Articles – The Tony Elumelu Foundation

مؤسسة توني إلوميلو فتح باب التقديم لبرنامج ريادة الأعمال لعام 2026

Webmaster — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 12:20:25 +0000

أبرز مؤسسة خيرية لريادة الأعمال في أفريقيا تُحفّز الجيل القادم من روّاد الأعمال الأفارقة

رأس مال تأسيسي غير قابل للاسترداد بقيمة 5,000 دولار أمريكي، وتدريب عالمي المستوى، وإرشاد لأجرأ المؤسسين في أفريقيا

أكثر من 24,000 رائد أعمال ممولين، و2.5 مليون شخص تم تدريبهم، و1.5 مليون وظيفة تم خلقها، وإيرادات بلغت 4.2 مليار دولار أمريكي منذ عام 2015

لاغوس، نيجيريا – 1 يناير 2026 – أعلنت مؤسسة توني إلوميلو (TEF) فتح باب التقديم لبرنامج TEF لريادة الأعمال لعام 2026، داعيةً روّاد الأعمال الطموحين من جميع الدول الأفريقية الـ54 إلى التقديم الآن عبر منصة TEFConnect.

يحصل المتقدمون الناجحون على رأس مال تأسيسي غير قابل للاسترداد بقيمة 5,000 دولار أمريكي، إلى جانب تدريب مكثف في مجال الأعمال، وإرشاد، ووصول مباشر إلى أكبر شبكة لريادة الأعمال في أفريقيا.

منذ عام 2015، قام البرنامج بتمويل أكثر من 24,000 رائد أعمال، وتدريب 2.5 مليون أفريقي، وخلق أكثر من 1.5 مليون وظيفة، وتوليد إيرادات تجاوزت 4.2 مليار دولار أمريكي، مما يثبت أن روّاد الأعمال الأفارقة قادرون على تحويل القارة.

كما يدفع البرنامج عجلة النمو الشامل، حيث تشكل النساء الآن 46% من روّاد أعمال TEF، وهي أعلى نسبة مشاركة نسائية يسجلها برنامج بهذا الحجم.

وفي حديثه عن إطلاق برنامج 2026، قال مؤسس مؤسسة توني إلوميلو ورئيس مجلس إدارة مجموعة Heirs Holdings، توني أو. إلوميلو، CFR:

> «أعظم أصول أفريقيا هم شعبها. أفريقيا لا تحتاج إلى مساعدات؛ أفريقيا تحتاج إلى استثمار، في البنية التحتية، وفي المؤسسات، ولكن الأهم من ذلك في شبابنا.

من خلال مؤسسة توني إلوميلو، نُظهر أنه عندما يتم تمكين روّاد الأعمال، فإنهم يخلقون فرص عمل، ويدفعون النمو، ويحوّلون المجتمعات.

روّاد الأعمال هم مستقبل أفريقيا».

باب التقديم لبرنامج TEF لريادة الأعمال لعام 2026 مفتوح من 1 يناير إلى 1 مارس 2026 عبر الموقع www.TEFConnect.com.

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أثر TEF

اضغط هنا للاطلاع على بيانات على مستوى الدول حول روّاد الأعمال الشباب الذين تم دعمهم من خلال تمويل وتدريب وإرشاد TEF في كل دولة أفريقية. ولمعرفة الأثر التحويلي للمؤسسة في جميع أنحاء القارة، يُرجى زيارة صفحة الأثر والتقارير السنوية للمؤسسة. وللاستماع مباشرة إلى تجارب روّاد الأعمال أنفسهم، تفضل بزيارة صفحة قصص النجاح الخاصة بـ TEF.

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نبذة عن مؤسسة توني إلوميلو

مؤسسة توني إلوميلو (TEF) هي المؤسسة الخيرية الرائدة في تمكين جيل جديد من روّاد الأعمال الأفارقة، ودفع القضاء على الفقر، وتحفيز خلق فرص العمل، وتعزيز النمو الاقتصادي الشامل في جميع الدول الأفريقية الـ54. ويستند عمل المؤسسة إلى مفهوم «الأفريقية الرأسمالية» (Africapitalism)، وهو الإيمان بأن القطاع الخاص الأفريقي هو المحرّك الأكثر فاعلية للتنمية طويلة الأجل.

وقد مكّنت القدرة القوية لـ TEF على الوصول إلى روّاد الأعمال عبر مختلف المناطق والقطاعات من إقامة شراكات مبتكرة مع الاتحاد الأوروبي (EU)، وبرنامج الأمم المتحدة الإنمائي (UNDP)، واللجنة الدولية للصليب الأحمر (ICRC)، وحكومة الولايات المتحدة عبر مؤسسة التنمية الأفريقية الأمريكية (USADF)، ومنظمة دول أفريقيا والكاريبي والمحيط الهادئ (OACPS)، ووكالة التنمية الفرنسية (AFD)، ومؤسسة التمويل الإنمائي الألمانية (DEG)، والوكالة الألمانية للتعاون الدولي (GIZ)، والبنك الأفريقي للتنمية (AfDB)، وشركة جوجل، ومنظمة الأمم المتحدة للطفولة (اليونيسف) – مبادرة جيل بلا حدود (GenU)، ومؤسسة خليفة بن زايد آل نهيان (KBZF).

The post مؤسسة توني إلوميلو تفتح باب التقديم لبرنامج ريادة الأعمال لعام 2026 appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

La Fondation Tony Elumelu ouvre son Programme d’Entrepreneuriat 2026

Webmaster — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 12:05:11 +0000

La principale philanthropie entrepreneuriale d’Afrique catalyse la prochaine génération d’entrepreneurs africains

Capital d’amorçage non remboursable de 5 000 USD, formation de classe mondiale et mentorat pour les fondateurs les plus audacieux d’Afrique

Plus de 24 000 entrepreneurs financés, 2,5 millions formés, 1,5 million d’emplois créés, 4,2 milliards de dollars de revenus générés depuis 2015

Lagos, Nigeria – 1er janvier 2026 – La Fondation Tony Elumelu (TEF) a ouvert les candidatures pour le Programme d’Entrepreneuriat TEF 2026, appelant les jeunes fondateurs ambitieux des 54 pays africains à postuler dès maintenant sur TEFConnect.

Les candidats retenus reçoivent 5 000 $ US en capital d’amorçage non remboursable, une formation intensive en affaires, un mentorat et un accès direct au plus grand réseau d’entrepreneuriat d’Afrique.

Depuis 2015, le programme a financé plus de 24 000 entrepreneurs, formé 2,5 millions d’Africains, créé plus de 1,5 million d’emplois et généré plus de 4,2 milliards de dollars de revenus, prouvant que les entrepreneurs africains peuvent transformer le continent.

Le programme stimule également une croissance inclusive, les femmes représentant désormais 46 % des entrepreneurs du TEF – le taux de participation féminine le plus élevé enregistré par un programme de cette envergure.

S’exprimant sur le lancement de 2026, Tony O. Elumelu, CFR, fondateur de TEF et Président du groupe Heirs Holdings, a déclaré :

“Le plus grand atout de l’Afrique, c’est notre peuple. L’Afrique n’a pas besoin d’aide; l’Afrique a besoin d’investissements, dans les infrastructures, dans les institutions, mais surtout dans notre jeunesse.

