Daud Olatunji
Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, has revealed that he began his career in a job for which he was not qualified, saying a stranger’s decision to give him an opportunity ultimately shaped his journey as a businessman and investor.
Elumelu, who made the disclosure in a post on X on Saturday, said his experience had convinced him that African talents should not have to depend on luck before getting opportunities to succeed.
According to him, the opportunity he received early in his career became a responsibility to create similar opportunities for others.
“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,” Elumelu said.
He added, “I was lucky. But luck should not be the only way an African talent gets a chance.
The businessman said Africa’s growing participation in artificial intelligence was being undermined by inadequate electricity infrastructure, warning that the continent could miss out on the next phase of the digital revolution if the power challenge was not urgently addressed.
Elumelu said Africa currently accounted for less than one per cent of the world’s AI computing capacity and about three per cent of its AI talent.
“The constraint is not talent. It is electricity. We leapfrogged landlines with mobile. We will not leapfrog electricity,” he said.
He described the race for artificial intelligence as equally a race for reliable electricity and investment in power infrastructure.
“The race for AI in Africa is also a race for megawatts,” he said.
Elumelu urged young Africans to be willing to begin their entrepreneurial and professional journeys even before they considered themselves fully qualified, drawing from his own experience.
“My closing advice: To the youth in the room: start before you are qualified. I did,” he said.
He also called on investors and development partners to increase funding for African entrepreneurs, arguing that the success of the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s seed-capital programme had demonstrated that young African entrepreneurs were worthy of investment.
“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,” he added.
Elumelu has previously spoken about the lessons he acquired during his early days as a photocopier salesperson, saying the experience continued to influence his approach to business and entrepreneurship.
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