Chairman of SIFAX Group, Taiwo Afolabi, has called on African entrepreneurs and investors to focus on building large and sustainable corporations capable of competing globally, rather than operating fragmented small-scale businesses.
Afolabi made the call on the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum held in Kigali, Rwanda.
According to him, Africa’s economic transformation would largely depend on the emergence of strong indigenous companies with the capacity to drive industrialisation, create jobs, attract foreign investment and compete on the global stage.
He said discussions at the forum highlighted the need for African businesses to embrace collaboration, regional integration, strategic expansion and long-term planning.
“Africa cannot achieve its full economic potential with thousands of weak and fragmented businesses operating in silos. What the continent needs are strong institutions and large corporations that can survive beyond their founders, scale across borders, attract global capital and compete with the best companies around the world,” he stated.
Afolabi noted that although entrepreneurship remains vital to Africa’s economic growth, there was a need for deliberate efforts to move beyond subsistence and lifestyle businesses towards building enduring enterprises with strong governance structures and innovation capacity.
He urged African governments, financial institutions and private sector players to create policies and environments that would encourage business scalability through improved infrastructure, access to finance, favourable regulations and enhanced regional trade.
“The conversations at the Africa CEO Forum clearly showed that Africa’s future lies in integration and scale. The African Continental Free Trade Area presents a historic opportunity for businesses to expand beyond national borders and build truly pan-African enterprises,” he added.
The SIFAX Group chairman further said the company’s long-term strategy was focused on supporting intra-African trade and the successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area through investments in logistics, ports, transportation and digital finance solutions across the continent.