Nigeria-based Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has pledged $100 million to train and mentor 1,000 entrepreneurs a year for 10 years.
Launched in 2015, Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Program (TEEP) is the largest African philanthropic initiative devoted to entrepreneurship with an aim of creating a million jobs and adding $10 billion in revenues to Africa’s economy.
This year the Foundation received more than 45,000 applications from entrepreneurs from 54 African countries.
Successful candidates represent diverse industries, led by agriculture, ICT and fashion. The highest numbers of applicants came from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Cameroon. All five regions – North, East, Southern, Central and West Africa are represented.
Tony O. Elumelu, the TEF Founder said: “In TEEP’s first year we spent over $8 million of our $100 million commitment – with $5 million going directly to entrepreneurs as seed capital — and the results have far exceeded our expectations. We have funded entrepreneurs, established networks and helped extraordinary people take control of their destinies. The 2016 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs will become a generation of newly empowered African business owners, who are the clearest evidence yet, that indigenous business growth will drive Africa’s economic and social transformation.”
The successful applicants will over the next nine months receive an intensive online training, networking and mentoring, that provide a tool kit for success and sustainability. They will also participate in the three-day Elumelu Entrepreneurship Forum later in the year, the largest annual gathering of African entrepreneurial talent.
“We saw phenomenal success with the first cycle of TEEP – the success stories of the TEEP 2015 alumni are a testament to the transformative power of the programme we have built,” Parminder Vir OBE, CEO of The Tony Elumelu Foundation, said. “Through TEEP, we are proving to the next generation of entrepreneurs that their ideas can change their communities, their countries and their continent.”
“It is hard to believe that I am among the 1,000 Africans selected out of 45,000. I am honored and ready to transform Africa,” said Rosee, S.
Click here to see the full list of the selected Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs for TEEP 2016.
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