À travers la Fondation Tony Elumelu, nous montrons que lorsque les entrepreneurs sont responsabilisés, ils créent des emplois, stimulent la croissance et transforment les communautés.

Les entrepreneurs sont l’avenir de l’Afrique.

Les candidatures au Programme Entrepreneuriat TEF 2026 sont ouvertes du 1er janvier au 1er mars 2026 sur www.TEFConnect.com.

Impact du TEF

Cliquez ici pour consulter des données nationales sur les jeunes entrepreneurs soutenus par le financement, la formation et le mentorat du TEF dans chaque pays africain. Pour explorer l’impact transformateur du TEF à travers le continent, visitez la page d’impact et les rapports annuels de la Fondation. Pour entendre directement les entrepreneurs eux-mêmes, visitez la page TEF Success Stories.

حول مؤسسة توني إلوميلو

La Fondation Tony Elumelu (TEF) est la principale organisation philanthropique qui donne du pouvoir à une nouvelle génération d’entrepreneurs africains, favorise l’éradication de la pauvreté, catalyse la création d’emplois et fait progresser une croissance économique inclusive dans les 54 pays africains. Le travail du TEF est enraciné dans l’Africapitalisme ; la conviction que le secteur privé africain est le moteur le plus efficace du développement à long terme.

La solide capacité du TEF à atteindre des entrepreneurs dans toutes les zones géographiques et tous secteurs lui a permis de mener des partenariats innovants avec l’Union Européenne (UE), le Programme des Nations Unies pour le Développement (PNUD), le Comité International de la Croix-Rouge (CICR), le gouvernement américain via la Fondation des États-Unis pour le Développement de l’Afrique (USADF), l’Organisation des États d’Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique (OEACP), l’Agence Française de Développement (AFD), l’Institution allemande de financement du développement (DEG), l’Agence allemande de coopération internationale (GIZ), la Banque Africaine de Développement (BAD), Google, le Fonds des Nations Unies pour l’enfance (UNICEF), Generation Unlimited (GenU) et la Fondation Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan (KBZF).

The post La Fondation Tony Elumelu ouvre son Programme d’Entrepreneuriat 2026 appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

مؤسسة توني إيلوميلو تفتتح برنامج تطوير المشاريع 2026

Webmaster — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:39:36 +0000

A Filantropia Líder em Empreendedorismo da África Catalisa a Próxima Geração de Empreendedores Africanos

Capital inicial não reembolsável de US$ 5.000, capacitação de classe mundial e mentoria para os fundadores mais ousados da África

24.000+ empreendedores financiados, 2,5 milhões capacitados, 1,5 milhão de empregos criados, US$4,2 bilhões em receita gerada desde 2015

Lagos, Nigéria – 1 de Janeiro de 2026 – A Fundação Tony Elumelu (TEF) abriu as inscrições para o Programa de  Empreendedorismo TEF 2026, chamando jovens fundadores ambiciosos de todos os 54 países Africanos para se candidatarem agora no TEFConnect.

Os candidatos aprovados recebem US$ 5.000 em capital inicial não reembolsável, capacitação intensiva em negócios, mentoria e acesso direto à maior rede de empreendedorismo da África.

Desde 2015, o Programa financiou mais de 24.000 empreendedores, capacitou 2,5 milhões de Africanos e criou mais de 1,5 milhões de empregos e geraram mais de US$ 4,2 bilhões em receita, provando que empreendedores Africanos podem transformar o continente.

O Programa também está impulsionando o crescimento inclusivo, com as mulheres agora representando 46% dos empreendedores TEF – o maior número de mulheres taxa de participação registrada por um programa dessa escala.

Falando sobre o lançamento em 2026, o fundador da TEF e presidente do Heirs Holdings Group, Tony O. Elumelu, CFR, disse:

“O maior patrimônio da África é nosso povo. A África não precisa de ajuda; A África precisa de investimentos, em infraestrutura, em instituições, mas mais criticamente em nossos jovens.

Por meio da Fundação Tony Elumelu, mostramos que, quando empreendedores são empoderados, eles criam empregos, impulsionam o crescimento, e transformar comunidades.

Empreendedores são o futuro da África.”

As inscrições para o Programa de Empreendedorismo TEF 2026 estão abertas de 1 de Janeiro a 1 de Março de 2026 no dia www.TEFConnect.com.

Impacto TEF

Clique aqui para dados em nível nacional sobre jovens empreendedores apoiados pelo financiamento, capacitação e mentoria do TEF em cada país Africano. Para explorar o impacto transformador do TEF em todo o continente, visite a Página de Impacto e os Relatórios Anuais da Fundação. Para ouvir diretamente os próprios empreendedores, visite a página de Histórias de Sucesso do TEF.

Sobre a Fundação Tony Elumelu

A Fundação Tony Elumelu (TEF) é a principal instituição filantrópica que capacita uma nova geração de empreendedores Africanos, impulsionando a erradicação da pobreza, catalisando a criação de empregos e promovendo o crescimento econômico inclusivo em todos os 54 países Africanos. O trabalho da TEF está enraizado no Africapitalismo; a crença de que o setor privado da África é o motor mais eficaz para o desenvolvimento de longo prazo.

A robusta capacidade do TEF de alcançar empreendedores de diferentes geografias e setores permitiu que realizasse atividades inovadoras parcerias com a União Europeia (UE), o Programa das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento (PNUD), o Comitê Internacional da Cruz Vermelha (CICV), o Governo dos EUA por meio da Fundação dos Estados Unidos para o Desenvolvimento Africano (USADF), a Organização da África e do Caribe e Estados do Pacífico (OACPS), a Agência Francesa de Desenvolvimento (AFD), a Instituição Alemã de Financiamento ao Desenvolvimento (DEG), a Agência Alemã de Cooperação Internacional (GIZ), o Banco Africano de Desenvolvimento (BAD), Google, o Fundo das Nações Unidas para a Infância (UNICEF) Geração Ilimitada (GenU) e a Fundação Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (KBZF).

The post Fundação Tony Elumelu Inaugura Programa de Empreendedorismo 2026 appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

Our Founder, Tony O. Elumelu CFR’s Full Remarks on CNN’s Global Perspective on Africa in London

Webmaster — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 07:57:59 +0000

في نوفمبر 2025، انضم توني إيلوميلو، مؤسس مؤسسة توني إيلوميلو، إلى الليدي لين فورستر دي روتشيلد، المؤسس والرئيس التنفيذي لمجلس الرأسمالية الشاملة، في حوار قوي أدارته إيليني جيوكوس من شبكة CNN، حول الرأسمالية الأفريقية والعصر الجديد للتمويل الشامل، في برنامج CNN Global Perspectives on Africa في لندن.

وقد بحثا معًا في كيفية قيام القطاع الخاص ورواد الأعمال في أفريقيا بقيادة النمو المستدام والشامل وإعادة تشكيل أنظمة السوق العالمية من منظور القارة الفريد.

لقد واجه الاقتصاد العالمي الكثير من الأزمات في العقود القليلة الماضية: أزمات عدم المساواة، وأزمات الإقصاء، وبالطبع في الآونة الأخيرة، الإجهاد البيئي. وفي ظل هذه الخلفية توصلنا إلى فلسفة ومفهوم الرأسمالية الأفريقية.

