Chairman, Heirs Holdings and Founder, The Tony Elumelu Foundation, Tony O. Elumelu, CON joined global private sector leaders at the Future Investment Initiative Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss ways to achieve economic diversification in dynamic economies. The conference was organised by the Public Investment Fund.

Speaking on the distinguished panel of speakers, including Mary Erdoes, CEO, JPMorgan Asset Management, United States of America; Oh Joon Kwon, Chairman, POSCO, South Korea; Frédéric Oudéa, CEO, Société Générale, France; Harvey Schwartz, President & Co., COO, Goldman Sachs, USA; and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman & CEO, DP World, UAE. Elumelu cited entrepreneurship and gender equality as two critical areas that needed urgent attention to drive the inclusive growth and economic diversification in emerging continents like Africa.

On achieving gender equality, Elumelu pointed out the importance of supporting women-run businesses to achieve inclusive growth stating that these businesses empower a critical population of the economy. “Female businesses create more benefits for the society,” he said.

An advocate of a new model for entrepreneurship in Africa through his philosophy, Africapitalism, Elumelu spoke on the role Africapitalism plays in powering the continent out of poverty. “Africapitalism is the intersection between prosperity and social wealth – doing good while making profit. It is a realisation that the private sector has a role to play in the social and economic diversification. We need to prioritise the young ones and prioritise SMEs if we are to achieve the much spoke about economic diversification,” he said.

Also speaking on the topic, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem identified entrepreneurship as a key driver of today's economy. “When we encourage entrepreneurship we encourage ideas,” he said.

Elumelu has demonstrated the potential of his Africapitalism model through his Foundation’s flagship Programme – The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme–where he endowed 10,000 African entrepreneurs with $100 million over a 10-year period with the goal of achieving 10 million jobs within the period. Already, the programme has celebrated its third batch of Fellows, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 3,000 since its inception in 2015, creating an impact will significantly transform the African continent.

“Entrepreneurship is a bottom-up approach to economic diversification. It is about trying to encourage our youths to be more enterprising, ultimately realising that they will drive the diversification process,” Elumelu said.

•Photo shows Chairman, UBA Plc, Mr. Tony Elumelu; Chairman/CEO, POSCO Group, Mr. Ohjoon Kwon; CEO, Société Générale, Mr Frederic Oudea; President & Co-Chief Operating Officer, Goldman Sachs, Mr. Harvey Schwartz; Group Chairman and CEO, DP World, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem; CEO of Asset & Wealth Management, J.P. Morgan, Ms. Mary Callahan Erdoes, at the plenary session titled: "Dynamic Economies: What Are the New Ways To Solve Diversification?, moderated by Erik Schatzker, Editor-at-large, Bloomberg TV, organised by Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.