Liberia: Elumelu - Investors Need Certainty to Create Jobs

West African governments must provide predictable policies, efficient regulation and security if they want businesses to commit long-term investment and create jobs, Nigerian investor Tony Elumelu has told a gathering of business and financial leaders in Lagos.

Speaking ahead of the inaugural West Africa Integration and Investment Summit (WAIIS), Elumelu said private-sector efforts to build industries and expand economic opportunity must be matched by government action that gives investors confidence.

"Governments must provide the policy certainty, regulatory efficiency and security required to give investors the confidence to commit capital for the long term."

The Chairman of Heirs Holdings hosted Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio at the first physical meeting of the summit's Private Sector Advisory Board, according to a statement issued on October 7.

Their message placed two responsibilities alongside each other: governments must create conditions that encourage investment, while businesses must put capital into enterprises capable of generating employment and strengthening the region's economy.

Bio said West Africa's resources and market opportunities would mean little unless they translated into productive activity and better livelihoods.

"But potential is not prosperity. Our task is to convert these advantages into productive enterprises, competitive industries, regional value chains, jobs and wealth."

The meeting focused on four areas identified as priorities for investment: energy trade and industrialisation, strategic minerals, agribusiness and digital transformation. These sectors will also shape discussions at the summit, scheduled for November 17-18 at the Julius Maada Bio International Conference Centre in Lungi, Sierra Leone.

Bio outlined a vision for a more integrated regional market serving more than 400 million people, with businesses from West Africa and elsewhere investing and trading more closely across borders.

He urged advisory board members to move beyond promoting the summit and begin working directly with prospective investors. That work would include matching investors with viable projects and identifying financing gaps, policy decisions and other measures needed to move transactions forward.

"We are partners in execution -- let us transform ideas into partnerships, partnerships into investments, and investments into lasting prosperity for our continent," Bio told the board.

The statement did not announce signed investment agreements or disclose a capital mobilisation target. Instead, the Lagos meeting set out the sectors and preparatory work intended to help the November gathering produce investments.

Elumelu welcomed Bio's decision to place private capital and enterprise at the centre of the regional agenda. He reaffirmed his commitment to mobilising African and international investment alongside financial institutions including the Africa Finance Corporation, Afreximbank, United Bank for Africa and Ecobank to support priority projects.

He also urged African businesses to look beyond their domestic markets and combine financing, expertise and capabilities to build enterprises that can compete on a larger scale.

"This is consistent with our aspirations to create jobs for our young people," Mr. Elumelu said. "We have all it takes to be prosperous."

His approach reflects his philosophy of Africapitalism, which holds that long-term private investment in critical sectors can help drive Africa's economic transformation.

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu reinforced the call for governments to support investment and cross-border commerce. He emphasised industrialisation and the free movement of goods and services as essential to building an integrated West African market.

According to the statement, Sanwo-Olu said political leaders must provide the enabling environment, certainty and assurances businesses require to invest, produce and trade across borders.

The discussions linked regional integration to practical business decisions: where companies can invest, how they can reach customers in neighbouring countries and whether government policies give them confidence to make long-term commitments.

For a Liberian audience, the emphasis on energy, minerals, agriculture and digital enterprise offers a clear connection to the debate over investment and employment. The central question raised by the meeting is how resource wealth and business opportunities can become industries that employ people and create wider economic benefits.

The advisory board brings together prominent business leaders and development financiers. Its membership includes Dangote Group President Aliko Dangote, BUA Group Chairman Abdul Samad Rabiu, Oando Group Chief Executive Wale Tinubu, Afreximbank President George Elombi, Africa Finance Corporation President Samaila Zubairu and Africa50 Chief Executive Alain Ebobissé.

The November summit is expected to bring heads of state, investors and business leaders together to advance investment in the four priority sectors. In preparation, Bio has asked the board to identify what is needed to turn prospective projects into transactions.

Read the original article on Liberian Observer.