1000 entrepreneurs selected for Tony Elumelu Foundation program

Media reports reveal that the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) this week announced the selection of 1,000 entrepreneurs for the 2nd round of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP).

TEEP was launched in 2015 and is the largest African philanthropic initiative devoted to entrepreneurship. It also represents a 10-year, $100 million commitment, to identify and empower 10,000 African entrepreneurs, create a million jobs and add $10 billion in revenue to Africa’s economy.

Over 45,000 entrepreneurs from 54 African countries applied, double the number of applications received in 2015, reports reveal.

Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Cameroon had the highest number of applicants with all five regions – North, East, Southern, Central and West Africa are represented.

READ: Over 25,000 applications from 52 countries already received for entrepreneurship programme

“In TEEP’s first year we spent over $8 million of our $100 million commitment – with $5 million going directly to entrepreneurs as seed capital — and the results have far exceeded our expectations. We have funded entrepreneurs, established networks and helped extraordinary people take control of their destinies. The 2016 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs will become a generation of newly empowered African business owners, who are the clearest evidence yet, that indigenous business growth will drive Africa’s economic and social transformation,” founder Tony O. Elumelu said.

“We saw phenomenal success with the first cycle of TEEP – the success stories of the TEEP 2015 alumni are a testament to the transformative power of the programme we have built. Through TEEP, we are proving to the next generation of entrepreneurs that their ideas can change their communities, their countries and their continent,” said Parminder Vir, CEO of The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

Over the next nine months, the 2016 class will receive intensive online training, networking and mentoring. They will also participate in the largest annual gathering of African entrepreneurial talent - the three-day Elumelu Entrepreneurship Forum, later in the year.