ويجب أن أقول إنه ليس تكييفًا أفريقيًا للرأسمالية. بل هو إعادة تعريف للرأسمالية لمعالجة القضايا الجوهرية التي تحدثت عنها السيدة لين للتو. نحن نؤمن بأن القطاع الخاص يجب أن يلعب دورًا حاسمًا في خلق الازدهار الاقتصادي والتحول الاجتماعي للمجتمع، للبشرية.

نحن نؤمن بأن الرأسمالية في القرن الحادي والعشرين يجب أن تتمحور حول المشاركة المجتمعية وإدماج المجتمع. ونعتقد، إلى حد كبير، أن الربح والهدف ليسا متنافسين. لا يوجد تنافس بينهما.

إن الربح والهدف شريكان، لا سيما في النهضة الأفريقية، والحديث عن الرأسمالية في العالم اليوم. وبالنسبة لنا، فإن حث القطاع الخاص على الاستثمار لا يعني في حد ذاته العمل الخيري، بل الاستثمار في القطاعات الحيوية التي تساعد على تحقيق الازدهار الاقتصادي، والتحول الاجتماعي هو ما نحتاج إليه.

أعتقد أن الرأسمالية الشاملة لا تتعلق بالإحسان. إنها تتعلق بخلق القيمة. إنها تتعلق بالشمول. إنها تتعلق بالتأكد من أن الشركات لا تعمل من أجل الربح وحده، ولا تعمل من أجل المساهمين وحدهم، بل تعمل في جوهرها على تحقيق المجتمع. لذا، فإن ما نقوم به في مؤسسة توني إلوميلو، بالنسبة لنا، بالنسبة لي ولزوجتي، وبالمناسبة، كانت لين عضوًا مؤسسًا في مجلس إدارة مؤسسة توني إلوميلو.

جلست في مجلس الإدارة لمدة 12 عامًا. لذا، فإن اهتمامنا بالإنسانية لم يبدأ اليوم. لقد فكرنا وأدركنا أن نجاحنا لا يتحدد بالثروة أو الأموال التي نمتلكها في حساباتنا المصرفية.

لقد اعتقدنا أننا لن ننجح إذا لم نقم بدورنا في المساعدة في تحفيز الازدهار الاقتصادي للجميع في قارة أفريقيا. ولكننا أدركنا أنه لا يمكننا القيام بذلك وحدنا، ولهذا السبب لن نمضي في هذه الرحلة بمفردنا. نحن نذهب مع الناس.

نحدد رواد الأعمال الأفارقة الشباب كل عام. نحن نقدم رأس مال غير قابل للاسترداد قدره $5000 بين 3000 إلى 5000 شاب أفريقي كل عام، في جميع أنحاء البلدان الأفريقية كل عام، وهذه هي الرأسمالية الأفريقية.

هذا هو القطاع الخاص. ولكن عندما نتحدث عن الاستثمار في القطاع الخاص، فإن الأمر لا يقتصر على الاستثمار في البنية التحتية المالية فحسب، بل إن الاستثمار في الشباب هو استثمار يساعد على تحفيز المزيد من الازدهار.

اسمحوا لي أن أبدأ بالقول إن الرأسمالية الأفريقية تنقلنا من الاستخراج إلى الإنتاج. وتنقلنا من الاستهلاك إلى الإنتاج. وتنقلنا من التبعية إلى الكرامة.

أعتقد أن الأمر كله يتعلق بالمصلحة على المدى الطويل: فمصلحة أفريقيا هي مصلحة قارتنا التي نمتلكها وستخلق قيمة محلية في القارة.

نبتعد عن تصدير المواد الخام. نخلق - أفريقيا لديها بطالة كبيرة بين الشباب. وأنا أسميها خيانة لجيل الشباب في أفريقيا أننا لا نستطيع خلق فرص عمل لهم.

لذا، عند السعي إلى التوافق مع القوى أو الاقتصادات العالمية، الاقتصادات المتقدمة، يجب أن يكون هناك أولاً توافق بين مصالحنا على المدى الطويل: خلق فرص العمل، وتمكين الشباب، والشمولية، والإدماج. أي من الاقتصادات العالمية يقدم أو يساعدنا على تحقيق هذه الأهداف الأساسية؟ بالنسبة لي، هذا من شأنه أن يحدد كيفية مواءمتنا.

تحتاج أفريقيا إلى استثمارات ضخمة في البنية التحتية لتحويل القارة. نحن نتحدث عن الذكاء الاصطناعي؛ لقد عدت للتو من محادثة في الرياض حول الذكاء الاصطناعي، وموقفي ثابت.

لا ينبغي لأفريقيا أن تتحدث عن الذكاء الاصطناعي في الوقت الذي لا يتوفر فيه الوصول إلى الكهرباء المشتركة في القارة. لذا، نحتاج إلى المواءمة مع الشركاء العالميين ووكالات التنمية والقطاع الخاص. وبالنسبة لي، ليس القطاع الخاص الأفريقي.

إنه القطاع الخاص في أفريقيا: القطاع الخاص الذي يمارس الأعمال التجارية في أفريقيا. نحن بحاجة إلى البدء في إعادة التفكير وإعادة تصور كيفية عملنا في القارة.

نحن بحاجة إلى أن نبدأ في الرؤية، وهذا هو السبب في أنني 100% متوافق مع تقاطع المساهمين في المجتمع وخلق القيمة والجميع على الطاولة.

ليس هناك أي سبب يدعو إلى التحالف مع الأشخاص الذين يأتون إلى القارة لغرض استخراج المواد الخام. نحن بحاجة إلى تلك المواد الخام التي تتم معالجتها في القارة حتى يمكن خلق قيمة مضافة محلية، وحتى يمكن معالجة بطالة الشباب التي نعاني منها في أفريقيا، وحتى يمكن معالجة أنشطة التدخل الرأسمالي التي تساعد على دفع أفريقيا ونقلها إلى المستوى التالي، وهذا من شأنه أن يحدد ما نقوم به أو من يجب أن ننحاز إليه.

شاهد الجلسة هنا: https://youtu.be/atxv5LuBvig?si=kmGo_A_ehkc70arO

The post Our Founder, Tony O. Elumelu CFR’s Full Remarks on CNN’s Global Perspective on Africa in London appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

من العمل الخيري إلى الأسواق: كيف تقوم مؤسسة توني إلوميلو ببناء مستقبل أفريقيا القابل للاستثمار

Webmaster — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 15:56:43 +0000

Africa’s entrepreneurial story has too often been told through the lens of scarcity: scarce capital, scarce jobs, scarce opportunities. Yet on the ground, a different narrative is unfolding. The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) is showing how targeted philanthropy can seed markets, de-risk ventures, and create pipelines of businesses ready for private investment.

As global interest in impact investing accelerates, TEF’s model provides a blueprint for how philanthropy and markets can work hand in hand to unlock Africa’s potential.

Philanthropy Meets Private Capital

The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme is more than a grant scheme; it is a continent-wide mechanism for talent discovery, business validation, and capacity-building. Since 2015, the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme has trained millions on its digital hub TEFConnect and supported thousands of entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries.

This early-stage investment is catalytic: by blending financial literacy, mentorship, and startup capital, TEF lowers the risk profile of African ventures. For Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), venture capital funds, and private equity firms, this means a pipeline of entrepreneurs who already understand markets, discipline, and growth.

