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Day Two of 2019 Tony Elumelu Foundation Forum Underway with Osinbajo, Kagame, Other African Leaders in Attendance
It’s the second day of the fifth edition of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Forum holding at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.
Five African presidents, as well as Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, are expected to grace today’s event.
Themed ‘Empowering African Entrepreneurs,’ the forum is arguably the largest gathering of entrepreneurs, policymakers, and business leaders across the continent.
The event kicks off at exactly 10.20 a.m. with a rendition of the Nigerian national anthem
Followed by Rwandan, then Senegalese, and the Democratic Republic of Congo: in that order.
Those in attendance include Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Felix Tshisekedi of the DRC, and Akinwunmi Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank.
Others include Isa Jibril, a senator representing the Senate President; Alhassan Doguwa, Majority Leader, House of Representatives, representing the Speaker; and the Head of Service, Winifred Oyo-Ita.
The governors of Niger, Ekiti, Kwara, and Kebbi states are also in attendance.
A minute silence is observed for the late Tunisian president, Beji Caid Essebsi.
The CEO of The Tony Elumelu Foundation Forum, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, in her opening remarks says the event is the beginning of the rise of African entrepreneurship.
She says the movement is creating jobs and generating revenues in their millions.
She says $5 billion will create one million entrepreneurs who will, in turn, create 25 million jobs.
The first plenary for the day will be moderated by Fareed Zakaria, CNN anchor.
Members of the panel include Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation; Akinwunmi Adesina, AfDB President; Benedict Oramah, Director-General, AFREXIM Bank; Sidi Tar, DG, BADEA; Koen Doens, the Deputy DG of the EU Commission; Gilles Carbonnier, VP ICRC; and Mr Elumelu
Mr Zakaria tells the panellist to speak from the heart and do away with cliches.
The first speaker, Mr Adesina, says Africa is no longer arising but “has risen.”
Mr Adesina says 12-13 million people enter the market every year and cannot find jobs.
He says Africa will have about 800 young people in 2050 and a billion people by 2060.
“We can’t keep postponing our liabilities into the future.”
He proposes that African leaders should begin to change from youth empowerment to youth investment.
He says it’s time for African leaders to create youth entrepreneurship and investment banks for African youth.
Mr Tah says microfinance has been instrumental to BADEA’s success in Africa.
He says they are working to develop capacities across Africa
Our vision is to scale up our intervention with all our stakeholders. We are also in the process of creating new financial institutions to cater to those who don’t have access to formal banking systems.”
Mr Doens says they want to show that beyond the issue of illegal migration that there is a continent booming.
He says most of the jobs in Europes have been created by small and medium scale firms and there is no reason why African entrepreneurs cannot do the same.
Mr Carbonnier of the Red Cross says the problem is not always the lack of capital but difficulties in finding bankable projects.
Mr says when he was running an African magazine, they struggled to put a correspondent in one African country because of the difficulties in connecting between the countries.
“It was easier to position a correspondent in London or Paris than anywhere in Africa.”
In his response, Mr Oramah says Africans need to be daring, to take risks.
“If we don’t take our future in our own hands, we won’t be able to take the opportunities that exist in Africa.”
He suggests to TEF to also test the orientation of their beneficiaries before giving them the grants.
Mr Elumelu says the AfDB supported 1,000 entrepreneurs in 2019, and AFREXIM is planning to get on board.
He says it is important to have an opportunity to try ideas.
He says the Red Cross was the first international partners his foundation had.
“The way to support African entrepreneurs must change.”
He says the Red Cross was known for responding to emergencies but now they have started supporting entrepreneurs.
The second session opens – the presidential session – with a keynote speech by Mr Osinbajo.
The vice president begins by telling inspiring stories of some entrepreneurs who are making a difference across Africa.
He says the stories are just a fraction of what is happening across the continent.
He says school curriculums must also emphasise entrepreneurship and not just science, technology and maths that is currently done.
He says those that always talk about the good old days are probably suffering from memory loss.
