Think long term to fix Africa - Tony Elumelu tells African leaders

kwame

May 3, 2017 4:23 PM

This is what Chairman of the United Bank for Africa, Tony Elumelu had to say at the World Economic Forum in Durban, South Africa.

Think long term to fix Africa - Tony Elumelu tells African leaders

Tony Elumelu, Chairman of the United Bank for Africa has urged African governments to create the right environment to help small businesses to thrive.

Speaking at the opening plenary of the ongoing World Economic Forum in Durban, the Nigerian banker minced no words in laying the fault of Africa’s slowed growth at the feet of its leaders.

“The people who grow economies are SMEs, entrepreneurs. What entrepreneurs need to succeed is that the business environment is right. The environment is stifling, they have to provide their own water, their own transport, their own electricity, how are they going to succeed? “

“The truth is our leaders know what should be done. But they fail to do what is right. Some leaders are short-term in orientation and do not think about how they will be remembered beyond today. If leaders think in the long-term they will start to fix Africa.”

At the same plenary, Lindiwe Mazibuko, a South African politician mooted a redefinition of African leadership.

“Africa has a leadership vacuum … The current crop of Africa’s leaders have failed to deliver, yet we’re asking what these same leaders can do to make it better.”

“We need a different line of understanding of what leadership in an African society is, beyond politics and business, into the non-profit, into civil society, into churches, schools, communities. We need to redefine leadership”

The 27th World Economic Forum on Africa is being held under the theme of “Achieving Inclusive Growth through Responsive and Responsible Leadership”

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