De-Risking Early-Stage Ventures

African startups are often passed over because investors view them as “too risky” at inception. TEF tackles this directly. Rigorous selection criteria, intensive business training, and structured post-funding support ensure that ventures graduate from the programme as investible propositions.

The proof lies in outcomes: TEF Alumni have gone on to attract follow-on funding from global impact funds, local VCs, and DFIs. They emerge not just as entrepreneurs, but as disciplined operators with validated models, tested resilience, and growing revenues.

Building the Pipeline Investors Need

Impact investing is built on dual outcomes: financial return and social value. The Tony Elumelu Foundation provides both and its alumni’s ventures span sectors critical to Africa’s development; — agriculture, health, fintech, clean energy, and education, — with measurable results in job creation, income generation, and community resilience.

By aggregating this data across countries and sectors, TEF offers investors something rare in African markets: visibility. Trends in revenue, employment, and sectoral performance are tracked and shared, giving investors the intelligence they need to allocate capital with confidence.

From Isolated Stories to Systemic Change

The significance of the Tony Elumelu Foundation goes beyond individual success stories. It demonstrates how philanthropy can serve as the first-loss capital that de-risks ecosystems and primes them for market investment. This is blended finance in action, — where the catalytic role of grants unlocks the leverage of billions in private capital.

For global institutions seeking credible partners in Africa, TEF is now a proven ally. Its track record in converting seed support into scalable ventures makes it an essential bridge between philanthropy and markets.

A New Playbook for African Entrepreneurship

What the Tony Elumelu Foundation is engineering is nothing less than a paradigm shift. It is not only funding startups, but also reconfiguring the very architecture of entrepreneurship in Africa. By turning small amounts of philanthropic capital into investible opportunities, it is demonstrating that Africa’s growth story will be written not only in classrooms or ministries, but in boardrooms and marketplaces.

For DFIs, impact funds, and private investors, this represents a unique opportunity: to engage with ventures that are not only de-risked but deeply embedded in Africa’s realities while meeting global standards.

الرهانات المقبلة

Africa’s entrepreneurial future is not waiting to be discovered; it is already being built, enterprise by enterprise, across all 54 countries. By converting early-stage support into investible businesses, the Tony Elumelu Foundation is proving that Africa is not a frontier of risk, but a frontier of innovation. What comes next is no longer a question of potential; it is a question of how quickly the world chooses to back the continent’s builders.

The post From Philanthropy to Markets: How the Tony Elumelu Foundation Is Building Africa’s Investible Future appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

دليل القطاع الخاص لرأس المال البشري في أفريقيا

Webmaster — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 14:40:44 +0000

غالبًا ما يُشار إلى العائد الديموغرافي لأفريقيا، أي سكانها الشباب الذين يتزايد عددهم بسرعة، على أنه أعظم ما تملكه أفريقيا، ومع ذلك فإن هذه الإمكانية كثيرًا ما تصطدم بواقع بطء استيعاب العمالة والفجوات في المهارات ونظم التوظيف الهشة.

في حين أن أدوات السياسة التقليدية، مثل بناء المزيد من المدارس واستيراد المناهج الدراسية، لم تسفر عن نتائج تذكر. تستخدم مؤسسة توني إيلوميلو (TEF) نهجًا قائمًا على الرأسمالية الأفريقية لمواجهة تحديات رأس المال البشري في أفريقيا، وهو نهج يختلف عن أساليب السياسات التقليدية. فمنذ إطلاق برنامج TEF لريادة الأعمال في عام 2015، منحت مؤسسة توني إلوميلو أكثر من 2.5 مليون شاب أفريقي فرصة الحصول على التدريب عبر مركزها الرقمي الخاص بها,TEFConnect, وقدمت أكثر من $100 مليون دولار أمريكي في شكل تمويل مباشر لأكثر من 24,000 رائد أعمال، مما أدى إلى خلق ما يصل إلى 1.5 مليون وظيفة.

هذا هو نظام المهارات الموازي في العمل: ريادة الأعمال كتكوين جماعي لرأس المال البشري.

ريادة الأعمال كتكوين لرأس المال البشري.

وحيث تفصل السياسة العامة عادةً بين “ريادة الأعمال” و“العمل”، فإن برنامجنا لريادة الأعمال يهدم الحدود. فبرنامجنا الرائد لريادة الأعمال لا يتعامل مع رائد الأعمال ليس فقط كصاحب شركة ناشئة، بل كعقدة مهارات ومضاعف في سوق العمل.

هذا النموذج بسيط ولكنه جذري: تعليم المؤسس الثقافة المالية وتحليل السوق والمرونة والمرونة وتبني التكنولوجيا الرقمية، وأنت بذلك تعلم موظفيهم ومورديهم وحتى عملائهم بشكل غير مباشر.

لا يقتصر دور مركزنا الرقمي المملوك لنا، TEFConnect، على تقديم وحدات تدريبية فحسب، بل إنه يخلق التعلم من الأقران والتوجيه والوصول إلى الأدوات التي تمتد إلى القوى العاملة الأوسع نطاقاً. يعمل TEFConnect كمسرع للمهارات وإشارة للسوق: فهو لا يزود رواد الأعمال بالمعرفة العملية فحسب، بل يكشف أيضاً في الوقت الفعلي عن القدرات الأكثر طلباً ويبنيها على نطاق واسع.

الأثر الكلي للتدريب على ريادة الأعمال.

ماذا يعني ذلك بالنسبة لأسواق العمل في أفريقيا؟ هناك ثلاثة تحولات بارزة:

من الاعتماد على الأجور إلى خلق الفرص
في المتوسط، يخلق كل رائد أعمال نشط من رواد أعمال توني إلوميلو 13 وظيفة في المتوسط، حيث يكسب الموظفون ثلاثة أضعاف دخل الفرد على المستوى الوطني. وبعيداً عن عدد الموظفين، فإننا نعيد تعريف “الوظيفة” نفسها من خلال المزج بين العمل الرسمي وغير الرسمي في مسارات قابلة للتطبيق لتأمين الدخل.

من العجز في المناهج الدراسية إلى التعلم القائم على السوق
على عكس العديد من الأنظمة المهنية، فإن التدريب الذي تقدمه مؤسسة التدريب الفني والتدريب المهني هو تدريب معياري ورقمي ويتم تحديثه بالتزامن مع تحولات السوق. ومع تحقيق 80% من رواد الأعمال لإيرادات وإبلاغهم عن زيادة 40% في معدل دورانهم، فإن هذا النموذج يبقي المهارات مرتبطة بمنحنيات الطلب الفعلي، وليس المناهج القديمة.

من ندرة رأس المال البشري إلى القدرات الموزعة
حددت منظمة التعاون الاقتصادي والتنمية “مصيدة القدرات” في أفريقيا التي تتسم بمؤسسات مثقلة وطموحات لم تتحقق. وفي المقابل، تعالج مؤسسة توني إيلوميلو (TEF) هذا الأمر من خلال تمكين رواد الأعمال وإضفاء اللامركزية على القدرات وتعزيز المرونة; 76% من رواد الأعمال في قطاع التعليم والتدريب المهني يندمجون في سلاسل القيمة الأوسع نطاقاً.

الآثار المترتبة على صانعي السياسات والمؤسسات.

