‘I Wish We Had More Resources’- Tony Elumelu Says As TEF Awards $5.57M To 1,114 Winners Of 2024 Entrepreneurship Programme

… Set To Announce A Grand Coalition For African Entrepreneurs

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has awarded $5.57m to the 1.114 successful winners of the 2024 Entrepreneurship Programme after the number of applicants rose to a record 150,000 but the Founder and Chairman of the TEF, Tony Elumelu, wishes to increase the number of beneficiaries.

Each winner will get $5,000, Elumelu announced on Friday at the award event held in Lagos.

“Over 1,114 young women and men from 54 African countries will each receive a non-refundable $5,000 seed capital.

“We believe in spreading luck, we believe in democratising luck, we believe in spreading prosperity and we think that the easiest way in spreading prosperity in Africa is by identifying our young ones, encouraging them, and helping them to start their own business,” Elumelu said.

The Chairman and his wife, Awele Elumelu, started the foundation 10 years ago intending to improve the lives of young Africans by providing seed capital to fund their businesses.

In Africa, over 431 million people live in extreme poverty with 133 million people in Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria, living in multidimensional poverty according to Statista.

TEF has achieved incredible success as it has disbursed more than $100m to over 20,000 men and women from across Africa in support of the vision according to industry experts.

The $100m is disbursed from family fortunes according to the founder but in addition, the foundation has established partnerships with the European Union, Google and African Development Bank (AfDB), among others.

“We are happy with the results we are seeing now,” Elumelu said, adding, “We are happy to see our young ones progressing.

“We are happy that what we started alone as TEF, we have been able to identify and partner with other global institutions.

“My family and I do what we do not from the abundance of wealth but just a realisation that poverty everywhere is a threat to us everywhere and that we cannot live alone in prosperity,” the former CEO of UBA, one of Africa’s largest banks, said.

According to Elumelu, the beneficiaries of the seed capital have over the years created over 400,000 jobs and made a revenue of $1.2bn from their businesses.

He however admitted that not all the beneficiaries were successful in utilising seed capital.

“We are trying to encourage other successful Africans and institutions that in the 21st Century there is a better way to give and a better way to develop Africa.

“As for the impact, we have created jobs, we have grown businesses but most importantly, we have shown the light, we are telling people that in Africa, our young ones need support, they need mentors, they need financial capital to help them start up their business,” the Chairman said.

Beyond the yearly 1000 target, Elumelu aspires to increase the number of beneficiaries through the launch of a global coalition that will support the TEF dream.

He said, “We aspire to magnify our scale and impact or 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 really spreading luck by that.

“So, the other 149,000, they have been 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.”