World Report

Pascal Dozie
Chairman of Diamond Bank

‘If you want to play a major role, you cannot just grow organically’

As Chairman of Nigeria’s Heart of Africa Project, Pascal Dozie is one of the foremost representatives of the campaign to promote national pride and present a positive image of Nigeria abroad. In July, he attended the G8 Business Action for Africa Summit, organised by the Commision for Africa and the Commonwealth Business Council.

What is the Heart of Africa project about?

We are taking steps to tackle the serious issues that have impeded our progress as a nation in the past. We are working to improve the image of the country and to change the psyche of Nigerians. Everybody is questioning why we do certain things and seeing whether we can do them better. To play in the global village, you must adapt to global standard, and we in Nigeria have decided to work within that framework.

How important is the private sector in African development?

There is a need in Africa for greater depth in entrepreneurial capacity. There is also a need for greater interface between the public and private sectors in order to fast-forward economic growth in the continent. Every indication is that we are making steady, even if slow, progress.

How can the international community contribute?

Most importantly, the whole world is now fully tuned in to the need to integrate Africa into the global economic system.There needs to be a conscious effort, both on the part of Africa’s political leadership and the G8 countries, to come to the assistance of the private sector and to make sure it fully develops in order to play its role.

What is needed now is the synergy to bring African business leaders together to share ideas. This is what Business Action for Africa tries to do and is also one of the key areas that the Commonwealth Business Council is working on.