Africa’s leading philanthropy, Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) on Friday announced 3,050 African entrepreneurs, drawn from all 54 African countries, selected to join the 5th cycle of its $100 million TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.
The winners who were announced in Abuja were drawn from over 216,000 applications up from the 151,000 applications that were received in 2018.
The selected Entrepreneurs will receive a nonrefundable seed capital of $5,000, access to mentors, and a 12-week business training programme, focused on the needs of African entrepreneurs.
Statistics showed that nearly 90,000 applications were submitted by female entrepreneurs representing a 45 per cent increase.
According to the Foundation, it is part of its strategy to achieve greater gender balance in the programme.
On July 26 – 27 2019, they will gather at the TEF Entrepreneurship Forum, the largest annual gathering of African entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurship ecosystem on the continent.
TEF’s founder, Tony Elumelu while acknowledging the improvement in the in the process noted that “every year the Foundation faces an almost impossible task – to select 1,000 entrepreneurs, from the hundreds of thousands of application.
He insisted that the Foundation took the initiative to start the programme in recognition of the leading role of the private sector in the continents’ economic transformation.
According to him, “When people live in poverty they want to pull everything down. People need to understand why interventions like this go a big way to improve peoples lives.
“Our entrepreneurs are hungry to effect change. We know we are only scratching the surface, we see the depth of entrepreneurial talent that all of us – government, business indeed African society, must harness to transform our economies and livelihoods. We must rally together to empower them and accelerate the change we want on the continent,” he added.
He, therefore, called on the government to ensure it improves the power sector as it is critical to industrial growth and development.
In her address, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, commended the Foundation for its impact in the continent just as she charged selected entrepreneurs to continue to the advancement of the African continent.
She said: “In line with Tony Elumelu Foundation philosophy of Africapitalism, the African private sector must begin to play a more active role in advancing our continent, and the TEF will contribute to strengthening and capacitizing our private sector to assume the position of significant influence across Africa.
“The Tony Elumelu Foundation will certainly foster entrepreneurship development across Africa, providing much-needed funds, training and mentorship to commercial enterprises that promote social and economic changes and support growing African businesses through dynamic programmes that promote capital and human resources to building entrepreneurs.
“Indeed, I am confident that these Tony Elumelu entrepreneurs will inspire deep confidence and be of immense value not just to Nigeria but to the entire continent,” she further said.
Speaking on the announcement, the incoming CEO, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, said, “The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme has successfully empowered 7,520 entrepreneurs in its first five years of the 10- year programme. Marking the fifth anniversary of the 10-year programme, this year’s selection includes 2,050 entrepreneurs, supported by the Foundation’s partners in addition to the Foundation’s annual commitment of 1,000, bringing the total number of entrepreneurs empowered by the Foundation to date to 7,520.
Last year, we launched TEFConnect – the digital networking platform for African entrepreneurs and open to all – to further democratise the access to opportunities for the thousands of entrepreneurs that cannot directly benefit from our Entrepreneurship Programme. This further demonstrates our commitment to empowering our entrepreneurs and our belief that entrepreneurship holds the key to unleashing the true potential of the African continent”, she said.
The Foundation’s growing list of partners includes the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Republic of Benin (Seme City), the Anambra State Government, Indorama, the Government of Botswana and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The number of female representation increased to 42 per cent this year up from 41 per cent last year while agriculture, fashion, commercial/retail are the highest sectors of representation.
