Kenya’s Uhuru Extols Elumelu for TEF Initiative

From (l-r), Mr. Tony Elumelu, Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), and President Uhuru Kenyatta

April 15, 2018//-Mr. Tony Elumelu, Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) and Chairman of Pan African Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), was showered with praises by President Uhuru Kenyatta for empowering Kenya’s young entrepreneurs.

According to a statement on the Government of Kenya website, while welcoming members of the 4th cohort of the Foundation’s entrepreneurship programme, Kenyatta said that the TEF was doing a good job by supporting growth.

“It is great to see Africans coming out forcibly to build (the continent) through initiatives such as this one. Our continent is endowed with massive resources; we do not have to always rely on support from elsewhere,” he said.

President Kenyatta spoke at State House in Nairobi when he met Mr Elumelu, according to the statement.

Speaking, Mr Elumelu said his organisation made a $100 million commitment to identify, fund, train and empower 10,000 African entrepreneurs.

“Our objective is to create over one million jobs and add $10 million in revenues to Africa’s economy over our ‘decade of entrepreneurship’ which started in 2015,” Elumelu said during the meeting with the President.

Mr Elumelu expressed optimism that the 74 would champion entrepreneurial development in Kenya and lend their support to local initiatives that would drive inclusive growth and development.

The 74 entrepreneurs are part of a group of 1,000 selected from 150,000 applicants from the 54 African countries.

A release by the Foundation on the kick-off of the 4th cohort says that after three cycles, the programme, which is the only African-funded business development initiative of its kind, has empowered nearly 3,000 businesses with 12-weeks of online training; world-class mentoring; access to TEF’s network of start-ups; and seed capital of $5,000.

Open to citizens and legal residents of all African countries with businesses based in Africa, less than three years old, including new start-ups, the Foundation has  invested a total of $14,235,000, including $4,270,500 in agriculture; $1,285,000 in ICT, $1,245,000 in education and training; and $7,400,000 more in start-ups across 19 other sectors.

At the TEF proper in Nigeria, Elumelu had said that he “set out to institutionalise luck with the Foundation and give back to the continent of Africa” and that he is “pleased the programme was already unleashing Africa’s entrepreneurs and driving economic transformation.”

Established in 2010, The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) is the leading philanthropy in Africa championing entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs across the continent.

The Foundation’s long-term investment in empowering African entrepreneurs is emblematic of 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.

The Foundation’s flagship initiative, the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, is a 10-year, $100 million commitment to identify, train mentor and fund 10,000 entrepreneurs, capable of changing the face of business across Africa.

Independent.ng

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