Accra, Ghana, February 27, 2019//-If not for the support of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) and its Entrepreneurship Programme, funding his startup which was registered in Rwanda in 2015 would have been very difficult.
These are the words of Justin Niyigena, Managing Director and owner of Breeding Hens Limited, who is the 2017 beneficiary of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.
He told African Eye Report in an interview that the programme had transformed his business and his life.
How beneficial is the TEF programme to your business?
Elated Mr Niyigena said: “The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme has benefited my business many ways, some of them are getting the basic skills for running my business, stay connected with the other entrepreneurs for sharing the business experiences and business opportunities, and the seed capital helped me to buy my business materials for speeding the business productions -like hatchery machines, and brooders machines”.
Today, his business which is located in the Western Province, Rusizi District, Kamembe Sector of Rwanda, has four products namely, eggs, chickens, chicks, and feathers.
He added: “We sell our feathers to the textiles industry companies to manufacture their products” in the East African country.
Expanding business
When the African Eye Report asked whether he is expanding the business, he answered in the affirmative.
In his own words: “My business is expanded to the last extent where today I can supply the products to the Western and Eastern provinces in Rwanda and I have the incubators machines to do more productions”.
The company which used to have one or two employees now employs 52 employees as permanent staff. This number is expected to increase in the course of the year, Mr Niyigena revealed.
On turnover, he was emphatic that the company’s turnover had been grown considerable in the last two years up from $56,000 to $75,220 for 2017 and 2018 respectively.
Grateful to Chairman Tony Elumelu
Mr Niyigena who is also the owner of Passion Fruits Farm used the opportunity to thank the Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Chairman Tony Elumelu for breathing life into his startup and other young African entrepreneurs.
“To Chairman Elumelu, I would like to say thank you for your philanthropic actions for Africans. We always follow the advocacy that you are doing for us. We are forever grateful to you”, Mr Niyigena added.
To TEF, he said: “Thank you for the best initiative which aims at supporting and shaping business ideas into companies”. He therefore assured him and TEF that he won’t let them down.
TEF Entrepreneurship Programme
Currently, a total of 4,470 beneficiary entrepreneurs who have completed the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme since its launch in 2015, are making significant impact on the lives of individuals, countries, governments, among others.
Their businesses are therefore from creating jobs leading to poverty alleviation in their various countries.
Also, central governments, states/regions and local authorities are taxing them to undertake development projects in their operational countries.
The TEF Programme fashioned in the model of the Africapitalism philosophy propounded by Mr Elumelu, is said to be the game-changer for rising African entrepreneurs across the 54 African counties.
It is the largest African philanthropic initiative devoted to empowering entrepreneurs and championing entrepreneurship. The programme represents its 10-year, $100 million commitment, to identify, train, mentor and fund 10,000 African entrepreneurs, who will create a million jobs, and add $10 billion in revenue to Africa’s economy.
This is consistent with the founder of TEF 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.
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report
