TheCable

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has announced 1,104 successful candidates for the 10th cohort of its entrepreneurship programme.

The successful candidates from all 54 African countries will receive a “non-refundable seed capital” of $5,000 to scale-up their businesses.

Making the announcement in Lagos on Friday, Tony Elumelu, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of the foundation, said the event was “significantly chosen” to also commemorate his 61st birthday.

Elumelu said the event was a fulfillment of a promise made to run the programme for 10 years.

He noting that the foundation was born out of the need to alleviate Africans from poverty.

Elumelu added that over 20,000 youths in Africa have received over $100 million in the last 10 years from the foundation.

“I welcome you all to this event, today, I am plus 1, and for my family and I, we thought that there was no better way than announcing the 10th cohort of the 2024 Tony Elumelu entrepreneurship programme beneficiaries,” he said.

“These 1,104 young men and women will receive a non-refundable $5,000 seed capital.

“We believe in democratising luck and spreading prosperity in Africa, by identifying and encouraging our young ones through helping them to start their own business.

“Awele and I started this journey over 10 years ago, and we are happy with the results we are seeing.

“We are happy to see that what we started alone as Tony Elumelu Foundation has partnered with other global institutions.

“My family and I, do what we do not from the abundance of wealth but just a realisation that we can not live alone in prosperity.”

Also speaking, Awele Elumelu, the co-founder of TEF and wife of the CEO, said the vision of the foundation is to “democratise luck and eradicate poverty”.

She expressed happiness about the success of the foundation and urged the beneficiaries to utilise the opportunity in shaping the future of Africa.

“It’s been a wonderful journey so far. From the beginning, we had a clear vision of eradicating poverty and empowering African men and women,” she said.

“We have indeed fulfilled a promise today. I express my gratitude to all the participants from 2015 when the programme started.”

Nkem Okocha, a beneficiary of the TEF in 2015 and founder of Mama Moni, appreciated the foundation for the opportunity and its impact in Africa.