While we acknowledge that African politicians have failed the continent, we could look elsewhere for hope and inspiration of the continent. Africa's problems are many, but so are the business opportunities to solve these problems. There are many African entrepreneurs that have taken this challenge and are now making great strides in the continent.
Take Nigeria's Tony Elumelu for example. Mr Elumelu is a world renown entrepreneur, and through his bank- The United Bank of Africa, he's been able to become a billionaire. Through his foundation, the Tony Elumelu foundation, he sponsors young African entrepreneurs aiming to solve critical problems in the continent. He lends a seed capital of $5,000 to such startups, which is a critical for their survival. He also mentors them in business. Studies have shown that early startups do not just face a shortage of money, but also talent to propel those businesses. In fact, talent and networking is a much better ingredient for an entrepreneur to succeed than the availability of money.
Once we make our entrepreneurs succeed, they will be able to solve the toughest challenges we face as Africans, and in the process create wealth, and clean decent and rewarding jobs for our people. In this way, governments will have access to more taxes, and provide better public services to the people.
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