The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Africa’s leading champion of entrepreneurship, is pleased to announce that applications for its 2025 Entrepreneurship Programmes are now open.

Aspiring and existing entrepreneurs from across Africa are invited to apply for a chance to receive world-class training, expert mentoring, and non-refundable seed capital funding to scale their businesses.

Programmes Open for Application: Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Programme: the flagship TEF Entrepreneurship Programme is open to all entrepreneurs across Africa with innovative business ideas or existing businesses not older than five years.

This year, there is a special emphasis on businesses leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and green initiatives. Applicants must be at least 18 years old.

IYBA-WE4A Entrepreneurship Programme: Launched by the Tony Elumelu Foundation in partnership with the European Union (EU) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), IYBA-WE4A stands for Investing in Young Businesses in Africa – Women Entrepreneurship for Africa and is exclusively for women entrepreneurs with green business ideas or existing green businesses in Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Cameroon, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, and Togo. Applicants must be at least 18 years old, with businesses not exceeding five years in operation.

Aguka Ideation Programme:  The Aguka Ideation Entrepreneurship Programme is a partnership with the Tony Elumelu Foundation, UNDP Rwanda and the Rwandan Ministry of Youths and Arts to support young Rwandan entrepreneurs between 18 and 30 with business ideas with a seed capital of $3000, to nurture and develop innovative concepts into viable enterprises.

Application Details:

Platform: Applications are to be submitted through TEF’s proprietary digital hub, TEFConnect.

Application Period: January 1, 2025 – March 1, 2025. Applicants are encouraged to complete and submit their applications well ahead of the deadline.

Eligibility: Open to African entrepreneurs with scalable business ideas or existing businesses not older than five years. Applicants must be at least 18 years old.

To learn more about the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s transformative work and the success of our African entrepreneurs. Explore our:

Impact Report, which highlights the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s achievements and contributions to Africa’s economic growth.

African Entrepreneurs’ Success Stories, showcasing the inspiring journeys of Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs.

Annual Reports, offering insights into the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s strategies and outcomes.

About the Tony Elumelu Foundation:

The Tony Elumelu Foundation is the leading philanthropy empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, driving poverty eradication, catalysing job creation across all 54 African countries, and increasing women's economic empowerment.

Founded in 2010, the Tony Elumelu Foundation is committed to empowering African entrepreneurs as a catalyst for the continent’s economic transformation.

Since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the Foundation has provided up to 2.5 million young Africans with access to training on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed over $100 million in direct funding to over 21,000 African women and men, who have collectively created over 800,000 direct and indirect jobs, and generated over USD$4.2 billion in revenue.

The Foundation’s mission is rooted in Africapitalism, which positions the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the African continent.