Kaye Whiteman Lecture
Delivered by Mr. Papa Madiaw Ndiaye
Chairman, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated
BCA African Business Book of the Year Awards
4 July 2025 | Institute of Directors, London
Good evening.
Distinguished guests, members of the BCA, and friends—
It is a great honour to be with you this evening at the 2025 BCA African Business Book of the Year Awards, and a particular privilege to deliver this year’s Kaye Whiteman Lecture. I am pleased to see so many familiar faces, many of whom have been working to advance the African.
Let me begin by expressing my sincere thanks to Mr. Arnold Ekpe, the Chairman of the Business Council for Africa—not just for this invitation, but for his continued leadership and enduring belief in Africa’s potential. Arnold, your work has and continues to shape institutions ; it has guided leaders, and inspired generations. We are all beneficiaries of your legacy.
To the organisers, partners, authors, and nominees—congratulations on bringing to life an initiative that has rapidly become one of the most meaningful recognitions of African thought leadership.
And of course, this evening is about legacy. The legacy of a man whose voice gave Africa dimension and dignity in the international discourse—Kaye Whiteman. A sharp mind, a patient observer, and a true believer in the benefits that lie within the continent’s complexity. Tonight, we honour him not simply through words, but by carrying forward the work he believed in— amplifying African voices, ideas, and ambitions.
Let me begin where Kaye Whiteman often did: with the power of storytelling.
In Africa, stories have always been tools of preservation—of culture, values, and knowledge. But today, they are also tools of positioning—in markets, in policy, and in capital allocation.
When others tell our story for us, we pay the price—literally. We’ve all seen the data: inflated risk premiums, shallow capital pools, and the persistent perception that African markets are marginal, volatile, or unpredictable. I see in the room many who have been tireless workers to convince the world that Africa’s story is one of opportunity, of high risk adjusted returns. It is not an easy task. But we cannot shirk our collective responsibility. The world needs a stronger Africa. I just don’t think world leaders have understood this global strategic imperative… at least not yet. But we Africans must believe in this and be guided and inspired by it.
The justification is in front of us daily when are in AFrica. It is in the real Africa—the Africa we know and serve— This Africa is building. Growing. Innovating. We see it in our banks, our factories, our tech ecosystems, and our farmers’ cooperatives. We see it in Nollywood, in the fintech corridors of Nairobi, and in the startups of Dakar and Accra. The energy is there. The capability is there. The ambition is there.
But the story? That’s often missing—or worse, distorted.
And here’s the paradox: the better our reality gets, the more urgent it becomes to tell it. A well- told African story isn’t cosmetic—it’s catalytic. It influences credit ratings. It shapes investment decisions. It changes how African children see themselves.
This is why the Business Book of the Year Award matters so deeply. Because it is not just recognising literature—it is correcting the record. It is saying: Africa’s business transformation deserves to be studied, analysed, debated—and above all, owned by Africans.
Allow me to share a personal reflection.
My journey began in global financial centres—from Wall Street to Washington, D.C., and eventually to Lomé. I started at Salomon Brothers and later at J.P. Morgan, at a time when Africa was rarely discussed in strategy meetings. To many, it was a continent of complexity and caution—not of opportunity.
But I saw something else. Even then, I sensed the potential of African markets—not despite their challenges, but because of their dynamism.
At J.P. Morgan, I worked on MCA and emerging market trading. I was also fortunate to observe and engage with Latin America during a time of profound economic transformation. From 1992 to 2000, Brazil’s GDP rose from about $465 billion to more than $650 billion. Mexico’s economy followed suit, underpinned by NAFTA, domestic reform, and entrepreneurial energy. Companies like Vale, Embraer, and Cemex grew into global contenders.
That transformation didn’t happen overnight. It came from smart policy, local innovation, and— crucially—regional capital that believed in the story. I witnessed first-hand how investment followed vision.
These experiences informed my work at the International Finance Corporation, where I had the honour of structuring pioneering investments across Africa. And through AFIG Funds, we’ve supported over 25 African companies—many of them family-owned and indigenous—across the continent, from frontier markets to anchor economies.
And the lesson I keep learning, over and over, is this:
Capital alone cannot change a continent. Capital backed by belief can.
