Entries have opened for the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s 2022 Entrepreneurship Programme, which gives opportunities to entrepreneurs from the 54 African countries to apply for $5,000 seed capital.
Such applicants are expected to have business ideas or existing businesses under five years, the foundation has said.
In addition to the seed capital, winners will also get mentorship, business management training and other forms of assistance, according to the statement.
The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme debuted in 2015, and since then it has empowered 15,847 African entrepreneurs with a non-returnable seed capital of $5,000 each.
It also gives winners 12 weeks of business management training; access to experienced mentors; and membership to Africa’s largest entrepreneurial ecosystem, according to the foundation.
According to the statement, TEF in 2021 gave out $24.75 million to 5,000 African entrepreneurs across the continent for last year’s edition of the programme.
“The Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Programme remains one of the largest private sector responses to driving the economic recovery of African youth, women and SMEs given the effects of the covid19 pandemic across Africa. Across Africa, the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme beneficiaries are starting and growing trailblazing businesses that have collectively created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs” it noted.
The statement shared the testimony of a 2015 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, Hauwa Liman, female business owner and Founder of Afrik Abaya.
“I am always proud to say that I am from the inaugural cohort of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme. My business is located in Kaduna, in northern Nigeria. I benefitted from this Programme in 2015, and it opened up lots of doors and opportunities. It is not just about the seed capital, but what really fascinates me about the Programme is the knowledge. I call it a mini-MBA programme, because from the ideation stage it teaches you how to really articulate your business, and it gave me my first business plan. The network, visibility and opportunities are endless.”
Liman said her business has grown and now employs 10 permanent staff and an additional eight staff on commission basis.
Commenting on the launch of the 2022 edition, the CEO of TEF, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, said: “We are constantly blown away by the quality of businesses that come from Africa every year. This motivates us to scale our efforts to empower even more entrepreneurs on the continent.
“We are also proud of the increase in female participation on our programme, especially with the 2021 cohort where we witnessed a record 68% selection of women entrepreneurs,” she added.
Also commenting, the Founding Trustee of TEF, Dr. A V. Elumelu said: “Our hope is that, through the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, we would help the next business leader or captain of industry be who they are meant to be.”
