Tony Elumelu Foundation announces its 4th entrepreneurship programme | EduCeleb
Abdussalam Amoo
4th December 2017
The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has announced that it will begin accepting applications for the 4th cycle of its entrepreneurship programme, from outstanding African entrepreneurs who have start-up or business ideas with high growth potential.
Application portal opens midnight WAT 1st January 2018 at www.tonyelumelufoundation.org.
“As an entrepreneur myself, I understand what it feels like to yearn for a lifeline, to hope for a ‘big break.  In turn, I have set out to institutionalise luck with the Foundation and give back to the continent of Africa.  I am pleased the Programme is already unleashing Africa’s entrepreneurs and driving economic transformation,” said TEF Founder, Tony Elumelu.
The Programme is Elumelu’s $100 million commitment to identify, train, mentor and fund 10,000 African entrepreneurs in 10 years; creating 1,000,000 jobs and $10 billion in social and economic wealth. It is the only African-funded business development initiative of its kind, according to its website.
In its earlier three cycles, the Programme has received 158,000 applications from African entrepreneurs in 107 countries, including every nation of Africa. It has also empowered nearly 3,000 businesses with 12-weeks of online training; world-class mentoring; access to TEF’s network of start-ups; and seed capital of $5,000.
With respect to funding, the TEF had so far invested a total of $14,235,000, including $4,270,500 in agriculture; $1,285,000 in ICT, $1,245,000 in education and training; and $7,400,000 more in start-ups across 19 other sectors.
The Programme is open to citizens and legal residents of all African countries with businesses based in Africa, less than three years old, including new startups.