2 Africapitalism: A Management Idea for Business in Africa? Kenneth Amaeshi and Uwafiokun Idemudia background Africapitalism, a term coined by the Nigerian entrepreneur, Tony O. Elumelu CON, is an economic philosophy that embodies the private sector’s commitment to the economic transformation of Africa through investments that generate both economic prosperity and social wealth. 1 Elumelu argues that ‘Africa’s renaissance lies in the confluence of the right business and political action.’ 2 The concept is fast becoming a buzzword in Africa and is expected to gain recognition even beyond the continent. It has continued to attract significant attention in both business and policy circles. For instance, on an invitation to a panel chaired by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (9 April 2014), Elumelu shared his views on Africapitalism with the UN General Assembly and Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). 3 The World in 2015, a key publication by The Economist, featured a piece on ‘The Rise of Africapitalism’. 4 The Tony Elumelu Foundation has also established the Africapitalism Institute, 5 a research-based think tank to mainstream the understanding and practice of Africapitalism. One of the projects funded by the Africapitalism Institute is the Edinburgh Project. 6 This, amongst its other goals, aims to rethink 1 This chapter is a slightly amended version of a publication in the Africa Journal of Management, 1(2): 2015. The Open Access published journal version of this paper can be freely downloaded from www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23322373.2015.1026229. 2 http://tonyelumelufoundation.org/africapitalisminstitute/driving-africas-renaissance -africapitalism/. 3 www.heirsholdings.com/tonyelumelu/tony-elumelu-addresses-the-un-general-assembly. 4 www.economist.com/news/21631956-entrepreneurs-will-transform-africa-says-tony -elumelu-chairman-heirs-holdings-and. 5 www.tonyelumelufoundation.org/africapitalisminstitute/. 6 www.business-school.ed.ac.uk/blogs/research-news/2014/09/22/africapitalism-afri can-business-leaders-and-africas-development/. 19 use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316675922.003 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 54.80.238.45, on 10 Dec 2021 at 15:53:23, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of