“Today the smartphones in the hands of our young people have more power than all the computers in the Apollo that landed the first man on the moon.”
Speaking about the impressive ease of doing business in Rwanda, Mr Kagame says his country looked for ways of doing things differently from what people were used to.
“Development is what we must do, prosperity is what we must achieve.”
He says they were aware of where they were coming from and that helped in entrenching good governance.
Mr Kagame is asked if he would be able to create a political legacy that outlasts him.
Mr Kagame says the “legacy is not me, it’s that belief behind me.”
He says they have managed the mindset of the people and united the country.
He says Rwandans working for themselves and for the country is his greatest legacy.
Mr Sall of Senegal says if Agriculture is modernised, it would engage a lot of African youth.
He says the public sector in Senegal is doing reforms to help fight corruption so there would be an enabling environment for people to come and invest.
Mr Tshisekedi of the DRC says there is a similar initiative in his country and invited Mr Elumelu to participate.
He says he is very proud of the “two sons of Nigeria,”
On the issue of corruption in government in Africa, he says it is a big scourge on the continent.
He says before coming to power, he had been at the forefront of the fight against corruption in his country.
“Corruption is something we fight against in all its ramifications, small and big corruption small corruption is at the level of individuals while big corruption is at the level of institutions.”
He says corruption is slowing down Africa’s economy.
“I am very sure that corruption is one of the ills eating down our place and we have to do everything possible to eradicate it.”
Mr Rugunda, the Ugandan PM, says the programme is laudable because it is promoting pan-Africanism.
On women entrepreneurs, he admitted that women are disadvantaged because of the culture of ownership of land and property.
The experience in Uganda, although women are at a disadvantage, when it comes to business they have excelled over the men.”
He says women entrepreneurs should be given more support to overcome property ownership impediments.
He calls on leaders to be innovative and work with young people.
Premium Times
The Super Eagles’ 2026 World Cup dream suffered a major blow on Sunday as DR Congo advanced to the intercontinental playoff following a dramatic penalty shootout at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
Nigeria’s hopes of qualifying ended in heartbreaking fashion, marking the second consecutive year the Super Eagles will miss out on the world stage.
The match ended 1–1 after 120 minutes of regulation and extra time, sending the high-stakes encounter to penalties.
Nigeria initially went ahead through Frank Onyeka in the third minute, but DR Congo equalised in the 32nd minute through M. Elia.
The tension continued into the penalty shootout.
Nigeria’s Calvin Bassey and Moses Simon missed early chances, while Nwabali denied DR Congo’s first penalty.
Akor Adams kept the Super Eagles alive, but DR Congo struck back through Sadique and later scored the decisive fourth penalty, leaving Nigeria trailing 4–3 in the shootout.
The victory sets up DR Congo for a chance to secure one of the final World Cup tickets to the expanded 48-team tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Nigeria’s defeat marked the second consecutive year the Super Eagles will miss out on the world stage.
Both teams had earned their places in the final after dramatic semi-finals.
Nigeria had booked their place in the final with a dramatic 4–1 extra-time win over Gabon in Thursday’s semi-final at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium.
DR Congo also advanced with a 1–0 victory over Cameroon at the Al Barid Stadium the same evening.
The Leopards now await their intercontinental playoff opponent, keeping alive their hopes of reaching the 2026 World Cup, while the Super Eagles’ campaign comes to an agonising end in Rabat.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expelled Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, its suspended National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, and former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose.
Their expulsion was announced on Saturday at the party’s National Convention in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has insisted that there is Christian genocide ongoing in Nigeria, hence demanding end to the alleged Christian killings.
Speaking on Thursday after an emergency executive meeting of the Fellowship held at its national headquarters in Lagos, PFN President, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, said the body would no longer remain silent while Christians are “targeted, killed, raped, and displaced” across the country.
