Nigerian businessman and philanthropist Tony Elumelu has met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris as part of renewed efforts to strengthen economic and private-sector partnerships between Africa and France.
Elumelu was among prominent business leaders who attended the Africa-France Impact Coalition gathering at the Élysée Palace, where discussions focused on investment, entrepreneurship and ways to deepen economic cooperation between the two regions.
The meeting comes as France seeks to build a new model of engagement with African countries, with greater emphasis on business, investment and partnerships rather than traditional aid.
The Africa-France Impact Coalition, known as AFIC, was established under the leadership of President Macron and is coordinated by the French-African Foundation. The coalition brings together more than 40 African and French business leaders whose companies collectively generate more than €100 billion in annual revenue in Africa, employ over one million people across the continent and invest more than €40 billion annually.
Elumelu has emerged as one of the prominent African business voices within the initiative. In March 2026, he revealed that he had sat down with Macron and fellow leaders of the Africa-France Impact Coalition in Paris, where discussions centred heavily on Africa’s young population, entrepreneurship and the need to create more opportunities for young Africans.
He argued that Africa’s youth represent the continent’s greatest asset but need greater access to capital, mentorship, markets and opportunities to build sustainable businesses.
The latest engagement also follows the Africa Forward Summit held in Nairobi in May 2026, where Macron met African leaders and members of the business coalition. According to the Élysée, the summit produced commitments involving €23 billion in private-sector investments from French and African companies across the continent, alongside plans for the AFIC to become a more permanent structure for economic cooperation.
At the October 5 gathering in Paris, Elumelu used his address to make a direct case for increased investment in African entrepreneurs.
Reflecting on his own experience and his work through the Tony Elumelu Foundation, he called on institutions including the Agence Française de Développement, Proparco and Bpifrance, as well as other investors, to move beyond supporting Africa through traditional aid and instead co-invest with African entrepreneurs.
“Aid asks what Africa needs. Partnership asks what Africa is building — and takes a share of the risk alongside it,” Elumelu said in his address.
He also pointed to the long-standing relationship between his foundation and French development institutions, recalling that the Agence Française de Développement partnered with his initiative in 2017 to help share the risk behind lending to African entrepreneurs.
Elumelu further recalled Macron’s 2018 visit to Nigeria, when the French president met with more than 2,000 young African entrepreneurs at an event hosted by the Tony Elumelu Foundation in Lagos.
According to Elumelu, the foundation had funded 4,250 entrepreneurs at the time of Macron’s visit. He said the number has since grown to more than 24,000 entrepreneurs.
The businessman has consistently positioned entrepreneurship as a major pathway to reducing unemployment and expanding economic opportunity across Africa. Through the Tony Elumelu Foundation, he has supported thousands of entrepreneurs with seed capital, training and mentorship.
His latest appearance alongside Macron therefore places the Nigerian businessman at the centre of a broader conversation about how African and European businesses can work together to drive investment, job creation and private-sector growth.
The engagement also comes at a significant moment in France-Africa relations, as Macron’s administration attempts to develop a broader economic relationship with the continent built around investment and what French officials describe as more equal partnerships.
For Elumelu, the message remains focused on moving from discussions about Africa’s needs to concrete investments in what Africans are already building.
