Africa-wide
Program
Entrepreneurship
Details
The program is a 10-year, $100 million commitment to identify, train, mentor and fund young African entrepreneurs. The goal is to create millions of jobs and the revenue required for the sustainable development of the continent, implementing the philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions the private sector as the growth engine for Africa and emphasises the importance of creating social and economic wealth.
Criteria
- Open to all citizens and legal residents of any one of the 54 African countries. The proposed business must be registered and operate in Africa
- applicants must be 18 years old and must not be considered a minor in their country of residence
- Applicants can be outstanding Africa entrepreneurs running existing startups with high growth potential and aspiring business owners with transformative ideas
- All businesses must be business ideas or an early stage company
- The application must focus on one business only
- The Tony Elumelu Foundation are particularly looking to grow representation from French, Arabic and Portuguese speaking nations, as well as female entrepreneurs in Africa
- The program is not open to research institutions, faith based organisations, value adding trading companies, government contractors and businesses not located in Africa
- Business ideas must be for profit, and must be the original work of those making the submission
Benefits
- Business training
- Mentorship
- $5,000 non-refundable seed capital
- Global networking opportunities
About The Tony Elumelu Foundation
The Tony Elumelu Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 2010 by Tony O. Elumelu, an entrepreneur, investor and philanthrophist who is passionate about Africa's economic development. The Foundation is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria and is centered around Tony Elumelu’s philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions Africa’s private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the continent.
In 2015, the Foundation consolidated its various programs and initiatives and made investing in Africa’s next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders a priority. The future of the Tony Elumelu Foundation centers on the provision of structured, robust, and multifaceted support to entrepreneurs around Africa through the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Program. The vision for the Foundation is to unlock the obstacles that Africa’s entrepreneurs face as they grow their start-ups into small to medium enterprises (SMEs), their SMEs into national growth companies, and their national growth companies into African multinationals.