أما بالنسبة للحكومات وشركاء التنمية، فالعبرة ليست في إسناد التعليم إلى القطاع الخاص، بل في دمج التدريب على ريادة الأعمال في استراتيجية رأس المال البشري. تخيلوا لو أن وزارات العمل قبلت بـ TEFConnect ليس كبنية تحتية تكميلية: ذراع مهني رقمي يصل إلى الشباب بشكل أسرع وأرخص وبنتائج قابلة للقياس.

تطبق مؤسسة توني إلوميلو بشكل فعال حجة مجلة هارفارد بزنس ريفيو في التعامل مع رأس المال البشري كأصل استراتيجي.

ومن خلال برامجها التدريبية والإرشادية الرقمية القابلة للتطوير، تعمل مؤسسة توني إلوميلو على تمكين رواد الأعمال في البيئات الصعبة، والوصول إلى الفئات التي تعاني من نقص الخدمات تاريخياً مثل النساء اللاتي يشكلن 461 تيرابايت من المستفيدين من مؤسسة توني إلوميلو.

الرهانات المقبلة

بحلول عام 2035، ستضم أفريقيا أكبر عدد من السكان في سن العمل في العالم. وسواء أصبح هذا الأمر عائداً ديموغرافياً أو كارثة ديموغرافية سيعتمد بدرجة أقل على عدد المدارس التي يتم بناؤها، وأكثر على مدى فعالية الشباب الأفريقي في تحويل المهارات إلى سبل عيش.

يُظهر نموذج مؤسسة توني إيلوميلو بوضوح أن الاستثمار في ريادة الأعمال لا يتعلق فقط بإطلاق الشركات الناشئة، بل يتعلق بتوسيع نطاق أنظمة المهارات وترسيخ المرونة في أسواق العمل بأكملها. وإذا ما تعاونت الحكومات والمؤسسات العالمية ووسعت نطاق هذه الدروس، يمكن لأفريقيا أن تحول ضغطها الديموغرافي إلى محرك قوي للازدهار والفرص.

The post The Private Sector’s Playbook for Human Capital in Africa appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

العائد على الاستثمار بين الجنسين قياس العائد الاقتصادي على الاستثمار في المؤسِّسات من النساء

Webmaster — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 13:29:38 +0000

For decades, investing in women has been framed as philanthropy, a moral gesture, a soft quota, an act of equity. In Africa today, the evidence tells a sharper story: investing in women founders is not charity, it is strategy.

When women receive capital, they generate more jobs per dollar, reinvest more in households, and build more resilient businesses. The real question is no longer why invest in women, but why would any rational economy not?

The Investing in Young Businesses in African Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (IYBA-WE4A) programme, spearheaded in partnership with the European Union, the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), and implemented by the German Development Agency (GIZ) and the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), provides one of the clearest test cases to date. By combining seed capital, capacity building, and digital learning through TEFConnect, IYBA-WE4A has channeled millions of dollars into women-led businesses across the continent. The results are no longer anecdotal. They point to an investable thesis: gender lens entrepreneurship delivers measurable, outsized returns not only for women, but for labour markets and national economies.

Framing Investment in Women as an Economic Imperative

Too often, investment in women entrepreneurs is justified in the language of equity or moral duty. While justice matters, the economic evidence is stronger still. Global studies from the IMF and McKinsey have consistently shown that narrowing gender gaps in labour force participation could add trillions to global GDP. Yet these figures often remain abstract, detached from the lived realities of African markets where informality is high, finance is scarce, and education systems are misaligned with demand.

IYBA-WE4A grounds this global debate in empirical reality. In 2021, over 798 African women-led enterprises received USD $3.99 million in grant funding under the programme. Each beneficiary received $5,000 in non-refundable seed capital, accompanied by capacity-building training, mentoring, and in some cases follow-on catalytic investments of up to €50,000 for high-growth firms. These grants, though not vast by macroeconomic standards, have yielded disproportionate impact creating jobs, expanding revenues, and building market linkages across the continent.

Entrepreneurship as Human Capital Policy

The Tony Elumelu Foundation has long argued that entrepreneurship is not peripheral to Africa’s labour markets; it is the labour market.

Women have been central to the TEF story. 46% of all TEF beneficiaries are women, and within the IYBA-WE4A programme specifically, the figure is 100%. Our data shows that each TEF beneficiary with an active business creates an average of 13 jobs, and that employees in these firms earn three times the national per-capita income. Over half of their workforce are women and youth. Profits average 22 times national income per capita, and 64% of these businesses support other SMEs as suppliers and vendors.

These are not peripheral gains. They illustrate entrepreneurship as a system of human capital formation: every grant dollar is simultaneously training a founder, formalising jobs, raising wages, and building domestic supply chains.

The WE4A Multiplier

The outcomes of WE4A demonstrate how seed capital, when targeted at women founders, multiplies across multiple dimensions:

Job Creation: Beneficiaries consistently report new hires within 12–18 months of receiving capital. Women-led firms are more likely to employ women and youth, creating a virtuous cycle of inclusion.

Revenue Growth: Internal monitoring shows many WE4A enterprises doubling revenues post-intervention, with profits channelled into reinvestment and expansion.

Social Spillovers: Women entrepreneurs tend to reinvest earnings into household education, healthcare, and community development. This indirect impact is harder to quantify but significantly strengthens human development outcomes alongside economic ones.

The cost-per-job and return-on-investment (ROI) of funding women founders compares favourably with many large-scale infrastructure or vocational training schemes. Put differently, if an economist were to run a benefit–cost analysis, entrepreneurship support for women would not only clear the bar of social justification but outperform many conventional policy levers.

Case Narratives: Grounding Data in Lived Enterprise

Numbers alone cannot convey the systemic patterns. Micro-narratives from WE4A beneficiaries illustrate how gendered ROI plays out on the ground.

Kenya – Dial a Pad is transforming access to feminine hygiene and reproductive healthcare through tech-enabled solutions. Founded to address period poverty, the platform combines a mobile app offering e-commerce and telemedicine with locally manufactured, IoT-enabled sanitary towel dispensers. Backed by the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Dial a Pad has deployed its smart dispensers in schools across Kenya, where 7 in 10 girls miss school due to lack of menstrual products. To date, the initiative has reached over 10,000 school-going girls, enabled uninterrupted education and promoted good health and well-being for African girls and women.

Uganda – Dromedic is tackling the critical shortage of essential medical supplies through smart logistics and technology. Founded to address the life-threatening unavailability of blood in Uganda, the platform combines data-driven inventory management with a digital discovery system that connects hospitals, patients, and doctors to blood banks and donors. With support from the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Dromedic ensures safe, fast, and affordable delivery of medical supplies—such as blood—within 45 minutes. So far, over 1,000 pints of blood and other vital items including oxygen cylinders, face masks, and vaccines have been delivered to more than 50 hospitals and communities across Uganda.

Mauritius – Recycle Moi Africa’s 100% biodegradable sanitary napkins. Made from natural bamboo and corn fibre, and packaged in recyclable cardboard, the napkins are free from toxins, bleaches, latex, perfumes, and plastic—making them safe for sensitive skin and environmentally friendly. Recycle Moi operates through an innovative “mini factory” model that equips rural women to produce and distribute the pads within their communities. The initiative not only promotes sustainable health practices but also creates jobs and empowers women at the grassroots level.

