The CEO as statesman (Part 2): Leadership imperatives for the African century

The phrase “Africa is the future” has echoed for decades in diplomatic speeches and investment brochures. But in truth, that future is no longer distant. With 1.4 billion people bound together under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Africa is on the cusp of becoming the largest growth story of the twenty-first century. The question is not whether the continent will rise, but in fact, who will lead that rise?

“Nigeria has the size, resources, and cultural influence to lead, but size alone will not suffice. The future will belong to those who act with vision, build at scale, invest beyond immediate returns, and leave behind ecosystems stronger than themselves.”

For Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with vast natural resources and unmatched cultural influence, the spotlight is inevitable. The mantle of leadership rests heavily on its business class. But are Nigerian entrepreneurs and CEOs ready for this responsibility, or will more agile competitors elsewhere in Africa seize the initiative?

Into this moment comes Femi Otedola’s memoir, Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business. One of Nigeria’s most recognisable billionaires, Otedola, reflects candidly on ambition, risk, crisis, and triumph. For young Nigerians, the book is a window into the realities of enterprise in an environment where resilience is constantly tested. It entertains, motivates, and humanises a figure often viewed only through headlines. Otedola’s accounts of daring and persistence are as instructive as his stories of success. His candour about setbacks, political uncertainty, and personal doubt offers valuable lessons. In this sense, Making It Big is a positive narrative: proof that with vision and tenacity, extraordinary success is possible.

Yet the memoir is more a chronicle of personal hustle than a blueprint for building enduring institutions. And that highlights a deeper challenge: Nigeria’s business community must not confuse individual wealth accumulation with strategies for continental transformation. Personal stories inspire, but they cannot substitute for the frameworks, systems, and governance Africa’s rise will demand.

Read also: The CEO as statesman (Part 1): Harnessing private power in a fragile Nigerian state

Nigeria has already produced dominant firms. Dangote towers over cement, GTCO, UBA and Access Bank shape financial services, and MTN connects millions. But dominance at home does not guarantee relevance across Africa. The African Century will reward leaders who think beyond borders, designing businesses not only for Lagos or Abuja but also for Lusaka, Kigali, Nairobi, and Accra. AfCFTA is not simply a trade agreement; it is a mandate for Nigerian CEOs to adopt a continental vision. Failure to adapt will leave the door open for competitors from Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, or Ghana.

Talent will be the defining resource. In the past, demography was destiny. Today, destiny belongs to those who can harness, retain, and inspire talent. Nigerian professionals are no longer confined to local opportunities — they are coding for Berlin startups, designing for Silicon Valley, streaming content to Netflix, and exporting services globally without leaving their homes. If Nigerian firms cannot offer compelling reasons for talent to remain—reasons grounded in purpose, growth, and pride—they will become mere training grounds for multinational corporations. Africa’s future will not be secured through cheap labour but through world-class talent cultivated and retained at home.

Here, Otedola’s story encourages. His rise illustrates how Nigerians can think boldly, break geographic barriers, and earn global recognition. For a generation that often feels constrained by limited opportunity, Making It Big shows that leaders from Nigeria can shape industries and influence policy.

Infrastructure also demands a reframe. For decades, Nigerian CEOs have treated private power plants, boreholes, and in-house logistics as reluctant necessities. But these are not burdens — they are competitive moats. A company that builds its own distribution networks or digital platforms is not just patching holes; it is laying the arteries of tomorrow’s African economy. Otedola’s ventures into power generation underscore this point. By stepping into a sector where the government struggled, he showed how private initiative can fill gaps, create opportunity, and reshape national trajectories. The lesson is clear: infrastructure is not charity, but strategy.

Africa’s business environment will remain politically volatile; it is the nature of a continent in transition. Nigerian CEOs must therefore master corporate diplomacy — the art of aligning enterprise with public priorities such as food security, energy access, and digital inclusion. Companies that build trust with governments, regulators, and communities will secure the legitimacy to expand. Otedola’s reflections on navigating government relations reveal both the hazards and necessities of this engagement. Survival and growth depend as much on political wisdom as on financial capital.

Perhaps the deepest challenge is psychological. Too many Nigerian companies remain inseparable from their founders, their fortunes rising and falling with individual personalities. Making It Big, with its focus on personal crises and triumphs, illustrates this tendency. Yet narratives of survival do not create legacies. Japan’s centuries-old shinise companies endure not because of heroic founders but because of stewardship — institutions designed to outlast individuals. Nigerian leaders must decide if they are building dynasties for themselves or institutions for the continent.

Encouraging signs exist. Dangote, despite criticism, has scaled beyond Nigeria’s borders. Uche Pedro transformed BellaNaija into a cultural platform with continental reach. GTCO and Access Bank evolved from modest institutions into pan-African powerhouses. These examples suggest that the shift from personality-driven companies to institution-driven legacies is possible.

But other nations are not waiting. Ethiopia is industrialising with focus, Kenya is exporting fintech innovation, Rwanda is branding itself as a hub for diplomacy and technology, and Ghana is attracting diaspora capital. Nigeria has the size, resources, and cultural influence to lead, but size alone will not suffice. The future will belong to those who act with vision, build at scale, invest beyond immediate returns, and leave behind ecosystems stronger than themselves.

The African Century is here. It will not be led by nostalgia or by memoirs of past hustles. It will be won through foresight, discipline, and humility — the humility to place institutions above individuals. Yet books like Making It Big remain important. They remind us that greatness is possible in adversity, that success need not be imported from Silicon Valley or Beijing but can be built in Lagos, nurtured in Port Harcourt, and scaled across Africa. Otedola’s victories are not blueprints, but they are signals — evidence that Nigerian entrepreneurs can and do rise to global prominence.

The task ahead is to turn signals into systems, to translate personal ambition into collective transformation. History is already asking the question: will Nigerian CEOs be the architects of Africa’s future, or its bystanders?

Dr Hani Okoroafor is a global informatics expert advising corporate boards across Europe, Africa, North America, and the Middle East. He serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of BusinessDay. Reactions are welcome at doctorhaniel@gmail.com.