Tony Elumelu Foundation Grant 2022
Established in 2010, The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) is African private-sector-led philanthropy in Africa championing entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs across the continent. The Foundation’s long-term investment in empowering African entrepreneurs is emblematic of Tony Elumelu’s philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions Africa’s private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the continent.
“The Foundation’s mission is rooted in the philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions the private sector as the key enabler of economic and social wealth creation in Africa. Through TEFConnect, the Foundation’s proprietary digital platform, it has provided capacity-building support, advisory and market linkages, to over 1.5 million Africans.”
Application Deadline: March 31st 2022
The Foundation’s flagship initiative, the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, is a 10-year, $100 million commitment to identify, train mentor and fund 10,000 entrepreneurs, capable of changing the face of business across Africa.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) said it has opened applications for the 2022 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme where African entrepreneurs from the 54 countries with business ideas or existing businesses under five years can apply for $5,000 seed capital.
They can also get mentorship, business management training and more on the 2022 edition of the programme, a statement from the foundation said.
Tony Elumelu: God’s Gift To Africa
Last year, TEF disbursed $24.75 million to 5,000 African entrepreneurs across Africa for its 2021 edition of the programme.
A beneficiary of the programme in 2015 and founder of Afrik Abaya, Hauwa Liman, said: “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 benefited from this programme in 2015, and it opened up lots of doors and opportunities. It is not just about the seed capital, but what fascinates me about the programme is the knowledge.”
She has grown her business and now employs 10 permanent staff and an additional eight staff on a commission basis.
This motivates us to scale our efforts to empower even more entrepreneurs on the continent.
TEF said this in an update on its website —
African entrepreneurs with business ideas or existing businesses under five years are encouraged to apply for $5000 seed capital, mentorship, business management training and more.
While commenting on the launch of the 2022 entrepreneurship programme, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, chief executive officer of Tony Elumelu Foundation, said the foundation is willing to impact more lives, hence the early opening of the application.
“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,” Ugochukwu said.
Awele Elumelu, the founding trustee of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, said the programme will continue to assist the next business leaders or captains of industry.“Through the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, we seek to democratise luck. Hard work plays an important and undeniable part in success, but one must not discount the role of luck — someone being willing to take a chance on you or a business idea by empowering you through training, mentorship or funding,” she said.
“We hope 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.
TEF, an African-funded entrepreneurship catalyst of its kind, has empowered more than 15,0000 African entrepreneurs with a non-returnable seed capital of $5,000 each, twelve weeks of business management training, access to experienced mentors and membership to Africa’s largest entrepreneurial ecosystem since 2015.
In November, TEF empowered 4,949 African small businesses in the 2021 entrepreneurship programme.
Background | Tony Elumelu Foundation $5000 Grant
The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, currently the only African-funded entrepreneurship catalyst of its kind, since its launch in 2015 has empowered 15,847 African entrepreneurs with a non-returnable seed capital of $5,000 each; twelve weeks of business management training; access to experienced mentors; and membership to Africa’s largest entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The foundation (TEF) disbursed up to about USD 24.75 million to 5000 African entrepreneurs across Africa for its 2021 Entrepreneurship Programme. The Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Programme remains one of the largest private-sector responses to driving the economic recovery of African youths, women and SMEs given the effects of the covid19 pandemic across Africa.
Eligibility and Application Process
Tony Elumelu Foundation $5000 Grant
The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme is open to entrepreneurs across Africa: new start-ups and existing young businesses, operating in any sector.
Prospective applicants should apply now on the digital networking hub for African entrepreneurs, www.tefconnect.com.
THE 7 PILLARS OF THE TEF ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMME?
– Mentoring
– 12-week business management training
– Knowledge Resources on TEFConnect.net
– Meetups
– Annual TEF Entrepreneurship Forum
– Seed Capital Funding
– TEF Entrepreneurship Programme Alumni Network
The pillars have been designed to address the essential needs to ensure success for an African entrepreneur.
