ENUGU/Nigeria: Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo, has challenged Igbo entrepreneurs to build larger, professionally managed businesses that can sustain growth across generations and strengthen the South-East’s economic base.
He made the call at the TEDxEnugu conference held at the International Conference Centre, Enugu, where he urged Ndigbo in Nigeria and the diaspora to combine their capital, skills and business networks to create stronger regional institutions.
Soludo said the Igbo community had demonstrated considerable capacity for individual achievement in business and other fields but needed more collective structures to convert those successes into lasting economic influence.
He illustrated the challenge by asking when Igbo entrepreneurs would move beyond businesses organised around individual families to larger corporate enterprises capable of operating on a wider scale.
“When are we going to go beyond ‘Okonkwo and Sons’ to ‘Enugu PLC’?” he asked.
The governor also highlighted the scale of the Igbo population living outside the South-East, noting that more than half lived beyond the region. He argued that stronger investment in their homeland could help expand economic opportunities and support development across the zone.
He urged the people to concentrate on building viable enterprises, nurturing talent and creating conditions that would enable more innovators and entrepreneurs to emerge from the region.
Addressing young people, Soludo stressed the importance of acquiring knowledge, developing relevant skills and forming strategic partnerships to improve their prospects in Nigeria and the global economy.
He also encouraged young people to consider public service, describing it as an avenue for contributing to the welfare and development of society.
“Public service is the greatest form of philanthropy,” he said.
Soludo expressed confidence that a stronger culture of collective enterprise, investment and talent development could improve the South-East’s economic prospects and help Ndigbo compete more effectively in an interconnected world.
The conference, held on October 10, 2026, was themed “Transcend Beyond Borders: The Next Chapter in the Igbo Story.”
