Elumelu urges shift from aid to trade for Africa at UNGA
Nigerian businessman Tony Elumelu has called for a shift from aid to trade for Africa, urging private-sector-led partnerships at the UN General Assembly. Read More: https://punchng.com/elumelu-urges-shift-from-aid-to-trade-for-africa-at-unga/
Nigerian businessman Tony Elumelu has urged a shift from aid to trade in U.S.-Africa relations during a speech at the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Speaking during a fireside chat, Elumelu advocated for private-sector-led commercial partnerships as the primary driver of sustainable economic growth on the continent.
He emphasized that treating Africa as a monolithic, high-risk entity overlooks the economic dynamism across its 54 distinct nations. Elumelu challenged the notion that Africa is uniformly aid-dependent and highlighted the potential for foreign entities to achieve high commercial returns through strategic co-investment partnerships with local enterprise leaders.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation's $100 million investment in training and funding young African entrepreneurs demonstrated the potential of $5,000 in seed capital to create widespread job opportunities. Elumelu also called for modernizing trade frameworks, such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), and urged global leaders to adopt a pragmatic approach to Africa's energy transition, utilizing natural gas reserves as a transition fuel.
He stressed that poverty anywhere remains a direct threat to economic peace and security everywhere.
Written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
