Elumelu spoke on Wednesday on the sidelines of the annual
meetings of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings.

The businessman said “it is estimated that Africa has over
$4 trillion in domestic capital on the continent”.

“If we can mobilise this, we will not put strain on
companies’ fiscal burden. But, the challenge is in working together to mobilise
this capital,” he said.

“To do so, we need to establish trust, accountability, and
make sure the domestic savings and capital mobilisation on the continent is
working for the people and channeling that resources in the required area.”

He argued that improving access to electricity would
significantly boost productivity and youth employment, enabling Africa to
better support global economic growth.

Elumelu said inclusion is not automatic, adding that
inclusion is deliberate.

“We need to have African voices on the table. Digital
inclusion in the 21st century is economic inclusion. If we want to deal with
inequality, if we want to create and democratise prosperity across the globe,
we must deal with some of these issues,” he said.

“When we talk about productivity in the digital age, we are
talking about people. Productivity is not just about output per worker, it is
really about opportunity per person.

“In Africa, we see this age, the challenges and the
prospects. We have leapfrogged in the past, and we think that this digital age
provides an opportunity to even leapfrog further in the area of healthcare,
agriculture, and even in the area of electricity.”

However, Elumelu noted that for Africa to fully harness the
opportunity, there are structural barriers on the continent that must be
addressed.

“We have infrastructure deficit on the continent. Access to
electricity is so critical for the advancement of AI and of course, the
productivity that comes with it,” he said.

“We do have the challenge on the continent. We also have
access to capital challenges that affect entrepreneurs in this space of AI and
co.”

Elumelu also said the continent needs to find a combination
therapy “that addresses these challenges for us to reap these benefits that we
see”.

“We need to see a deliberate and concerted massive
investment in AI and infrastructure that unleashes AI’s capabilities and
productivity on the continent,” he said.

The philanthropist also highlighted the continent’s
infrastructure gap and called for investment in capital projects and AI
development.