Today, I chair Ecobank, a pan-African financial institution that embodies that belief in action.
Ecobank operates in 35 countries, serves over 32 million customers, employs more than 14,000 people, and generated over $2 billion in revenue in each of the past two years. But beyond the numbers lies the real story.
When the IFC first invested in Ecobank in the late 1990s, it was present in only 5 countries, with less than $20 million in equity. Today, Ecobank spans three continents. That journey—against the backdrop of volatile markets and political headwinds—makes Ecobank a true African unicorn.
We are not simply a bank. We are an enabler of movement—of people, goods, services, and ideas. We are a platform for connectivity, from Lomé to Lagos, from Accra to Abidjan, from Douala to Dubai.
This kind of scale didn’t happen by accident. It happened because African leaders, partners, and communities believed that a cross-border bank was not just desirable—it was necessary.
And today, as the African Continental Free Trade Area continues to gain traction, institutions like Ecobank are not optional. They are essential. The World Bank projects that AfCFTA could lift over 30 million Africans out of poverty and increase intra-African exports by over 80%. But only if we build the infrastructure—physical, digital, and financial—to make that vision real.
The African telecom story perfectly illustrates how miscalculating risk can lead to missed opportunities. When I visited Nigeria in 2001, the country officially was estimated to only have about 2 to 400,000 phone lines, including cell phones, with many individuals holding multiple numbers. Analysts at the time were hesitant to invest, focusing on Nigeria’s GDP per capita of about $583 annually, which translates to roughly $48 per month.
When we were doing those calculations, we could not convince anyone the average Nigerian’s expected average revenue per user (ARPU) could be more than a couple of cents per subscriber, if that. However, when Econet and MTN launched in August 2001, they sparked a revolution. Fast forward to today, Nigeria now boasts over 170 million mobile subscribers, and the telecom sector is thriving. Today, the average ARPU has risen to approximately $2.24, and companies like MTN Nigeria report revenues exceeding 1 trillion Naira (approximately $65 million) in just the first quarter of 2025.
As Nelson Mandela famously said : “Things always seem impossible until they are done ”
We must therefore thrive to make the impossible a reality.
Africa needs scale—in every sector, every region, and every institution.
We are a continent of 1.5 billion people, projected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050. And yet, too many of our markets remain fragmented. Our institutions are often undercapitalized. Our businesses struggle to grow beyond national borders.
To feed ourselves, we need agricultural value chains that span regions. To power our homes and industries, we need continental energy infrastructure. To teach our youth, we need universities and vocational centres of regional relevance. To deliver health outcomes, we need pharmaceutical hubs and research centres that rival the best in the world.
Scale is not just about size—it is about resilience. It is about bargaining power. It is about relevance.
If our young people don’t find scale in our systems, they will seek it elsewhere—or rebel against the structures that deny them opportunity.
Today’s global landscape is turbulent.
COVID-19 showed how quickly global supply chains can unravel. Artificial Intelligence is changing how work is done—and who gets left behind. Climate volatility, food insecurity, and
external policy shifts—like U.S. tax reform or EU regulation—can send shockwaves across our economies.
In today’s world, Africa must be more proactive—not just reactive. We must invest in resilience: in local value addition, in digital transformation, in climate adaptation, and in regional coordination.
We cannot afford to be like crabs in separate baskets, pulling one another down. We must be allies.
And this brings me back to why we are here. Books matter. Ideas matter. Narratives matter.
The African business books honoured tonight are more than reflections. They are acts of leadership. They challenge us to think differently. They demand that we honour complexity, not avoid it. They create space for accountability.
“Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”
(Chinua Achebe)
Let us be our own historians. Let us tell our own truth—confidently, courageously, and continuously.
Conclusion
Let me close where I began—with legacy.
Kaye Whiteman was not just a chronicler of Africa. He was a companion. A bridge. A believer.
He taught us that Africa is not a problem to be solved, but a voice to be amplified. Not a single story, but a continent of evolving chapters.
Let us honour his legacy—not just this evening, but in how we build, how we write, and how we lead.
To the BCA, the organisers, and the authors in this room—thank you. Thank you for shaping our present and helping us imagine a better future.
Let us write the next chapter of Africa’s story—together.
Thank you for your time and Good night.