Tony O. Elumelu, Chairperson of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), has called on public and private stakeholders to prioritise youth employment, agricultural investment, and currency stability as drivers of economic development and national peace. He made these remarks on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the Taraba International Investment Summit (TARAVEST 2025), held at the Banquet Hall, Government House, Jalingo.
Elumelu, a prominent investor and philanthropist, praised the summit’s objectives and used the opportunity to emphasise the importance of long-term, inclusive investment.
“We look forward to partnering with the vision come true. The reason I love investment and I preach investment is that it has a lot of benefits. First, we have to engage our young ones,” he stated.
He continued by highlighting the urgency of tackling youth unemployment through strategic investments.
“I am a champion. I believe strongly that employment is one short way of offsetting the trail of degeneration for people to leave school and not be able to find a job. When we encourage investment, I am happy to do it. This is commendable.”
Elumelu also addressed the connection between investment and national security, particularly through food production.
“Investment also helps to improve security. Where you have people, it’s not just in Taraba but in other states. This investment in agriculture, as they say, hungry man is an angry man.”
“Let’s feed our country so that there is happiness and peace everywhere. For us to do this, we must support investment in the country. Improving security and most importantly, ease of living.”
He also lauded recent efforts by the federal government to stabilise the naira and build investor confidence.
“I must say also, yesterday in Doha, one of the questions they asked me is very important in the press today. It’s about currency. I commend the federal government, not that the rate is not right, but the stability. And when there is stability, there are sources like it, so you can plan.”
“Things are predictable. I want to see us continue to do well and further bring currency rate down. We are ready for investment, but we need to continue soon.”
The UBA Chair was accompanied by the President-CEO of Transcorp.
“I assure you, we will support what you are doing. The President-CEO of Transcorp came with me. She came with me because I said we must invest more in Taraba. We already have investment in Tarama, but we need to invest more in Tarama. We will take note of that. And the Tony Elumelu Foundation will continue to support young.”
He concluded with a passionate commitment to youth entrepreneurship across Nigeria.
“We have supported quite a lot. We have supported quite a lot, each giving non-refundable capital, hundreds of them, to help them succeed. Good investment.”
“For me, investment in our young world is the most fundamental and powerful investment we can give to people. We will invest in our young world, from this state and other states of the country. We will invest in those who are here. And we will make sure Taraba will be open to sell. We have payment services.”