Nigeria – ORÍKÌ Group is Nigeria’s all-natural farm-to-skin brand combining luxury wellness with indigenous skincare. Founded to promote holistic beauty and wellness, ORÍKÌ operates a chain of luxury spas powered by its own line of potent, botanical-based products. Backed by the Tony Elumelu Foundation, the brand has grown to include 7 spas, 1 manufacturing division, and UNWIND by ORÍKÌ—Africa’s first tech platform offering wellness on demand. With global expansion underway through the ORÍKÌ Franchise, the brand continues to elevate African wellness, delivering relaxation, skincare, and empowerment from farm to face.

Each case illustrates the layered return: financial growth, job creation, social empowerment, and community resilience.

From Pilot to Policy: The Implications for Africa’s Labour Markets

By 2035, Africa will host the world’s largest working-age population. The demographic dividend will not materialise simply by building more schools or launching new vocational centres. It will depend on how effectively young Africans, and especially women, translate skills into livelihoods.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation’s approach demonstrates that entrepreneurship training extends far beyond launching startups, it is about creating decentralised skill-building systems that strengthen labour markets with resilience. Each entrepreneur becomes a hub of expertise, amplifying capabilities among employees, suppliers, and communities.

A Gendered Dividend, If Seized

The case for investing in women entrepreneurs is no longer simply moral or rhetorical. It is empirical and economic. WE4A demonstrates that women-led enterprises deliver superior returns across financial, social, and systemic dimensions. They create jobs at lower cost, pay higher wages, and reinvest in households and communities.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation has shown the world what is possible when women founders are given capital, training, mentoring, and access.

If scaled and embedded into policy, the gendered ROI of investing in women could well define Africa’s growth trajectory turning population pressure into shared prosperity.

The post The Gendered ROI Measuring the Economic Return on Investing in Women Founders appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

إضفاء الطابع الديمقراطي على الحظ - كيف يعيد $5,000 تعريف الاقتصاد الأفريقي

Webmaster — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 13:14:11 +0000

Democratising Luck: How $5,000 is Redefining Africa’s Economy

For decades, entrepreneurial success in Africa has been shaped by chance, a fortunate investor, an unexpected loan, or a serendipitous meeting. Structural barriers like limited access to capital, inadequate training, and weak networks have left many with ideas but no pathway to execution.

At the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we believe opportunity should not be a lottery, It should be a system. Our flagship Entrepreneurship Programme is designed to institutionalise access, i.e. democratise luck, by combining a rigorous training, mentorship, access to networks and a catalytic $5,000 seed capital to empower entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries.

This is a tried and tested model that is reshaping the economic landscape of the continent.

Why $5,000 Matters

In global venture circles, $5,000 may seem modest, but in African markets, it is often the difference between an idea that fades and a business that flourishes. It enables entrepreneurs to purchase essential equipment, hire their first staff, or launch a prototype, bridging the gap between concept and revenue.

Importantly, the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s support التمكين is not transactional. Every entrepreneur undergoes 12 weeks of business training, is paired with a mentor, and gains access to our pan-African network. This ensures that the seed capital we provide them at the end of the Programme is not merely financial aid; it is strategic, structured, and scalable. This combination of capital and capacity building is what transforms potential into performance.

Proof of Impact

Our model is not theoretical. It is evidenced by thousands of Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs whose businesses now drive local economies:

In Kenya, ستيلا سيغانا, founder of Alternative Waste Technologies, has recycled over 500 tonnes of waste into clean fuel briquettes, created 12 jobs, and empowered hundreds of women entrepreneurs in informal settlements.

In Benin Republic, فيتال سونوفو, founder of Exportunity, built an e-commerce platform that connects African producers to global buyers. He has engaged 750+ clients, built a database of 85,000 companies, and employs 32 staff.

In Cameroon, ميشي أماه, founder of Black and Natural Cosmetics, used her empowerment to expand operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing revenue by 70%, employing seven staff, and launching vocational training for young women.

These are not anomalies. They are outcomes of a repeatable replicable model, one that transforms modest capital into measurable impact.

From Philanthropy to Economic Strategy

What began as a $100 million philanthropic commitment by our Founder, Tony O. Elumelu, CFR, and his family, has evolved into a proven economic development model across the continent. To date, we have:

Empowered over 24,000 entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries, lifting more than 2.5 million people out of poverty, and granting over 2.5 million Africans with access to trainings

Maintained أ gender-balanced cohorts

Funded businesses across diverse sectors, with top representation in Agri-business, Fashion, ICT, Manufacturing, و الرعاىة الصحية

These figures reflect more than just reach. تhey; they represent a strategic intervention in Africa’s economic architecture. By equipping entrepreneurs with capital, training, and networks, we are not only supporting livelihoods but also building resilient, locally driven economies.

Our beneficiaries span from urban tech-focused hubs to rural farming communities, proving that innovation and impact are not confined by geography; they are unlocked by access.

A Scalable Model for Inclusive Growth

We are now advancing this model through high-impact partnerships, bringing together key players from the private sector, governments, and development agencies to scale our impact.

هذا ال continental shift,– – a movement that recognises that Africa’s greatest resource is its people, and its greatest opportunity lies in enabling them to build, solve, and lead.

Our philosophy is simple: entrepreneurs are the engine of Africa’s transformation. By equipping them with the right tools, we are building economies.

As one Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur aptly put it:

“This support not only gave me the resources to start but also opened doors to countless opportunities and invaluable business insights,” – Tawonga Nyirenda, 2019 [add his/her country] خريجو TEF

This is the democratisation of luck. This is الرأسمالية الأفريقية in action.

The post Democratising Luck -How $5,000 is Redefining Africa’s Economy appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

الحياة السرية لمتلقي البذور

Webmaster — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 15:45:53 +0000

The Invisible Threads of Change: Micro-Narratives from Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme Beneficiaries

Africa is not one country, nor one culture. It is 54 countries, with thousands of cultures, and millions of entrepreneurial stories playing out every day.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation’s support is like a tracer dye illuminating the vital pathways of Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. It reveals how entrepreneurs across geographies, sectors, and cultures respond to the catalytic force of “just a little luck,” often the very head start they need to break through barriers and build lasting impact.

Their stories are not uniform; they are as varied as the markets they serve. But when placed side by side, they reveal patterns: how capital creates jobs, how mentorship sparks pivots, how resilience looks in agriculture versus tech, how culture shapes innovation.

This article is a cartography of micro-narratives, each one small but together forming a mosaic of what entrepreneurship in Africa really looks like: diverse, improvised, systemic, and human.

2018 Ugandan TEF Alumni– Eliab Mayengo

At 12, Eliab Mayengo was already self-sponsoring his education, moulding clay bricks by hand to cover his school fees. Years later, with a degree in mechanical engineering, he returned to the same soil this time with the vision to industrialise brickmaking. His company, Orca-Pod Holdings, fabricates machinery that produces affordable, high-quality building materials such as clay bricks, ventilators, and partition blocks, making decent housing more accessible to Uganda’s middle class.

With support from the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Eliab scaled his operations dramatically. His workforce grew from 20 to 45 employees, and annual revenues rose from UGX 145 million to UGX 201 million. He also constructed an eco-friendly kiln, reducing fuel use while increasing production capacity, allowing him to expand into new districts.

