Agriculture, entrepreneurship’ll create jobs in Africa, says Elumelu

The Chairman, Heirs Holdings and Founder, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Mr. Tony Elumelu, has called on African leaders and development institutions to help address the deepening job and employment crisis bedevilling the continent by lending support and paying more attention to the agricultural sector, creating access to electricity and developing entrepreneurship.

Elumelu, who said this while speaking on the theme: ‘How do we create 10 million jobs by 2020?’ at the Youth Connekt Africa Summit in Rwanda recently, opined that access to electricity and increased focus in the agricultural sector would enhance entrepreneurship and tackle the challenge of unemployment through the creation of more jobs in the continent.

Elumelu, a passionate advocate of entrepreneurship and Africapitalism, also upheld the notion that the private sector had the responsibility to play the lead role in contributing to job creation in Africa, and cited the example of the TEF and its various investments in the key areas, adding that this was visible from the $100m commitment towards supporting African entrepreneurs over the years.

“Today, we have businesses in 20 African countries and employ 30,000 people directly and 50,000 people indirectly. Agriculture, access to electricity and entrepreneurship have the potential to create more jobs in Africa,” he stated.

The TEF boss noted that Africa could be self-reliant and self-dependent if the right infrastructure and government support were put in place to boost the sectors.

In this regard, he commended the effort of President Paul Kagame for his initiatives in the areas of entrepreneurship and attracting key investments to the African continent.