The pervasive negative narrative around Africa is our continent’s greatest challenge

The pervasive negative narrative around Africa is our continent’s greatest challenge - Elumelu at Chatham House

At a gathering of senior policymakers and developments experts hosted by UK’s leading foreign policy institute, the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, spoke on a panel alongside United Kingdom Minister of State, Department for International Development (DFID), Rory Stewart, OBE, where he condemned the pervasive stereotypes in the media around Africa and the resulting negative narrative as “Africa’s greatest challenge.

“I believe that the greatest challenge Africa has as a continent when it comes to attracting investment is 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 have heard about Africa is corruption, how would you pass a positive investment decision to go and invest in the continent? The result is that the vicious cycle of neglect continues and is even reinforced.”

The Chairman of Heirs Holdings, a pan-African investment firm with interests in financial services, power and oil & gas, called for an urgent “reset of mindset” to attract the level of global private capital that will drive job creation and reduce poverty on the continent. “We must reset the way we see and discuss Africa.

People do business with people they are comfortable with. Investors who repeatedly hear horrible things about our people and the continent will never invest here. We will continue to host national gatherings and seminars to discuss unemployment, poverty and income inequality if we do not fix the existing information asymmetry, the poor quality of information that is put out.”