Elumelu: ‘Let's not compromise on quality’

The Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Tony Elumelu, has charged African entrepreneurs to ensure excellence and endeavour to offer products and services of high standards “without a compromise on quality”.

He admonished that quality should be a priority “so that when people hear that brand name they know that it is synonymous to quality”.

For him, customers must be able “to rely on your brand”, and that will pay off in the long run.

He made this comment on Tuesday, March 14, as he addressed a gathering of students at the University of Ghana, Legon. Speaking on the topic, “Africapitalism and Entrepreneurship”, Mr Elumelu highlighted that entrepreneurs should strive to be people of integrity and be professional in the endeavours that they undertake.

“Attention to the culture of excellence might not give you the right returns depending on how you define your returns, but in the long run it will give you significant returns”.

He said the private sector remains very important to African development hence the setup of the Tony Elumelu Foundation to support young business-oriented individuals.

The vision of the foundation is the establishment of the pre-eminent pan-African entrepreneurship programme aimed at creating 10,000 start-ups across Africa within the next 10 years that would generate significant employment and wealth.

The Foundation hopes to create businesses that can generate at least 1,000,000 new jobs and contribute at least $10 billion in revenues across Africa over 10 years.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation has supported thousands of entrepreneurs in Africa with 79 Ghanaians being beneficiaries of the last programme.

The foundation will soon announce 1000 individuals who will benefit from its US$100 million sponsorship programme this year.

He was of the firm belief that wealth had to be democratised in a formal and institutionalised way to make it beneficial to generations.