TheCable

Tony Elumelu, chairman, United Bank for Africa Plc, has commended the African Finance Corporation on its initiatives and contributions targeted towards supporting African economies in the past few years.

He said that these initiatives had gone a long way in fostering growth and diversity on the continent.

According to a statement issued by Ramon Nasir, UBA external affairs officer,  on Wednesday, Elumelu gave this commendation during the AFC’s 10th anniversary celebrations in Abuja, on Tuesday.

He was also full of praises for the corporate governance culture exhibited and practiced by the AFC, adding that its impact had been felt not only in Africa, but in the world over.

“As a pioneer chairman of risk and governance at the AFC, I interacted closely with management and the AFC has world class leadership and management. We have seen great seeds planted. This is indeed an African institution domiciled in Nigeria with world class standards,” the UBA group chairman who was honoured at the event as a long serving board member of the AFC said.

Having served on the board of the AFC for nine years, he shared his vision and hopes for the corporation in the next 10 years as he sat on a panel tagged ‘The foundation for growth’, alongside former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Chukwuma Soludo, former Central Bank of Nigeria governor.

“The commodity crisis has demonstrated that we need to attract more capital to Africa and I would like to see the AFC mobilizing much needed capital to the continent as we engage with our political leaders to create the enabling environment for growth and development,” Elumelu said.

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, who had earlier opened the AFC summit on infrastructure revolution, commended Obasanjo, for his clear vision in conceiving the idea of an African development finance institution that would be birthed on the continent.

“The idea of developing a wholly African finance institution that was the will of African leaders, nations and institutions, seemed far – fetched a decade ago,” he said.

He expressed optimism that Africa was on the right path.

“This coming decade is Africa’s time’ he said, adding that “the world would be seeing real development on the continent in the next few years”.

Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor; Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana’s minister of finance; Kemi Adeosun, Nigeria’s minister of finance;  Kasija Matia, Uganda’s minister of planning and economic development; Isatou Touray, Gambian minister of trade, and Oby Ezekwesili, Nigeria’s former minister of education, were all at the event.