Only we will develop Africa and the world should rethink how to engage with and intervene in Africa. If despite the sum of $500 billion spent in the past 10 years, we still remain perpetually dependent and the poverty reduction needle has not been moved significantly.

A new development model is therefore needed, a development model that embraces shared value and local value addition and long term investment and private sector development and ultimately entrepreneurship.

Hence, Africapitalism is a development model that prioritizes our youth and creates hope for them. It is a bottom up approach to development, an all-inclusive approach that brings development to everyone.

One that creates economic empowerment and one that creates hope for the future. Our people have ideas and are ready to work, they want to be given opportunity and a helping hand just like Steve Jobs, Bill gates have in their time.

Can we imagine if Steve Jobs was from a different continent, or country? Today he is dead but he has left behind a company that has value of about $800 billion and cash of about $300 billion but he’s dead. If he was in a different environment, it is possible he would have gone to the grave with his ideas.

It is based on the foregoing that my family through TEF committed a sum $100 million to give hope and opportunities to you young Africans, from all our 54 African countries, male, female, totally sector agnostic, to make sure that your ideas don’t just die in your brains.

Full speech at the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Forum - Link