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The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has selected 3,369 female entrepreneurs from across the continent for the seventh edition of its TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.
Each of the young women will receive “$5000 non-returnable seed capital” from the Foundation.
The beneficiaries were selected from a pool of over 400,000 applications, based on their innovation, performance, and growth potential to create jobs and eradicate poverty on the continent. Consisting of both new start-ups and existing small businesses, the 2021 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs have undergone world-class business training, mentorship and coaching and will have a life-time access to the Tony Elumelu Foundation alumni network.
Announcing the selection on Friday via his Instagram page, Tony Elumelu, founder of the Foundation, said: “This is $16.8m non refundable grant to young African women and makes up over 68% of the total candidates selected this year.”
“This year alone, the Tony Elumelu Foundation disbursement is $24.75m to 5,000 African SMEs for #TEF2021 Programme,” he added.
The 2021TEF Entrepreneurship Programme prioritises the economic recovery of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) and young African entrepreneurs, following the COVID-19 disruption to economic activities.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation, which celebrated ten years of impact in 2020, is empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, through the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.
The Chief Executive Officer of Tony Elumelu Foundation, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, said: “The Tony Elumelu Foundation now more than ever is demonstrating our commitment to unleashing the potential of young African entrepreneurs, the key to Africa’s long-term economic transformation. The pandemic has created challenges across the continent, but we know that with the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s tried and tested Programme, we can execute the largest COVID-19 economic recovery plan for African SMEs and break the cycle of poverty in Africa.”
The Tony Elumelu Foundation’s $100 million Entrepreneurship Programme, launched in 2015 to empower 10,000 entrepreneurs over 10 years has empowered over 9000 young African entrepreneurs from 54 African countries.