THE Chairman of Heirs Holdings Group, Transcorp Group and UBA Group, Tony Elumelu, has declared his readiness to support and partner with the Ministry of Finance Incorporated in combating the various economic challenges facing Nigeria.
Elumelu made this known at the MOFI Public Wealth Management Conference held on Tuesday in Abuja.
He commended the Ministry of Finance for the initiative of bringing together key players and stakeholders in Nigeria’s economic sector.
He said it was an effort to chart a course to position MOFI as the strategic institution that will support the Federal Government’s plans to address economic challenges and drive growth in the economy.
Speaking on his role to share private sector perspective on public assets, Elumelu advised the MOFI leadership to embrace long term thinking, stressing that there is no need to rush for immediate profits
He said: “I think that MOFI should be saluted for setting out these goals, for looking widely for models and approaches – and for bringing a private sector mindset to the stewardship of public assets.
“First of all, setting the strategic intent of the institution is critical.
“Decide early – What kind of institution should we intend to be?
“For me this has to be one that is long-term in thinking, one that values excellence in all areas, and is strong on corporate governance.
“Our Group stands ready to support and partner with MOFI in whatever way we can to ensure that this initiative is a long-term success.
“Times are hard for Nigerians everywhere and we must come together and act in unison to catalyse significant socio-economic development for Nigeria and all our people.”
Further in his address, Elumelu cited the success of Singapore’s Temasek as a case study, stating the need for the replication of the approach in Nigeria.
He further highlighted the various key factors to be considered by MOFI and stakeholders to achieve its success, which, according to him, follows no order.
The key factors are:
1. Leadership Capacity – Assemble the best in the industry who possess a turnaround mindset to transform the state assets and set performance targets for them.
2. Create a high-performance environment.
3. Culture of Excellence – You have to have an improvement mindset, a hunger for operational excellence.
4. Corporate Governance – Build strong governance structure including a strong board with seasoned private sector professionals and an empowered executive management team. Balance this with non-executives, who bring objectivity and experience.
5. Risk Management – Continuous review of the operating environment to identify and mitigate emerging portfolio risks.
6. Non-interference in management.
The Conglomerate Chairman posited that these key success factors are needed to truly unlock the value of our state-owned assets.