6 things Tony Elumelu told Linkedin CEO and World Bank President on Digital Economy

One of Africa's most influential business leaders and bank chiefs, Tony Elumelu was in Washington DC for the World Bank Spring Meetings and he discussed about Digital Economy in Africa with World Bank president, Jim Yong Kim and Linkedin CEO, Jeff Weiner.

The former CEO of United Bank for Africa and Chairman of Heirs_Holdings, explained his exploits around Africa and his contribution towards achieving Digital Economy in Africa.

The session at the World Bank Spring Meetings also witnessed the launch of the launch of the Digital Economy for Africa initiative by the World Bank.

Here are the six points made by the brilliant mind and Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation:

The need to develop with technology

The world as we know it is changing rapidly. We can no longer talk about development without talking about technology and its potential to enable us leapfrog the typical growth trajectory of other economies before us.

ALSO READ: Tony Elumelu Foundation selects 1000 entrepreneurs across Africa for its 2018 programme

Tech giants scrambling for African youths

This is especially true in Africa where entrepreneurs innovate in unprecedented ways in the technology space. Last week, while in Kenya & Uganda I met some of these tech entrepreneurs who are being sought after by global tech giants like Microsoft & Google DigitalEconomy.

Young Africans are eager to succeed

I see hard working young people in Nigeria and Africa; 60% of the population; who are eager to succeed. All they need is the enabling environment that will help this continent harness this demographic dividend.

Tony Elumelu Foundation's stride across Africa

The TonyElumeluFDN is now in its 4th year of empowering young entrepreneurs across Africa, providing training, seed capital finance, networking & advocacy to help young Africans in all 54 countries across the continent to succeed.

Everybody has a role to play

We all have a role to play in this: the private sector, policy makers & development partners like the world bank. We must prioritise our youth, believe in them and invest them because their success is our collective success.

African values must be protected always

As we push for the Digital Economy in Africa, we must however always be reminded of human consciousness and of our values. We must have a purpose in using technology to drive inclusive development and we must be transparent about it.