The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has selected 23 Ghanaian entrepreneurs to benefit from the mentorship programme this year.

Each entrepreneur is expected to receive about $5000 and other technical support to boost their business.

Speaking at the third annual TEF Forum to announce winners of the initiative, Founder of the foundation and chairman of the UBA Group, Tony Elumelu charged the winners to ensure that the funds are used for their intended purpose.

Tony Elumelu said, “Africa’s development, which must be private-sector led and entrepreneurially driven, will have at its heart, young African innovators and their transformative ideas.  Only they will create the millions of jobs Africa needs.

He said, “The Forum has brought together Africa’s most important developmental force, her young entrepreneurs who will become catalysts for Africa’s economic liberation.”

Mr. Elumelu said, “We have united the African entrepreneurship ecosystem, putting the entrepreneurs at centre stage.”

He said, “I want to thank those heads of government and other key policymakers, who have supported our firm belief that the private sector is the engine for growth and the private sector players, who are models of our philosophy of Africapitalism – the idea that business will drive change and that change must deliver economic and social wealth.”

Third annual forum

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Africa’s leading philanthropy dedicated to supporting entrepreneurship, concluded its 3rd annual TEF Entrepreneurship Forum on 14th of October 2017 in Lagos.

The Forum hosted more than 1,300 participants from 54 African countries. The most diverse and inclusive gathering of African entrepreneurs on the continent, the Forum continued its strong tradition of showcasing innovation across sectors, including Agriculture, Technology, Healthcare, Fashion and Energy/Power Generation.

Launched in 2015, the Forum was born out of the Foundation’s $100 million commitment to identify, train, mentor and fund 10,000 African entrepreneurs, over a decade, through the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.