From Humble Beginnings to Business Expansion

Starting in 2012, Afamefuna learned the art of baking and initially catered to his church community, creating cakes for Sunday school children. Encouraged by positive feedback, he soon began receiving orders for birthday cakes and other celebratory treats, which laid the foundation for his business.

Evolution of Speedmeals

Today, Speedmeals has grown beyond a bakery to encompass a diverse range of services under its umbrella. It manufactures spices and offers comprehensive hospitality solutions, including restaurant and hotel setup, event catering, culinary training, and consultancy for start-up catering enterprises aiming to scale.

Impact: Jobs Created and Revenue Growth

Before his participation in the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Programme, Afamefuna operated with just an idea and no employees. Thanks to the support received, he now employs a dedicated team of 75-80 individuals.

Receiving a TEF seed capital of US $5,000 was pivotal in establishing Speedmeals’ first store. Today, the company boasts an impressive annual revenue of £100,000,000, illustrating significant growth and sustainability in the competitive food industry.

Overcoming Challenges and Seizing Opportunities

The COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges for many businesses, but for Speedmeals, it became a catalyst for innovation. Diversifying into meal kit production allowed the business to adapt and thrive during uncertain times, demonstrating resilience and foresight in business strategy.

Milestones and Recognition

Speedmeals’ success story includes recognition through strategic partnerships, such as the Foundation’s collaboration with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). Through the Export Expansion Facility Programme (EEFP), Speedmeals has tapped into a £400 million initiative aimed at enhancing the performance of TEF Entrepreneurs within Nigeria’s non-oil export sector.

Join Speedmeals on their Journey

Witness firsthand how Afamefuna’s entrepreneurial spirit and strategic decisions have propelled Speedmeals to become a leading player in Africa’s food industry. Stay updated on their achievements and explore opportunities to collaborate or learn from their journey. Watch the Video below;

The post Why Entrepreneurship? The Inspiring Journey of Afamefuna and Speedmeals appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

Recent estimates show that about 88% of all flowering plants and 35% of the global plant-based food supply rely on pollinators to be successful. Pollination is a vital ecological service provided by a wide range of insect species including bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, beetles, and moths.  

With a strong belief in transforming the rural landscape into business empires, Olumide Ogunbanjo offers farmers free beehives on their farms to help improve the yield of grown fruits and vegetables by using the honeybees as pollinators. 

“I grew up as a farm boy in the ancient town of Iseyin, Oyo State, my parent were peasant farmers, and they could hardly take care of me and my siblings.  I had dreams of studying agriculture and returning to the farmlands to create wealth for the farming populace. I have a strong belief that I could be the agent of change in transforming the rural landscape into business empire.” 

From the initial seed fund, he got through the TEF entrepreneurship program, he expanded a single bee farm into a group of “outsourced bee farms.”, created a new business model, “Pollination as a Service (PaaS), invented and patented a Smart Beehive and rebranded as AgroData.  

He currently provides direct full-time employment to 11 and part-time jobs to 27 with operates across Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Abuja, Dakar, and Senegal, and has a generated a total revenue of $46,700 till date.  

“TEF was the initial seed fund we got in the very 1st edition in 2015. We were basically beekeepers at that time, producing FRESHDEW BEE HONEY.  The $5000 enabled us to expand a single bee farm into a group of “outsourced bee farms”.  The expansion gave us a clue about the communal effects of having bees on the farms.  We created a new biz model ” Pollination as a Service (PaaS), invented and patented a Smart Beehive and rebranded as AgroData.” 

From the support through the TEF program, his company has been nominated for several awards and fellowships programs and positively impacted the lives of over 21,000 rural dwellers.  

À propos de la Fondation Tony Elumelu

La Fondation Tony Elumelu est la principale organisation philanthropique qui donne du pouvoir à une nouvelle génération d'entrepreneurs africains, favorisant l'éradication de la pauvreté, 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 post Success Story of Olamide, 2015 TEF Alumni in Agriculture Sector appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

Oluwaseyi Akanbi a pris l'initiative de changer le récit du déversement aveugle d'ordures dans les cours d'eau, les drainages et les routes à Keffi, dans l'État de Nasarawa, au Nigeria, en créant sa société de gestion des déchets Zero-Waste Management Konsult.

“Je suis motivé à devenir entrepreneur aujourd'hui en raison de la nécessité de résoudre les problèmes environnementaux, de créer des emplois pour les jeunes au chômage et d'être financièrement indépendant.“

Il propose des poubelles à la communauté Keffi à travers son entreprise pour lutter contre la menace provoquée par le déversement aveugle des ordures. Il collecte ces déchets chaque semaine dans des locaux individuels, trie, traite les déchets recyclables et élimine les matériaux non recyclables pour les agriculteurs comme engrais.

« Mon entreprise change l'attitude des citoyens de ma communauté en matière de déversement aveugle d'ordures dans les cours d'eau, les égouts, les bâtiments inachevés et même sur les routes. »

Son entreprise génère 550 USD chaque mois. Avec la collaboration du Nasarawa State Waste Management Bureau (NASWAMB), l'agence en charge de la gestion des déchets dans l'État de Nasarawa, il a acquis jusqu'à 180 clients avec une équipe de 8 personnes qu'il emploie actuellement. Plus de 20 000 personnes ont accès à un environnement propre, sûr et sain grâce à son intervention et au soutien qu'il a reçu grâce au TEF. entrepreneuriat programme.

«Grâce au programme d'entrepreneuriat TEF, mon entreprise a été standardisée grâce à la formation que j'ai reçue et également aux opportunités de réseautage auxquelles j'ai été exposé.»

À propos de la Fondation Tony Elumelu

La Fondation Tony Elumelu est la principale philanthropie à donner du pouvoir à une nouvelle génération d'entrepreneurs africains, à favoriser l'éradication de la pauvreté, à catalyser la création d'emplois dans l'ensemble des 54 pays africains et à assurer une autonomisation économique inclusive. Depuis le lancement du programme d'entrepreneuriat TEF en 2015, la Fondation a formé plus de 1,5 million de jeunes Africains sur sa plateforme numérique, TEFconnecterLa Fondation a été créée en 1999 et a déboursé près de $100 millions USD en financement direct à 18 000 Africaines et Africains, qui ont créé collectivement plus de 400 000 emplois directs et indirects. La mission de la Fondation est ancrée dans l'Africapitalisme, qui fait du secteur privé, et surtout des entrepreneurs, le catalyseur du développement social et économique du continent africain.

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