Mega Investment Forum Brings Africa’s Finest Entrepreneur To Yaounde

A cream of Africa’s best and most successful businessmen will be in Yaounde, Cameroon this week to attend a mega investment forum organised at the behest of the country’s President Paul Biya and placed under his patronage.

Most likely to be the center of attraction at the two-day forum which is expected to bring together over thousands of businessmen; is Tony Elumelo, 53-year-old Nigerian billionaire and philanthropist of exceptional class.

The main objective of the forum which has as theme; “Invest in Cameroon, a land of opportunities,” is to expose investment opportunities available in Cameroon in a bid to attract foreign investment by multinational companies and financiers in Africa and beyond. It will run from May 17-18.

Speculations are rife that Tony Elumelo would steal the show because of his landmark achievements in domains such as agribusiness, energy, real estate, and health sectors which are widely underexploited in Cameroon.

                Tony Elumelo; Multidimensional Entrepreneur

The pan-Africanist, who is also expected to meet Cameroon’s head of state and other top government officials, is coming to Cameroon barely three days after expressing optimism on Africa’s growth at a World Economic Forum on Africa, held in Kigali, Rwanda from May 11 to 13.

Elumelu stated in unequivocal terms that Africa can depend on Africans to fast track its growth.

The entrepreneur who allocated $100m (circa 55Billion FCFA) through his Tony Elumelu Foundation in support of young entrepreneurs with startup businesses, maintained the only way the continent’s fast moving train would remain on the rails is when the private sector helps to create significant jobs and employment for youths and by so doing address one of society’s most pressing needs and challenges.

 “When people say Africa is on the move, it is truly on the move because we have an ecosystem that is supporting itself. Let us remember to keep passing the baton to others’ in reference to championing young African entrepreneurs across the continent.”

Some 27 youths in Cameroon have already benefited from the $100M young entrepreneurship promotion program and the country is not left out of the lot of countries hoping to tap from the business tycoon’s investment offers.

Some analysts say Cameroonians would be expecting announcements of huge investments in the country after the mega investment forum, owing to Tony Elumelu’s declaration in Kigali last week.

“I would rather invest in Africa than elsewhere in the world because the return on my investment in Africa is much higher than elsewhere in the world. I see myself as an Africapitalist and everything I do is guided by this philosophy,” is one of the declarations Elumelo made during last week’s World Economic Forum on Africa.

Extraordinary entrepreneur with a noble heart

Tony Elumelo is currently chairman of Heirs Holdings, the United Bank for Africa, Transcorp and he is equally founder of The Tony Elumelo Foundation.

Ranked among Africa’s top 20 influential people and 100 most influential Africans by New African and Forbes magazines in 2012 and 2011 respectively, Elumelo holds a Nigerian National Honors recognition; The Commander of the Order of Nigeria.

He is a member of the Nigerian president’s agricultural transformation implementation council and doubles as vice chairman of the country’s national competitiveness council. At the same time, he serves as co-chair of the ASPEN Institute Dialogue Series on Global Food Security and chairs the ministerial committee to establish world class hospitals and diagnostic centers across Nigeria.

Among other national and international managerial positions, Tony Elumelo is also a member of the global advisory board of the UN Sustainable Energy for All Initiative, SE4ALL.

Despite the numerous profit-making engagements on his table, Elumelo still finds time for philanthropic engagements.

One doesn’t need to read through a magical crystal ball to see the noble side of the entrepreneur.

It is reflected in services he rendered while he worked with several non-profit organisations.

He was a part of the World Economic Forum’s regional agenda council on Africa and sat on the Bretton Woods Committee in recognition of his development initiatives for Africa and is currently involved in a project to strengthen Africa through the Blair-Elumelo Fellowship Programme. He is a trustee of the Infant Jesus Academy in Delta state, Nigeria.

Cameroon’s economy minister; Louis Paul Motaze, in press conference in Yaounde on May 15,2016 stated that the two-day Investment Forum would also be an opportunity for investors to share best practices.

Elumelo would, thus, not only be looked up to as a potential investor, but equally as one who can share ideas that would concretise Cameroon’s drive towards becoming an emergent nation by 2035.

By Mbom Sixtus in Yaounde