Poster. |
The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), the leading philanthropy empowering young African entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries, has announced the successful entrepreneurs in its tenth selection for the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.
This
new cohort brings to 20,000, the number of young African entrepreneurs who have
received funding, mentoring, and capacity-building support from the Foundation,
double the initial commitment. The Tony
Elumelu Foundation has disbursed US$100,000,000 directly to young African
entrepreneurs, who have created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs,
contributing significantly to Africa's economic growth and development. 46% of
these beneficiaries are women, reiterating the Foundation’s commitment to
gender inclusion and equity.
Past
entrepreneurs selected across Africa include:
Stella
Sigana, founder of Alternative Waste Technologies from Kenya, produces fuel
briquettes by converting organic and charcoal waste from slum settlements, and
dedicates a portion of the revenues to providing education, skills training,
and job placement for adolescent girls and young women aged 18-24. Since her
selection, Stella has created 12 jobs, generated over $79,000 in revenue, and
recycled over 500 tons of waste into fuel briquettes for cooking. Her business
model has also empowered hundreds of women entrepreneurs in slum settlements in
Kenya, enabling them to build businesses by selling her products directly to
their communities, thus significantly increasing household income and wellbeing.
Vital
Sounouvou from Benin is the founder of Exportunity, an e-commerce platform that
promotes export opportunities for Africans by connecting producers with
traders. Through Exportunity, Sounouvou has engaged over 750 clients, and built
a database of 85,000 companies trading with Africa. He has employed 32 people.
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, helps young Moroccans develop technical
and interpersonal skills beyond school curriculum requirements. Through Shine
Space, Nora has upskilled and capacitised over 2,500 young Moroccans.
Since
inception in 2010, the Tony Elumelu Foundation has pioneered an
innovative approach to seeding, capacitising and networking young entrepreneurs
across Africa. Drawing directly from Founder
Tony Elumelu’s entrepreneurial journey, the Foundation democratises luck,
spreads opportunity, in a sector agnostic approach, and has developed a bespoke
infrastructure that reaches every country in Africa. The Foundation is driven by our 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 the European
Union (EU), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the US Government via the United States
African Development Foundation (USADF), the Organisation of African, Caribbean
and Pacific States (OACPS), the French Development Agency (AFD), the German
Development Finance Institution (DEG), the German Agency for International
Cooperation (GIZ), the African Development Bank (AfDB), Sèmè City Development
Agency, and Google, with bespoke programmes including targeting female
empowerment and growth in fragile states. Building on its existing partnership
with Sèmè City Development Agency, the Tony Elumelu Foundation will fund an
additional 100 young entrepreneurs from Benin Republic in 2024.
Tony
O. Elumelu shared: "As we mark a decade of impact, I am immensely proud of
the incredible journey we have embarked on. Our entrepreneurs represent the
driving force behind Africa's economic transformation, and their resilience,
determination, and innovation continue to inspire us all. The future of our
continent is brighter because of their efforts.”
As
part of the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s commitment to support young Africans, the
following ongoing opportunities are currently open for applications from young
entrepreneurs across Africa on TEFConnect:
Women
Entrepreneurship For Africa (WE4A), a partnership between the European Union,
GIZ and TEF
Aguka
Entrepreneurship Programme, a partnership between UNDP and TEF in Rwanda
African
entrepreneurs are encouraged to apply to these initiatives to receive training,
mentorship, access to networks, and funding.
To
learn more about the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme
"Decade of Impact" please see here. The
success stories of these beneficiaries can be found here, and a full
breakdown of the Foundation’s beneficiaries across Africa can be found here.
<<link to fact sheet>>
For media inquiries, please contact:
Moyo
Awotile
Head,
Marketing & Corporate Communications
+234-809-975-1482, moyo.awotile@tonyelumelufoundation.org
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 all 54 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.
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