He said: “There is Christian genocide going on in Nigeria. If we call it by any other name, it will bring Nigeria down. We are crying out to our international friends, beginning with America and Donald Trump. Whatever you can do to help our government put an end to it, come quickly and get it done. When on Christmas Day, Christmas Day was turned a bloody day in Benue State, and hundreds were massacred. And we are to be conducting mass funerals when we are not in open conflict. What do you call that? And this is different from individual cases.
“Let us call a spade a spade. There is Christian genocide ongoing in Nigeria,”Bishop Oke declared.
“Even while we speak, killings are still taking place in Borno, Plateau, and Benue states. When 501 Christians were massacred in Dogon Noma in Plateau, what do we call that? When Christmas Day turned into a bloody day in Benue, with hundreds massacred, what name should we give it?
While noting that the United States President Donald Trump spoke the truth, the PRN President cited the case of Leah Sharibu who was abducted alongside other Chibok girls and has since remained in captivity.
“Like the case of Leah Sharibu. Where is Leah Sharibu? Like the case of Deborah that was lynched and burned alive in Sokoto? What about that? And several of our girls were kidnapped and forced, given out as wives by force without the consent of their parents and their Christian parents. And the Christian parents would not see them for years.And this has been going on. We have been talking and we are not taking it seriously. And it has been going on again and again, until Donald Trump now spoke. And Donald Trump spoke the truth. There is Christian genocide going on in Nigeria.
“Like you will have picked in the news, even since this narrative began, killing was still going on in Borno, in Plateau, in Benue, up until yesterday. What are we saying? When 501 Christians were massacred in Dogonaya in Plateau State, what do we call that? And for no offense other than they are Christians.”
Oke recalled that the Christian community had repeatedly called the attention of the government to the alleged genocide with no decisive action from the authority.
The cleric expressed his backing for President Trump’s intervention, adding that Trump only echoed what Nigerian Christians had been saying for year
“I was part of the team that went to see the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari. We spoke very strongly about this and the President listened to us, but he completely ignored the main issue we came for, If we came and spoke with such vehemence, with such passion, and then you pick the peripheral matter and left this matter alone, I knew that day that his government was complicit in what was going on,” he added.
Oke alleged that the killings across parts of Nigeria were systematic and targeted on Christians, lamenting that the killings had continued unchecked despite repeated appeals from the Church.
“The evidence is all over the place. There is nothing anybody can say that can whitewash it. It is evil, it is blood shedding, it is mass murder and it is genocide. The time to stop it is now. That is what the church in Nigeria is saying with one voice.
“Christians in this nation must be free to practice their faith in any part of Nigeria as bona fide citizens of Nigeria.
“These armed bandits, Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram, ISWAP, all of them using Islam as a cover. We have been living in peace with our Muslim brothers for a long, until this violent Islamic sect came up with an intent to make sure they impose Sharia on all Nigerians,” Oke said.
Bishop Oke called on President Bola Tinubu to decisively overhaul the nation’s security architecture, and ensure justice for victims of religious violence. He questioned why those responsible for notorious attacks—such as the killing of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto and the abduction of Leah Sharibu and the Chibok schoolgirls—remain unpunished.
“The government should prove by action, not words, that it is not complicit,” he said. “When hundreds are buried in mass graves and the whole world sees it, who can deny it? Why should we play politics with the blood of Nigerians?”
The PFN urged President Tinubu’s administration to rebuild trust by ensuring that the security architecture of the country is not infiltrated by those sympathetic to extremist ideologies.
Oke further condemned the government’s rehabilitation of so-called “repentant terrorists,” describing the move as a grave security.
He assured Christians that the PFN would continue to speak out until the killings stop. “We are not going to keep quiet. We will keep raising our voices until justice is done and every Nigerian, regardless of faith, can live in peace. The truth may be suppressed for a time, but it cannot be buried forever,” he said.
The meeting, which drew PFN leaders from across the country, reaffirmed the body’s commitment to national unity, peace, and the protection of fundamental human rights, while urging the media to “side with the oppressed” and report the truth without fear or bias.