Eligibility Requirements
The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme is open to Africans from all 54 African countries with scalable business ideas or a business that has been operational for no more than 5 years.
All businesses must be business ideas or an early-stage company, in the range of 0 to 5 years old
Applicants must be 18 years of age and above.
Your application must focus on ONE business only
Interested applicants may register on TEFConnect.net
The programme is not open to research institutions, faith-based organisations, value-adding trading companies, government contractors and businesses not located in Africa.
Businesses must not adversely affect the environment, lives and property. Existing businesses or business ideas must be for-profit and must be the original work of those submitting.
The TEF Training
The TEF training content called the Start-up enterprise toolkit is a bespoke programme tailored to support young and dynamic entrepreneurs through their business journey with a focus on the successful execution of their business plans and ideas.
The training phase of the programme will last for twelve (12) weeks. However, some intervention programmes could be modified to last for 4 weeks or 6 weeks
Initial Seed Capital
The initial seed capital funding is fixed at $5,000.
Selection Process:
Selection of the applicants will take place after applicants complete all the stages of the training and successfully take part in the pitch.
The program stages are as follows
• Application Phase
• Training & Mentorship Phase
• Business Plan Submission Phase
• Pitching Phase
• Seed Capital Phase
For More Information:
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The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), the leading philanthropy empowering young African entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries, has opened applications for the 2022 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme on www.TEFConnect.com. African entrepreneurs with business ideas or existing businesses under 5 years are encouraged to apply now for $5000 seed capital, mentorship, business management training and more on the 2022 Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme
Since 2015, the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme – the only African-funded entrepreneurship catalyst of its kind – has empowered 15,847 African entrepreneurs with a non-returnable seed capital of $5,000 each; twelve weeks of business management training; access to experienced mentors; and membership to Africa’s largest entrepreneurial ecosystem.
In 2021, the Tony Elumelu Foundation disbursed USD 24.75 million to 5000 African entrepreneurs across Africa for its 2021 Entrepreneurship 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.
According to 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 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 articulate your business, and it gave me my first business plan. The network, visibility and opportunities are endless. My entrepreneurship experience cannot be complete without the Tony Elumelu Foundation. I will start exporting to other countries soon courtesy of the Foundation. We now employ ten permanent staff and an additional eight staff on a commission basis.”
Commenting on the launch of the 2022 Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu shared, “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. The innovation, knowledge and resilience of African entrepreneurs are central to charting Africa’s socio-economic transformation and meeting the continent’s development objectives. 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.”
Founding Trustee of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Dr A V. Elumelu stated: “Through the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, we seek to democratise luck. Hard work plays an important and undeniable part in success, but one must not discount the role of luck – someone being willing to take a chance on you or a business idea by empowering you through training, mentorship or funding. We hope 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. This is our way to give back and also to empower the generation coming behind us so that they can go even further than we have. As a parent, one’s desire is for your children to do better than you and so you will provide the resources and materials that they need to ensure that they go far in life. Similarly, at the Foundation we are equipping the next generation with the tools they need to succeed.”
As the foremost champion of entrepreneurship in Africa, the Tony Elumelu Foundation is empowering women and men across the African continent through entrepreneurship to catalyse economic growth, drive poverty eradication and ensure job creation. The Foundation’s mission is rooted in the philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions the private sector as the key enabler of economic and social wealth creation in Africa. Through TEFConnect, the Foundation’s proprietary digital platform, it has provided capacity-building support, advisory and market linkages, to over 1.5 million Africans.
How to apply for the grant
The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme is open to entrepreneurs across Africa: new start-ups and existing young businesses, operating in any sector. Prospective applicants should apply now on the digital networking hub for African entrepreneurs, www.tefconnect.com. For a list of the selected 2021 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs and more information on our programme, please visit the website of the Tony Elumelu Foundation here.
Visit the Official Webpage of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) 2022
