Photo caption: Founder, TEF, Tony O. Elumelu, addressing previous participants
*Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs have collectively created 1.5 million jobs and generated $4.2 billion in revenue
*Over 2 million Africans lifted out of poverty
The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Africa’s leading philanthropy empowering entrepreneurs, is set to announce the 11th cohort of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme on Saturday, March 22, 2025.
The 2025 announcement comes at a critical time, as Africa’s entrepreneurship ecosystem faces funding constraints and global economic headwinds. TEF continues to provide much-needed support, empowering African entrepreneurs to transform their ideas into sustainable businesses and engines of economic growth.
Each selected Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur will receive $5,000 non-refundable seed capital, a world-class business training on TEFConnect, one-on-one mentorship, and access to global networks and investment opportunities. The selection process is being conducted by Ernst & Young, to ensure independent assessment.
The impact of the Tony Elumelu Foundation extends beyond funding. It is changing lives and shaping Africa’s future, as witnessed by beneficiaries of the catalytic TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.
Ahead of the upcoming announcement, Tony O. Elumelu, C.F.R., Founder of TEF and Group Chairman of Heirs Holdings, reiterates his unwavering belief in the potential of Africa’s entrepreneurs:
“I believe that Africa’s transformation will not be led by aid, but by empowering the next generation of African entrepreneurs—giving them the tools, the funding, the training, and the networks to build sustainable businesses that create jobs and drive economic growth.
Over the past decade, we have nurtured entrepreneurs from inception to success, scaling our impact across all 54 African countries. We have provided capital and also developed a robust monitoring and evaluation framework that allows us to track the progress of our entrepreneurs and measure their contributions to their communities and economies.
No other organisation is implementing entrepreneurship development at this scale across Africa. We have learned, we have refined, and we continue to improve, ensuring that African entrepreneurs—women and men—are at the forefront of solving our continent’s challenges and creating wealth for themselves and their communities.
Entrepreneurship is the key to Africa’s prosperity.
I wish the 2025 cohort of Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs success, as they chase their ambitions, and play their part in Africa’s transformation.”
For more details on the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s impact visit our Impact Page, African Success Stories Page, and Annual Report Page.For Media Inquiries: [email protected]
Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur testimonials from previous years
“I started my agribusiness with nothing but an idea. TEF changed everything. With the funding, training, and mentorship, I have now expanded across three countries and employ 25 people.”
– Fatima Diallo, Senegal, Agritech Entrepreneur
“As a woman in the fintech industry, it was difficult to secure funding. TEF not only provided me with capital but also the confidence and skills to build a business that is now attracting international investors.”
– Mary Okeke, Nigeria, Fintech Founder
“The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme helped me commercialise my clean energy innovation. Today, we provide solar solutions to over 50,000 homes in rural Tanzania.”
– Juma Nyerere, Tanzania, Renewable Energy Entrepreneur
Germany’s Scholz to host Macron for Ukraine talks
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will next week host French President Emmanuel Macron for talks on Ukraine ahead of an EU summit, the German government said Friday.
The talks on Tuesday come as the Europeans scramble to come up with a united position after a US policy shift on the three-year conflict under President Donald Trump.
“European political topics will naturally form the focus of the discussion” between the two leaders “but certainly the distressing international issues affecting us all will also play a role, particularly the developments in Ukraine”, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told a press conference in Berlin.
The meeting will serve as preparation for a European Union summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, he added.
Scholz is set to relinquish power soon, after his centre-left SPD party was defeated in elections last month. His likely successor, conservative leader Friedrich Merz, hopes to dramatically ramp up defence spending in the face of Russian hostility and worries about the US commitment to Europe.
EU leaders have rallied around Ukraine since Trump began piling pressure on Kyiv to swiftly strike a deal to end the war and made overtures to Russia.
Kyiv this week agreed to a US-proposed plan for a ceasefire. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he has “serious questions” about the plan but was ready to discuss it with Trump.
==== AFP ====
