By Francis Ajuonuma
Determined to see that more African entrepreneurs are encouraged to drive the growth of the continent’s economy, the founder of Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Tony Elumelu (CFR), says plans are on the way to launch a global coalition to support the foundation’s dream.
He made the revelation at the unveiling of 1104 beneficiaries of the 2024 edition of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme themed, Empowering African Entrepreneurs: A Decade of Impact, held at the Tony Elumelu Amphitheatre, UBA House, Marina, Lagos, on Friday, 22nd of March 2024.
The renowned economist, who is also chairman of United Bank of Africa (UBA) and Heirs Holding Plc, said the decision to launch a global coalition for young African entrepreneurs is to ensure that more young Africans are accommodated in the programme.
According to him, the number of applicants for the annual programme has increased astronomically, hence the need to accommodate more applicants.
The 1104 beneficiaries for the 2024 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme received non-refundable $5000 each to kick start their chosen business.
“We aspire to magnify our scale and to do more. We are thinking of making a coalition for African entrepreneurs that will touch more lives. Over 150,000 people applied, and we are taking only over 1,000. We are not spreading luck by that.
“So, the other 149,000, are left disappointed. My heart bleeds when this happens. We wish we had more resources but we have limited resources.
“So, we are thinking of launching a global coalition to prioritise young Africans. I want to stay here soon to announce 100,000 beneficiaries and not 1,000 beneficiaries,” he said.
*Expend over $100m on 20,000 TEF beneficiaries in 10 years
He also revealed that over 20,000 young men and women across the 54 African countries have received over $100m from the foundation in the past 10 years.
“We believe in spreading luck, we believe in democratizing luck, we believe in spreading prosperity and we think the easiest way to spread prosperity in Africa is by identifying our young ones and encouraging them and helping them to start their own business.
“This is why we have done this. All our lives we started this journey about 10 years ago. We sort to democratize luck and improve lives and we are happy with the results we are seeing.
“Today over 20,000 young men and women across the 54 African countries have received over $100 million from the foundation. We are happy to see our young ones progressing, we are happy that what we started alone as the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we have been able to identify and partner with others. So, today is a day of impact, a day of gratitude, and most importantly, a day of reflection for me because God has been kind to the Elumelu.
“My family and I do what we do not from the abundance of wealth but just a realization that poverty anywhere is a great loss everywhere and that we cannot leave the door in disparity. So, I’m happy that today we continue to spread that prosperity not just in Nigeria, not just in our family but to all the 54 African countries,” he added.
