{"id":17156,"date":"2017-09-13T11:14:49","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T10:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/?p=17156"},"modified":"2017-09-13T11:14:49","modified_gmt":"2017-09-13T10:14:49","slug":"elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Elumelu: Negative narrative around Africa is continent\u2019s greatest challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"
The greatest challenge Africa has as a continent when it comes to attracting investment\u00a0is in the way it is portrayed, the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu <\/a>has said.<\/div>\n

Speaking at Charhan House in London, Elumelu said Information presented about Africa is neither holistic nor properly contextualized, \u201cand has led to the kind of narrative that we have had for so long on Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an investor, when all you\u00a0have heard about Africa is\u00a0corruption, how would you pass a positive investment decision to go and invest\u00a0in the continent?\u00a0The result is that\u00a0the vicious cycle\u00a0of neglect\u00a0continues\u00a0and is\u00a0even\u00a0reinforced.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a gathering of senior policymakers and developments experts hosted by UK\u2019s leading foreign policy institute, the Chairman of Heirs Holdings spoke \u00a0in \u00a0a panel alongside United Kingdom Minister of State, Department for International Development (DFID), Rory Stewart, OBE.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI believe that the greatest challenge Africa has as a continent when it comes to attracting investment\u00a0is in the way it is portrayed. Information presented about Africa is neither holistic nor properly contextualized, and has led to the kind of narrative that we have had for so long on Africa. As an investor, when all you\u00a0have heard about Africa is\u00a0corruption, how would you pass a positive investment decision to go and invest\u00a0in the continent?\u00a0The result is that\u00a0the vicious cycle\u00a0of neglect\u00a0continues\u00a0and is\u00a0even\u00a0reinforced.\u201d<\/p>

\r\n
Advertisement<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

The Chairman of Heirs Holdings, a pan-African investment firm with interests in\u00a0financial services,\u00a0power\u00a0and oil & gas,\u00a0called for an urgent \u201creset of mindset\u201d to attract the\u00a0level of\u00a0global private capital that will drive job creation\u00a0and reduce poverty\u00a0on the\u00a0continent. \u201cWe must reset the way we see\u00a0and discuss\u00a0Africa. People do business with people they are comfortable with. Investors who repeatedly hear horrible things\u00a0about\u00a0our people and the continent will never\u00a0invest here.\u00a0We will continue to host national gatherings and seminars to\u00a0discuss unemployment, poverty and income inequality\u00a0if we do not fix the existing information asymmetry, the poor quality of information that is put out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Founder of the Tony\u00a0Elumelu\u00a0Foundation also rallied\u00a0public\u00a0and private sector\u00a0stakeholders\u00a0and the development\u00a0world\u00a0to increase support to African SMEs, describing\u00a0them\u00a0as \u201cthe lifeblood of our\u00a0economy\u201d.\u00a0 Elumelu, who has committed $100m to\u00a0African entrepreneurs,\u00a0emphasized the critical importance of mentoring and funding for\u00a0the survival of small businesses.\u00a0In a continent where only 700 companies generate over\u00a0$500m in annual revenue, half the number in other regions,\u00a0Elumelu\u00a0called for\u00a0targeted support to grow these small businesses into\u00a0scalable companies capable of becoming\u00a0big corporates in the future.\u00a0According to\u00a0Elumelu, SMEs are\u00a0known to be\u00a0the largest job creators and\u00a0should be prioritized because of the inverse relationship between security and prosperity \u2013\u00a0\u201cwhen there is prosperity, security is not an issue, but when there are fewer jobs, insecurity heightens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elumelu\u00a0whose\u00a0Transcorp\u00a0Power Plc has invested $2.5b in President Obama\u2019s Power Africa\u00a0Initiative\u00a0and is also currently the largest thermal generator of electricity in the country, called on local and foreign investors to invest\u00a0in\u00a0electricity, stating that this more than\u00a0any other investment\u00a0\u201cwill\u00a0encourage the\u00a0creation and growth\u00a0of businesses of scale in Africa.\u201d\u00a0According to him, \u201clong term private investment in electricity\u00a0infrastructure will create an\u00a0enabling\u00a0environment for business growth.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The greatest challenge Africa has as a continent when it comes to attracting investment\u00a0is in the way it is portrayed, the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu has said. Speaking at Charhan House in London, Elumelu said Information presented about Africa is neither holistic nor properly contextualized, \u201cand has led to the kind of narrative …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":17157,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,17],"tags":[908],"coauthors":[2391],"class_list":["post-17156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-feature","category-news","tag-elumelu"],"yoast_head":"\nElumelu: Negative narrative around Africa is continent\u2019s greatest challenge - National Wire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The greatest challenge Africa has as a continent when it comes to attracting investment\u00a0is in the way it is portrayed, the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu has said.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Elumelu: Negative narrative around Africa is continent\u2019s greatest challenge - National Wire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The greatest challenge Africa has as a continent when it comes to attracting investment\u00a0is in the way it is portrayed, the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu has said.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"National Wire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-13T10:14:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/elumele-london.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"196\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Friday Ekeoba\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/\",\"name\":\"National Wire\",\"description\":\"About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/elumele-london.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/elumele-london.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":196,\"caption\":\"Tony Elumelu\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/\",\"name\":\"Elumelu: Negative narrative around Africa is continent\u2019s greatest challenge - National Wire\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-13T10:14:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-09-13T10:14:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#\/schema\/person\/e2ab303e561d755b325fc9cea3854927\"},\"description\":\"The greatest challenge Africa has as a continent when it comes to attracting investment\u00a0is in the way it is portrayed, the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu has said.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Elumelu: Negative narrative around Africa is continent\u2019s greatest challenge\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#\/schema\/person\/e2ab303e561d755b325fc9cea3854927\",\"name\":\"Friday Ekeoba\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/author\/friday\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Elumelu: Negative narrative around Africa is continent\u2019s greatest challenge - National Wire","description":"The greatest challenge Africa has as a continent when it comes to attracting investment\u00a0is in the way it is portrayed, the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu has said.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Elumelu: Negative narrative around Africa is continent\u2019s greatest challenge - National Wire","og_description":"The greatest challenge Africa has as a continent when it comes to attracting investment\u00a0is in the way it is portrayed, the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu has said.","og_url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/","og_site_name":"National Wire","article_published_time":"2017-09-13T10:14:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":196,"url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/elumele-london.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Friday Ekeoba","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/","name":"National Wire","description":"About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/elumele-london.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/elumele-london.jpg","width":300,"height":196,"caption":"Tony Elumelu"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/","name":"Elumelu: Negative narrative around Africa is continent\u2019s greatest challenge - National Wire","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2017-09-13T10:14:49+00:00","dateModified":"2017-09-13T10:14:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#\/schema\/person\/e2ab303e561d755b325fc9cea3854927"},"description":"The greatest challenge Africa has as a continent when it comes to attracting investment\u00a0is in the way it is portrayed, the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu has said.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/elumelu-negative-narrative-around-africa-continents-greatest-challenge\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Elumelu: Negative narrative around Africa is continent\u2019s greatest challenge"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#\/schema\/person\/e2ab303e561d755b325fc9cea3854927","name":"Friday Ekeoba","url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/author\/friday\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17156"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17158,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17156\/revisions\/17158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17156"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=17156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}