In recent years, Africa has been undergoing its own industrial revolution. With a young and talented population, African nations are destined to reach their economic objectives. Africapitalism is an economic term that was introduced by Mr. Tony O Elumelu and it is quite a hot topic on the African continent. Mr. Elumelu is a Nigerian billionaire and has fostered the concept of Africapitalism immensely in his home nation of Nigeria. He is one of the many large investors in Nigeria that have adopted the philosophy and is setting a good example for fellow countrymen and women, showing that his idea of Africapitalism is economically strategic. This extended essay discusses the impact that Africapitalism has had on Nigeria’s economy in the recent past.

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Introduction

Africapitalism is an economic term derived from capitalism. Capitalism can be defined as a philosophy whereby goods or services are produced by private investors to make profit, with little to none government intervention. The main goals of the Africapitalism are to create social wealth and long term investments. The economic term was created in 2011 and was introduced by Nigerian multibillionaire and former banker Mr. Tony O. Elumelu. Mr Elumelu’s main aim is to ensure Africapitalism is associated with philanthropy whereby, businessmen and women invest in their own society. On the 8th of May 2011 Tony Elumelu founded the Africapitalism Institute. Many African countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya have experienced positive impacts from its implementation which in turn, has proven well on their economies. In Nigeria this has been discovered through high entrepreneurship and enhancing local demand. The economic term is still relatively new and I thought it would be interesting to see how it has fared so far.

The theory of Africapitalism

Mr Elumelu stated that Africapitalism “is a deceptively simple notion, but a powerful one that has the potential to remake a continent, and put Africa on an equal economic footing with the rest of the world,” The African continent is often referred to as the capitalist hub meaning that there are a lot of economic opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors to build successful businesses which helps solve most social challenges such as poverty. Therefore, an appropriate definition of the philosophy would be, “long-term investments that create economic prosperity, as well as social wealth.” With prosperity and wealth also comes improved standard of living, better health care and less social ills.

The progression of Africapitalism

With the implementation of Africapitalism, Nigeria has been able to put their hardship of exploitation by their colonial master in the past. Africapitalism has played a role in alleviating problems such as poverty and poor infrastructure. Present day Nigeria’s economic growth is noticeable. For instance oil companies are able to create petroleum from natural oil, which in the same time has created jobs and a new group of consumers. Influential people such as Mr. Aliko Dangote have put much effort into making sure private investment is changed into social wealth. Mr Dangote is Africa’s largest cement producer and is best known for being the richest African with a net worth of about 12.3 billion USD. He and many other Nigerian entrepreneurs have ensured that the money they amass is injected back into the well b