Grace Ashiru
African investor and philanthropist Tony Elumelu stated that the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has deployed more than $100 million in seed capital to support African startups over the past 15 years.
The disclosure was made by the Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc on his LinkedIn page on Thursday after meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and members of the Africa France Impact Coalition in Paris, according to reports.
The funding initiative launched in 2010, according to the announcement. The programme provides capital, mentorship, and training to entrepreneurs, according to its description.
According to Elumelu, the initiative has supported more than 24,000 entrepreneurs across Africa with seed capital and business development resources.
Businesses funded through the programme have collectively generated more than $4.2 billion in revenue and created over 1.5 million direct and indirect jobs, according to Elumelu’s statements.
The foundation has trained approximately 2.5 million young Africans through its digital platform, TEFConnect, according to programme data.
“Africa’s young people are talented, entrepreneurial, and ambitious. What they need is access to opportunity, capital, mentorship, and markets,” Elumelu stated, according to the announcement.
“But potential without opportunity is a promise broken; joblessness is the betrayal of a generation,” Elumelu stated.
Elumelu called for stronger partnerships between Africa’s private sector and global leaders to expand opportunities, according to his statements.
Elumelu referenced French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Nigeria in 2018, when Macron addressed more than 2,000 African entrepreneurs, according to his statements.
The TEF entrepreneurship programme will provide funding and business support to an additional 3,200 young African entrepreneurs on March 22, according to the announcement.
Elumelu’s approach is based on his economic philosophy of “Africapitalism,” which advocates that the African private sector must take a leading role in driving social and economic transformation through long-term investments, according to descriptions of his philosophy.
