TEF empowers over 4 K entrepreneurs with USD 20 Mn
On the track of unveiling a digital platform that will connect entrepreneurs, the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Africa’s leading entrepreneurship-focused philanthropy, has said that is has provided USD 20 Mn in seed to a total of 4,460 entrepreneurs across Africa since it launched the program four years ago.
The TEF Entrepreneurship Program is a 10-year USD 100 Mn commitment tailored to identify, train and fund 10,000 entrepreneurs. The platform’s goal was to generate no less than 1 million new jobs and contribute at least USD 10 Bn in new annual revenues across the African entrepreneurial ecosystem.
At the annual TEF Entrepreneurship Program held in Lagos this week, the CEO of the Foundation, Parminder Vir OBE, disclosed that the program has since inception provided USD 20 Mn of direct seed capital to 4,460 entrepreneurs.
According to her, 4,000 of the beneficiary entrepreneurs were directly funded by the foundation, while 460 were handled by strategic partners. She added that TEF has so far created 12,000 jobs and invested USD 10 Mn in tech infrastructure. With the program being only four years, it has already has 62 percent of the funded business fully operational.
According to Ugochikwu, the Director of Partnership and Evaluation, TEF meant creating 1,000 entrepreneurs every year and had received 20,000 applications form aspiri9ng entrepreneurs across Africa in the first year 2015.
As one of the highlights of the occasion, this year’s forum featured the launch of the TEF Connect – the world’s largest digital platform dedicated to the connection of African entrepreneurs and the business ecosystem. It is an open source platform designed to connect entrepreneurs, mentors, investors, accelerators, and incubators all over the world to enable them to learn, network and leverage business tools amongst others.
The event was attended by big names such as Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Ghana President Akufo-Addo and Bauchi State Governor Abubakar, who all gave their unique contributions to the more than 5,00 entrepreneurs that attended.
Image Courtesy: Opportunity For Africans