For Eliab, bricks are the foundation of dignity, enabling Ugandan families to build safer homes while proving that local innovation can tackle housing challenges sustainably.

2019 Tunisian TEF Alumni – Haythem Dabbabi

When the worldwent into lockdown in 2020, so did Tunisia, and TEF Alumni, Haythem Dabbabi saw not paralysis but possibility. With his venture, Evocraft, he began introducing children to robotics, coding, and STEM through playful, non-traditional approaches. What started as a single prototype became, with the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme training, mentorship, and seed capital, a growing business model serving schools and communities.

Today, Evocraft has impacted over hundreds of children, with a flagship TechBus that drives into rural areas, teaching underserved girls how to code, build robots, and imagine futures in technology. The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme not only funded his dream but reshaped his operations, helping him expand nationally and prepare for international markets.

“My purpose in life, is to help other people’s development skills.” For him, robots are not the goal; they are the tools. The true invention is confidence: proving to young Africans, especially girls, that the future of STEM belongs to them too.

2019 Moroccan TEF Alumni – Nora Chaynane

In Morocco, 80% of teenagers between 15 and 18 are uncertain about their career path. For Nora Chaynane, that confusion was not inevitable it was a problem waiting to be solved. With support from the Tony Elumelu Foundation, she founded Shine Space, a socio-educational initiative that equips young people with technical and interpersonal skills often missing from formal schooling.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Shine Space delivered more than 10 workshops, offering mentoring and career guidance. When classrooms closed, Nora pivoted online, hosting 20 digital workshops, supporting 100 students with direct mentorship, and reaching over 2,500 participants. She also collaborated with health centres and Morocco’s Ministry of Health to raise awareness of the COVID-19, showing her commitment to both education and community well-being.

Her next frontier was Glisa bla VISA Morocco’s first interactive platform designed to improve language and conversational skills through discussion groups on trending issues.

2019 Zimbabwean TEF Alumni – Gladys Chibanda

At just 21, Gladys Chibanda reimagined Ankara fabric not just as clothing, but as functional art. Through her brand, Krafted Ink, she began producing handmade journals, diaries, and gift packaging infused with African textiles. With the support of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme’s training, mentorship and seed capital, Gladys refined her business model, built smart partnerships, and scaled her customer base from a few dozen to more than 50,000 users across all 36 Nigerian states.

Her vision goes beyond craft. In 2022, she launched Dignity for Her, a project training adolescent girl to sell reusable pads in their communities. To date, over 300 girls have been equipped with both product knowledge and income opportunities, with a target of 2,000 in sight. The initiative bundles menstrual health education with entrepreneurship, breaking cycles of poverty and stigma at the same time.

2018 Namibian TEF Alumni – Lahja Amakali

When her three sole shareholders pulled out, Lahja Amakali nearly lost her agribusiness. But the seed capital from the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme kept Niithete’s Agro-Business alive. Today, her company produces five flavours of sorghum coffee substitutes and partners with mint, lemon, and ginger growers. “The Tony Elumelu Foundation classes were my eye opener,” she says. “They gave me peers to share challenges and pushed me forward when others gave up.” Her company now employs 10 part-time and two full-time staff and empowers small farmers with training on biogas, backyard gardens, and crop marketing.

For Lahja, agribusiness is more than profit: it is proving that Namibians can process food for national and international markets and feed themselves with their own hands.

2019 Zimbabwean TEF Alumni – Msindazwe Ndhlovu

In Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Msindazwe Ndhlovu is solving two crises at once: plastic waste and housing shortages. His company, The Noble Savage, recycles waste plastic into roofing tiles, ridges, and paving blocks — lighter, stronger, and more affordable than traditional alternatives. With empowerment from the Tony Elumelu Foundation, he scaled from five to eight employees and doubled annual revenue from $10,000 to $20,000. Recognition followed: two national innovation awards and due diligence with Earth Capital for a $1 million investment. “I want to transform Africa one piece of plastic at a time,” he says.

His work shows how waste, reimagined, can become shelter for the most vulnerable.

2019 Zambian TEF Alumni – Peter Chama

From cross-border hair trading to lecturing, Peter Chama’s path was anything but straight. But it led him to founding Petcha – Centre for Complementary Medicine, Zambia’s first accredited institution for naturopathy and alternative medicine. After participating in the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, Peter expanded from six to 15 staff, opened three new campuses, and now runs certificate and diploma courses across provinces.

Revenue jumped tenfold — from K50,000 to K500,000 annually. “The vision was never to build one school, … It was to build a network so that underperforming campuses could be sustained by stronger ones.” For Peter, entrepreneurship is nation-building through education.

2021 South African TEF Alumni – Lungile Marhungane

Growing up in Limpopo, Lungile Marhungane witnessed first-hand how the absence of clean water could mean both illness and economic loss. Determined to change this, she founded Jeslu Puro Water, a start-up that purifies water using an innovative macadamia nut filter — a green, locally rooted solution.

Since participating in the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, Lungile has employed four staff, supplied funeral parlours and households, and generated $800–$1,500 monthly. “The financial tools from TEF helped me understand profitability and projections.” Today, Jeslu Puro is incubated at Innovation Hub South Africa, preparing to expand nationwide.

For Lungile, clean water is a circular economic opportunity that creates jobs and safeguards health.

2018 Cameroonian TEF Alumni – Angele Messa

When schools shut down in Cameroon in 2018, thousands of young people were left stranded without education or opportunities. For Angele Messa, it was a personal call to action. Drawing on her own struggles with education, she founded EduClick Africa and later EduClick Careers, a digital learning and job-matching platform.

With the $5,000 non-refundable seed capital from the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Angele built an online learning hub and expanded her venture into Cameroon’s largest job search engine. Today, EduClick employs three full-time and four part-time staff, has registered more than 46,000 users, trained over 8,000 young people in employability skills, and placed more than 600 into decent jobs.

Her ambition is bold; to help one million Cameroonian youths’ access meaningful work by 2025 regardless of location, qualification, or gender.

2021 Malian TEF Alumni – Maliki Sankaré

Across 24 hectares of farmland in Mali, Maliki Sankaré is rewriting agriculture’s story. His company, Socco-Agro-Business, grows rice and vegetables while creating jobs for rural youth and women. With the seed capital, mentorship and training from the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, he expanded operations, trained 150 farmers, and now generates up to two million FCFA annually.

Maliki’s vision is bold. He is harnessing digital farming to monitor water and fertiliser use, reduce rural exodus, and create employment across Mali by 2030. Already recognised by the World Food Programme, his work proves that Mali’s land holds wealth when in the hands of its youth.

2015 Nigerian TEF Alumni – Ogola Kange

In Nigeria, where 40% of tomatoes are lost post-harvest, Ogola Kange saw both waste and opportunity. Her company, Smiley’z Mobile Kitchen, processes surplus tomatoes into organic products with longer shelf life, helping farmers reduce losses while ensuring food security. With a $5,000 seed capital and training from the Tony Elumelu Foundation in 2015, Ogola transformed her idea into a sustainable agribusiness.

Today, she works with 35 smallholder farmers, boosting their sales by 25% annually, and has trained over 200 women in agribusiness, 50 of whom have since launched their own ventures. Smiley’z is now part of the Solar Impulse Foundation’s 1,000 Solutions, recognised for its renewable practices that cut CO₂, conserve water, and reduce waste.

