Chairman, Heirs Holdings and Founder, The Tony Elumelu Foundation,
Tony O. Elumelu joined World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim and LinkedIn
CEO, Jeff Weiner at the opening debate of the “Digital Economy for
Africa” Forum at the 2018 World Bank Group Spring Meetings. The forum,
which was held in Washington D.C. on Thursday, April 19, 2018, hosted a
cross-section of global private and public sectors leaders in a series
of events to discuss ways to facilitate the digital economy in Africa.
Speaking at the event,
Elumelu identified three critical issues
barriers to achieving a thriving digital economy on the content – lack
of infrastructure, weak government policies and regulations, and youth
unemployment.
“First, we can’t talk about the digital economy in Africa without
fixing critical infrastructure like the digital connectivity issue. It
is a major issue and we can’t fix it if we don’t have reliable access to
electricity. Second is the issue of government policies and
regulations. We need government to understand that if we prioritise the
young ones and fix the operating environment, they will do well and help
us to solve the problems we need to address,” he said.
He emphasized the urgent need to fix these problems to create
opportunities for investors and youth entrepreneurs to develop the
economy.
“There are a lot of opportunities on the continent. Investors will
like to invest. Let’s fix policies and regulatory issues, and investors
will come to Africa. As the investors come into Africa, it will help
address the issue of youth unemployment, poverty, and involvement of our
womenfolk in the economic activities of the continent,” he said.
Elumelu also seized the opportunity to call on the public and private
sector leaders to work together in shared purpose in line with
Africapitalism, to mitigate the critical challenges on the continent.
Other speakers at the event included Claver Gatete, Minister of
Finance, Rwanda; Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Communications, Ghana;
Omobola Jonhson, Honorary Chairperson, Alliance for Affordable
Internet; Bilha Ndirangu, Chief Operating Officer, Africa’s Talking; and
Seni Sulyman, Country Director for Nigeria, Andela.
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