Tony O. Elumelu, chairman of the Heirs Holding Ltd and a business leader, has committed US$2.5 billion to Obama’s Power Africa initiative in a move to power the continent.
This is part of his commitment to deliver affordable and accessible power to the continent.The investment will be done through Elumelu’s pan-african proprietary investment company Heirs Holdings.
Power Africa is a multi-stakeholder partnership between the United States, the governments of Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Ethiopia, and the African private sector, with the shared objective of accelerating investment in Africa’s power sector over the next five years.
This initiative was launched in South Africa during Obama’s town hall at the University of Cape Town.
Earlier this year, Elumelu’s holding company, through its investee company, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp), purchased the Ughelli power plant. This plant is one of Nigeria’s largest power assets which plans to restore to its full generating capacity of 1000 megawatts.
“The investment we are making demonstrates our intent to become a significant player in the power sector. It also shows in a clear and meaningful way that African capital can and should be part of the solution to Africa’s challenges. We need more African companies to step up and get involved in Africa’s development, he said.”
Elumelu, went on to say that Heirs Holdings’ investment in Power Africa is not just about creating value for shareholders. The holdings wants to conduct business in the specific sector for the long term, in a way that links economic return to social benefits which he called Africapitalism.
He added that Access to affordable, uninterrupted power will have an immeasurable impact on the economic ecosystem. Bringing down the cost of doing business, expanding and innovating entrepreneurs, and jobs creating will by a product of the implementation of the agenda.