For Ogola, every jar of tomato paste is a recipe for women’s empowerment and a solution to Nigeria’s food security challenge.

2015 Nigerian TEF Alumni – Omowunmi Akande

A former corporate worker, Omowunmi Akande left her desk job to make healthy living accessible. Her brand, Smoothie Express, launched in 2015 with TEF support, now generates over one million dollars in revenue through outlets, subscriptions, and events.

Employing more than 30 people, her business positions wellness as a lifestyle, not a luxury. “The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme could not have come at a better time … It moulded us into the savvy entrepreneurs we are today.”

From business-to-business (B2B) sales to international recognition, Smoothie Express proves that health and profit can scale together.

2022 Beninoise TEF Alumni – Assiba Fée

When her newborn struggled to gain weight, Assiba Fée tried an age-old remedy: moringa leaves. Within weeks, her baby was thriving. That personal miracle became the seed of Assiba Fée Sarl, an agribusiness in Benin republic that grows and processes moringa into juice, pasta, syrup, and jam. With the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme seed capital, she renovated her workspace to meet food safety standards, purchased modern processing equipment, and expanded her team from four to 10.

Revenues leapt from Three million to Sixteen million West African CFA francs annually. Recognition followed: wins at Get in the Ring Cotonou, Fenou Contest, and the Food Connection Challenge, plus $30,000 in additional funding. Today, as she builds a new factory, her mission is clear: to turn moringa — the “most nutritious plant in the world” into accessible, everyday products that tackle malnutrition without changing the taste of people’s meals. For Assiba, moringa is a pathway to healthier families and stronger communities.

2017 Nigerian TEF Alumni – Onome Matilda Odogene

In the Niger Delta, where oil dominates, Onome Odogene chose food over fuel. With a background in engineering, she founded Styda Culinary Academy to train chefs and food entrepreneurs. The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme l gave her the launchpad: today, she has trained more than 300 chefs, revamped 30 food businesses, and employed six staff directly.

Her culinary school is a hub of opportunity, offering youth in the Niger Delta a pathway beyond oil dependency. “The networks and training from TEF changed my life entirely,” she says. Styda is proof that the region’s wealth is not only under the ground, but also in kitchens and classrooms.

2018 Nigerian TEF Alumni – Adeolu Joseph Adekunle

Combining his veterinary degree with his knack for tech, Adeolu built Vspotter, a digital platform linking pet owners with veterinary doctors in real time. Through the empowerment from the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, he upgraded his cloud-based management software, Orion, and expanded from 20 users to a database of every veterinary doctor in Nigeria, now serving hundreds of pet owners daily.

His team grew from two to five, and revenue quadrupled to $10,000 annually. “Before TEF, this was just an idea; now it’s a national platform.” For Adeolu, animal health is more than a niche; it is a critical piece of food security, livelihoods, and innovation.

Entrepreneurs are Africa’s Unfair Advantage

Africa’s transformation is happening in quiet, determined steps.

Each Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur represents a calculated risk, a small but intentional bet on potential. When viewed collectively, these entrepreneurs form a living map of innovation, grit, and ambition.

The post The Secret Lives of Seed Recipients appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

The Digital University for Entrepreneurs: What the World Can Learn from The Tony Elumelu Foundation’s TEFConnect

Webmaster — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 15:14:08 +0000

Entrepreneurship has become the defining skill of the 21st century, but access to knowledge, capital, and networks is still distributed unevenly.

In emerging markets especially, the difference between an idea that thrives and one that fades often comes down to access: who you know, what you have been taught, and whether you can secure that elusive first investment.

Africa, with its booming youth population and unmatched entrepreneurial energy, has pioneered a bold solution. It’s called TEFConnect, the flagship digital platform of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF). More than just a website, TEFConnect functions as a digital university for entrepreneurs, offering practical and real-world applicable skills.

And it might just be the blueprint the world has been waiting for.

Why Emerging Markets Need Digital Universities

Traditional education systems prepare graduates for employment, not entrepreneurship. Accelerators and business schools are limited to a privileged few.

Meanwhile, in Africa, 1 in 5 adults is starting a business, the highest entrepreneurship rate in the world. But most lack access to training, mentorship, or finance.

TEFConnect. A free, pan-African, digital-first platform that collapses the barriers to entrepreneurship support by providing:

Accessible training, tailored for African realities.

Seed capital, tied directly to completion of training.

A borderless network, connecting entrepreneurs with peers, mentors, and investors across 54 countries.

Education at Scale: The Digital Curriculum

The beating heart of TEFConnect is its 12-week training delivered digitally to thousands of entrepreneurs each year. Through interactive modules and video content, participants learn:

Financial planning for small and growing businesses.

Marketing and customer acquisition strategies.

Legal and compliance essentials.

Digital tools for scaling operations.

Unlike generic online courses, these are rooted in context-specific challenges: how to thrive in informal markets, how to use mobile money for transactions, how to navigate fragile infrastructure.

The platform also provides masterclasses from experienced African founders and panel sessions on innovation. In effect, TEFConnect has digitised the entrepreneurial wisdom of an entire continent, making it free and accessible to anyone with internet access.

Networks Without Borders

اتصال TEF platform also serves as a pan-African marketplace for connections. Entrepreneurs can:

Connect with mentors across industries.

Network with peers facing similar challenges.

Access a knowledge base that gives them access to global investors looking for African opportunities.

In our Masterclasses, entrepreneurs pitch, share experiences, and collaborate across borders. In one workshop, a Ugandan agripreneur exchanges lessons with a Nigerian fintech founder, the kind of cross-pollination that accelerates ideas into scalable ventures.

Proof of Impact

The results of this digital university are visible:

ياver 2.5 million entrepreneurs engaged through TEFConnect.

More than 24,000 trained and funded through the platform.

Alumni generating billions in revenue and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.

These are not classroom exercises. They are real-world businesses born from a digital university.

A Model the World Should Replicate

TEFConnect’s genius lies in its replicability. For continents where youth populations face similar barriers, TEFConnect offers a ready-made blueprint:

Digital-first delivery makes it low-cost and scalable.

Curriculum + capital + network ensures end-to-end support.

Pan-regional access bridges geographic and gender divides.

In effect, TEFConnect is doing for entrepreneurship what Khan Academy did for education, democratising access at scale.

A Challenge to Institutions

Global institutions spend billions annually on traditional aid and university systems. But TEFConnect proves that a fraction of that, deployed digitally, can create entrepreneurs instead of dependents, builders instead of job seekers.

The question is not whether the model works — the results are in. The real question is: why aren’t more institutions adopting it?

The Future of Entrepreneurial Education

TEFConnect is not a platform. It is a digital university for entrepreneurs, producing not degrees, but businesses, jobs, and hope. It delivers what the world’s youth need most: the skills to build, the capital to start, and the networks to grow.

As our founder, Tony O. Elumelu, C.F.R., has argued,

“Entrepreneurs are the driving force behind Africa’s economic transformation.”

The next wave of global growth may not come from traditional universities or development aid, but from digital universities for entrepreneurs — with TEFConnect showing the way.

The post The Digital University for Entrepreneurs: What the World Can Learn from The Tony Elumelu Foundation’s TEFConnect appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.