The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) will on Friday, March 22 announce 1,200 African entrepreneurs across 54 African countries as beneficiaries of its flagship entrepreneurship programme.
This was disclosed in a statement made available to QEDNG on Thursday.
The new beneficiaries will become the 10th cohort of the 10-year-long TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.
According to the statement, “The Tony Elumelu Foundation has consistently demonstrated its belief in the potential of young Africans to transform the African continent. This conviction has led to its transformative impact – thousands of young men and women entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries have been empowered through its flagship Entrepreneurship Programme. The beneficiaries have received world-class business training, mentorship, coaching, and funding, in addition to lifelong access to the prestigious TEF Alumni Network.
“To date, the Foundation has disbursed US$100,000,000 directly into the hands of young African entrepreneurs, who have, in turn, created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs, contributing significantly to Africa’s economic growth and development. The Foundation has also provided capacity-building support, advisory services, and market linkages to over 1.5 million Africans through its digital entrepreneurship-support platform, TEFConnect.
“The upcoming announcement reaffirms the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurship as a catalyst for driving poverty eradication, catalysing job creation across all 54 African countries, and increasing women economic empowerment.”
Launched in 2015, the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme boasts of training 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.
