Entrepreneurship Programme: Tony Elumelu Foundation announces 10th cohort.

As per the statement from the Foundation, the new cohort brings to 20,000, the number of young African entrepreneurs who have received funding, mentoring, and capacity-building support from the Foundation in 10 years. The figure is said to be double the original target of the programme.

In addition, the Tony Elumelu Foundation indicated that US$100,000,000 (over 60 billion 695 million FCFA) has been disbursed directly to young African entrepreneurs, who have created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs, contributing significantly to Africa's economic growth and development. 

Of these figures, 46% of the beneficiaries are women, highlighting the TEF’s commitment to streamline gender inclusion and equity.

Amongst the past entrepreneurs selected across the continent include Stella Sigana, founder of Alternative Waste Technologies from Kenya; Vital Sounouvou, founder of Exportunity, an e-commerce platform from Benin; and Nora Chaynane, a Moroccan entrepreneur, and founder of Shine Space, a socio-educational initiative aimed at bridging the knowledge gap and guiding students toward the right career path. 

Pioneering innovative approach

Since inception in 2010, the TEF has pioneered an innovative approach to seeding, capacitising and networking young entrepreneurs across Africa. 

Drawing inspiration from the founder Tony Elumelu’s entrepreneurial journey, the Foundation is said to democratise luck, spreads opportunity, in a sector agnostic approach, and has developed a bespoke infrastructure that reaches every country in Africa.

The foundation is further driven by the founder’s philosophy of Africapitalism, which advocates that the private sector, particularly entrepreneurs, must play the pivotal role in Africa’s development.

The robust ability of the foundation to reach entrepreneurs across geographies and sectors has enabled it to conduct innovative partnerships with tailored programmes including targeting female empowerment and growth in fragile states.

These partners include: the European Union, EU; United Nations Development Programme, UNDP; International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC; United States African Development Foundation, USADF; Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, OACPS; French Development Agency, AFD; German Development Finance Institution, DEG; German Agency for International Cooperation, GIZ; African Development Bank, AfDB; Sèmè City Development Agency, and Google. 

Ongoing opportunities

As part of the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s commitment to support young Africans, a number opportunities are said to currently open for applications from young entrepreneurs across Africa.

The two most outstanding opportunities include the Women Entrepreneurship For Africa, WE4A, holding in partnership with the EU and GIZ as well as the Aguka Entrepreneurship Programme, in partnership with UNDP and TEF in Rwanda. 

African entrepreneurs have been encouraged to apply via http://tefconnect.com/ to these initiatives to receive training, mentorship, access to networks, and funding.

About the Tony Elumelu Foundation

The Tony Elumelu Foundation is the leading philanthropy empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, driving poverty eradication, catalysing job creation across African countries, and increasing women economic empowerment. 

Since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the Foundation has provided access to over 1.5 million young Africans on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed over USD$100 million in direct funding to 20,000 young African women and men, who have collectively created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs.