Tony Elumelu in Zambia: Financing Africa’s Future from the Ground Up

By Dingindaba Jonah Buyoya

I was genuinely surprised to learn that more than 350 young Zambians have each received US$5,000 in seed capital through the Tony Elumelu Foundation. For anyone who has ever tried to start a business in Zambia, that number is remarkable. Accessing capital is extremely difficult. Banks demand collateral that most young people do not have, and investors often dismiss local ideas as too risky.

When someone manages to secure even US$5,000 to test an idea, it is not a small contribution. It is a lifeline.

This is what makes Tony Elumelu’s visit to Zambia stand out. It is not simply because a prominent banker visited the State House, but because he represents a type of investor that African economies urgently need, one who provides local capital with a long-term vision.

For years, Zambia has promoted entrepreneurship as a solution to unemployment. Yet there are very few mechanisms that genuinely make this possible. The education system produces job seekers rather than founders. Banks play it safe, and government funding rarely reaches those who need it most.

Elumelu’s foundation, through its Zambian beneficiaries, has quietly filled part of that gap. The model is practical rather than perfect. It offers a modest amount of funding, paired with training, and challenges recipients to build from the ground up. Collectively, those small businesses have created more than 16,000 jobs. This demonstrates that even modest injections of capital can have a significant impact.

Elumelu’s trip to Lusaka was not about handing out grants. His discussion with President Hakainde Hichilema focused on investment rather than charity. He intends for UBA to deepen its presence in Zambia, particularly in energy and food security, two sectors that will determine whether the country achieves genuine transformation.

Elumelu represents a growing school of thought that believes Africans should finance Africa’s own development. His approach is not about short-term profit, but about building institutions that shape economies from within.

Few sectors reveal Zambia’s challenges as clearly as energy. Years of power shortages have slowed industrial production, discouraged investors, and hindered overall growth. UBA’s experience in financing power projects in Nigeria through Heirs Holdings and Transcorp Power, which supply roughly 40 percent of that country’s electricity, makes it a potentially important player in Zambia’s energy sector.

However, the Zambian context is complex. Financing power generation projects here requires navigating regulation, currency instability, and bureaucratic delays. Whether UBA can replicate its Nigerian success will depend on its willingness to assume local risk and on how effectively the government creates a predictable environment for investment.

For Zambia, the key lesson is that investment confidence must be earned. The government’s willingness to engage with private investors is encouraging, yet it must be supported by consistent policy, efficient approvals, and a credible commitment to making the business environment reliable.

For investors such as Elumelu, the challenge lies in moving beyond photo opportunities to create tangible outcomes that Zambians can experience directly, through access to finance, reliable electricity, and the growth of local enterprises.

This moment is significant because it highlights a simple truth. Africa will not be developed through aid conferences or slogans. It will progress when Africans with capital, competence, and conviction choose to invest in one another.

Tony Elumelu’s visit to Zambia matters, not because of the high-profile meetings or the speeches, but because it exposes a reality we all recognise. Africa’s greatest challenge is not a shortage of ideas. It is a shortage of belief, capital, and execution.

The real measure of success will be whether this visit leads to sustained investment and whether more young people are allowed to turn their ideas into jobs. Ultimately, I think that is what true development should look like: growth driven from the ground up, not imposed from above.

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