is one of the world’s viable destinations for investment. Our huge population, of nearly 1.3 billion people, creates one of the most attractive markets anywhere in the world.”

Based on this philosophy, The Tony Elumelu Foundation was set up to create more successful African business leaders and support the overall economy. So far, the Foundation has funded over 9000 entrepreneurs, and Mr Elumelu also continues to invest in businesses that add value to their local communities and the society at large.

“Global advocacy is that in the 21st century, you must engage with Africa – not from outside, but from within and from the point of view of what we consider important,” Mr Elumelu said in an interview on Arise TV’s The Morning Show earlier this month.

“We appreciate aid, but we know more importantly that we want to become fishermen.

“We all have a role to play in the development of our continent and we do so by investing in critical sectors of the African economy: infrastructure, power, railways.

“Investing long-term in critical sectors creates economic prosperity for you the investor and at the same time creates social wealth and prosperity and it becomes a win-win for everyone.

Creating policies and incentives that show progress rather than failure is one step in the direction of converting Aid into trade, thereby inspiring citizens to become creators of wealth and enterprise so that they can live from their activities.

The post Playing the Long Game: An Africa Beyond Aid appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

Many strategies have been employed towards bridging the inequality gap such as in Lesotho where it was noticed that increases in formal wages among the poor, expansion of primary schooling, and favourable demographic changes all contributed to lowering inequality. The study by the world bank found that that the biggest reason for the decline has to do with introduction and expansion of social protection programs.

At the 2021 World Government Summit, leaders across the world discussed the rising challenges, economy, geopolitics and governance post-pandemic, and the need for governmental process and policies for “Africa’s Future Post 2021”.

When asked about what new billionaires will be coming up in Africa, Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Tony Elumelu, had indicated the need to move away from the curation of billionaire lists and instead focus on the impact and efforts that billionaires make to improve the lives of those around them in their countries and the continent.

“We should be talking of how many young Africans we are going to impact in 5- or 10-years’ time rather than the number of billionaires we have,” he said.

“Instead of having a pyramid of billionaires, I prefer we have a large base that has prosperity for all, happier people and people whose basic human needs are met. I think that’s what is going to give us the sustainability and the lasting peace we need in Africa.”

Mr Tony has often spoken about entrepreneurship and support for small and medium scale enterprises as one of the ways we can address poverty in a fundamental and sustainable way and the need for business leaders in Africa to show confidence in the African continent by investing on the continent, attracting investors to the continent and through this process, inevitably create jobs.

One of the common factors cited for investing in Africa is “too much risk” however, these investment options are not without attractive risk-adjusted returns which are often had from Africa’s burgeoning population.

What Africa needs is a long-term approach towards the people and partnerships that are beneficial to all parties involved. The recent milestone by fintech platform, Flutterwave’s integration with Paypal, which now allows African businesses receive payments from across the world presents one example of how the growth opportunity presented by the continent is fast being recognised.

For a more prosperous, equal Africa built for the many, not the few, investing in its young entrepreneurs and providing social safety nets enabling them to build and take off from the ground is essential to a sustainable approach to development on the continent.

The post A Sustainable Approach to Making Impact in Africa appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.