TONY Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings, has said he started his career in a job he was not qualified for after someone took a chance on him.
News Point Nigeria reports that Elumelu, in a post on X on Saturday, said he was lucky to have received the opportunity, but stressed that luck should not be the only way African talent gets a chance to succeed.
“I started my career in a job I wasn’t qualified for. Someone took a chance on me. Everything I have built since has been to repay it,” he said.
“I was lucky. But luck should not be the only way an African talent gets a chance.
“Our job is to democratise that luck!”
Elumelu said Africa currently accounts for less than one per cent of the world’s “AI compute and 3% of its AI talent”, stressing that the continent’s major constraint is not a shortage of talent but inadequate electricity.
“The constraint is not talent. It is electricity. We leapfrogged landlines with mobile. We will not leapfrog electricity,” he said.
The businessman also said Africa must address its electricity challenges quickly to avoid missing out on the digital revolution.
According to him, the race for artificial intelligence (AI) in Africa is also a race for megawatts, highlighting the critical role of reliable electricity in enabling the continent to participate meaningfully in the rapidly expanding AI economy.
“My closing advice: To the youth in the room: start before you are qualified. I did,” he said.
“To the investors and partners in the audience: @TonyElumeluFDN seed capital has proved that young African entrepreneurs are investible.
“Now co-invest with us to take them to scale.”
Elumelu’s comments reflect his longstanding emphasis on creating opportunities for young African entrepreneurs and ensuring that access to capital and opportunities is not limited to those who are already established.
On September 11, Elumelu said lessons from his days as a photocopier salesperson have continued to shape his approach to business.