We are The Leading Philanthropy Empowering Young Africans Across All 54 African Countries

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) was founded in 2010 by Tony O. Elumelu, C.f.r; An entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist who is passionate about Africa’s economic development.

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 ensuring inclusive economic empowerment. Since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the Foundation has trained over 1.5 million young Africans on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed nearly USD$100 million in direct funding to 18,000 African women and men, who have collectively created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs. 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.

The Foundation’s ability to fund, train, mentor, and network young African entrepreneurs, has created a unique platform for catalysing growth across the African continent. The robust ability of the Foundation to reach entrepreneurs across geographies and sectors, has enabled it to conduct innovative partnerships with the European Union,United Nations Development Programme, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United States Government via the United States African Development Foundation (USADF), The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), The French Development Agency (AFD), The German Development Finance Institution (DEG), The German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), The African Development Bank (AfDB), and Google, with bespoke programmes including targeting female empowerment and growth in fragile states.

MISSION & VISION

THE TONY ELUMELU FOUNDATION BELIEVES THAT THE PRIVATE SECTOR HOLDS THE KEY TO UNLOCKING AFRICA’S ECONOMIC POTENTIAL.​​

2010
TEF is FOUNDED
2011
Launch of the Elumelu Professionals Programme, an internship Programme for MBA students and graduates.
2011
Launch of the Tony & Awele Elumelu Prize, a programme focused on promoting academic excellence and entrepreneurship
2012
Provided seed funding for 20 tech businesses through CC Hub
2014
Launched the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, a $100 million commitment, to identify and empower 10,000 African entrepreneurs, create a million jobs, and add $10 billion in revenues to Africa’s economy over 10 years
2015
Released Unleashing African Entrepreneurs: Improving the Enabling Environment for Start-ups
2018
Partnered with like-minded organizations to fund 460 additional entrepreneurs

"As an entrepreneur myself, I understand what it feels like to yearn for a lifeline, to hope for a ‘big break’, to look forward to enjoying some luck."

TONY O. ELUMELU, C.F.R

MISSION & VISION

THE TONY ELUMELU FOUNDATION BELIEVES THAT THE PRIVATE SECTOR HOLDS THE KEY TO UNLOCKING AFRICA’S ECONOMIC POTENTIAL.​​

OUR VALUES

Execution
A burning desire to always see things through to completion in a timely, efficient and effective manner. We believe in hard work and seeing through ideas from conception all through to achieving excellent results.
Enterprise
Having the willingness and determination to do whatever it takes to get the job done. In a competitive business environment, what sets us apart is our individual and collective responsibility to take ownership of our deliverables and lead innovative initiatives.
Excellence
Delivering in an outstanding manner, consistently. Excellence is a mantra embedded in the heart of every employee. We go several steps beyond the norm to deliver measurable value to our stakeholders.
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2010
The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) is Founded
2011
Launch of the Elumelu Professionals Programme, an internship Programme for MBA students and graduates.
2011
Launch of the Tony & Awele Elumelu Prize, a programme focused on promoting academic excellence and entrepreneurship
2012
Provided seed funding for 20 tech businesses through CC Hub.
2014
Launched the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, a $100 million commitment, to identify and empower 10,000 African entrepreneurs, create a million jobs, and add $10 billion in revenue to Africa’s economy over 10 years
2015
Released Unleashing African Entrepreneurs: Improving the Enabling Environment for Start-ups
2016
Partnered with like-minded organizations to fund 460 additional entrepreneurs
2017
founder, tony elumelu Receives Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Entrepreneurship Award
2018
TEF Launches the digital networking platform, TEFConnect, the largest digital network of African Entrepreneurs
2019
TEF and undp partner to empower an additional 100,000 young African entrepreneurs over the next 10 years with seed capital, business training and mentoring.
2020
The Tony Elumelu Foundation unveiled an upgraded and fully digitised TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, allowing instant feedback on entrepreneurs’ applications and end-to-end automated processes
2021
The Tony Elumelu Foundation appoints women in three senior executive roles, demonstrating leadership as a global champion for gender inclusion and equality

OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER
ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

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