The Tony Elumelu Foundation has been at the forefront of championing women’s economic inclusion across Afr. Through its flagship Entrepreneurship Programme, the Foundation has supported over 18,000 African entrepreneurs, of which more than 7,000 are women. These entrepreneurs are creating jobs, driving innovation, and transforming communities across the continent. 

However, we must do more.  

The World Bank estimates that Africa has the largest gender gap in the world, with women owning just one-third of formal businesses. This represents a significant untapped potential for economic growth on the continent. There are several ways we can invest in women entrepreneurs in Africa.  First, we must increase inclusive access to finance. Women entrepreneurs face significant barriers to accessing finance, including lack of collateral and limited financial literacy. The Tony Elumelu Foundation has already taken steps to address this by providing seed funding to young African men and women entrepreneurs through the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme . However, we need more investment in these women entrepreneurs from private, public, and developmental organisations. 

Secondly, we must provide our women entrepreneurs with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed. This includes training in financial management, marketing, business strategy etc. Through The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, over 1.5 million Africans have had access to our global mentor guild and our Enterprise Development Toolkit on www.TEFConnect.com. Still, we need to scale up these efforts and ensure that more African women entrepreneurs have access to training and mentorship. 

Additionally, we must address the cultural and societal barriers that prevent African women from starting and growing successful businesses by addressing gender-based violence, promoting equal access to education, and changing cultural norms around women’s roles in society.  

Over the years, the Tony Elumelu Foundation has partnered with several organizations such as the European Union (EU), Google, and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), to solely empower women entrepreneurs in Africa, who have gone on to make tremendous impact in their various communities. 

Investing in women entrepreneurs is not just the right thing to do; it is also the smart thing to do, as  our co-founder, Dr. Awele V. Elumelu, says, “When you empower a woman, you empower a nation!”  

Women entrepreneurs are driving innovation, creating jobs, and contributing to economic growth and development across the continent. By investing in women entrepreneurs, we can unlock Africa’s potential and accelerate the continent’s journey towards prosperity and development. The Tony Elumelu Foundation has shown the way, and we must all follow its lead. 

Here are some of Tony Elumelu’s women entrepreneurs who are creating impacts in their various communities:  

Nkem Okocha is the founder of MamaMoni, a fintech startup that provides digital financial services to underserved women in Nigeria through a combination of mobile apps, web, and network of agents. She and her team are providing an inclusive platform for underprivileged women who are otherwise excluded from formal banking channels, micro health insurance, savings and other financial services. 

Mamamoni.ng provides an array of life enriching  features, such as micro health insurance, agency banking (POS services),  third-party money transfer, and bills payment. 

Through her platform, Nkem has empowered over 50,000 Nigerian women. 

Juliet Namujju is a changemaker, fashion designer, wastepreneur, and environmentalist She is the founder of Kimuli Fashionability a Ugandan eco-fashion company that repurposes plastic polythene to create durable, waterproof clothing and  accessories, in a bid to reverse the effects of the global climate crisis especially on Africa, and creating work possibilities for youth, and disabled tailors. 

She is passionate about saving the environment and advocating for the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in Africa. 

Chioma Ogbudimkpa founded the fashion house known as Redbutton, an environmentally friendly ready-to-wear company that focuses on the production of workwear for female professionals, fusing African aesthetics, eco-friendly materials, and art from all over the world. With every piece, the brand places emphasis on African stories, powerful women, and sustainability.   

Through Redbutton, Chioma seeks to project rare design innovation and modern African culture to the rest of the world. The brand’s tailoring is done in Nigeria and sold globally via redbuttonng.com and other local and international retail stores. 

Lucy Mary Athieno is the founder of Eco-Pads Uganda, an environmentally friendly hygiene company that was established  as a solution to the hygiene challenges that African women are facing by creating reusable and affordable menstrual pads, that can be reused for up to a year, and cost just USD $4. Lucy and her team are also committed to providing awareness through trainings to young girls, and senior male and female teachers on menstrual health management and sexual reproductive health. The idea for Eco-Pads Uganda was borne out of Lucy’s concern for young schoolgirls who regularly missed 4-5 days of school monthly due to the lack of access to affordable menstrual materials in Uganda .  

So far, through her initiative, Lucy and the team at Eco-Pads have kept thousands of young African girls in school. 

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Strategic partnerships refer to collaborations among different entities, such as businesses, governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and academia, to achieve common goals. These partnerships are essential for economic growth and development as they bring together different perspectives, resources, and expertise to solve complex problems and create new opportunities. It is also in line with SDG 17 which seeks to revitalize global partnerships for sustainable development.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF)  leverages strategic partnerships to drive economic growth and development on the continent. It has recognized the importance of strategic alliances for unlocking prosperity in Africa. The Foundation has established partnerships with leading organizations in different sectors to support the development of entrepreneurship, job creation, and innovation on the continent.

For instance, the Tony Elumelu Foundation has partnered with leading tech companies, such as Google, to provide African entrepreneurs with access to cutting-edge technology and resources, as well as training in business management and digital skills. This partnership provided one million additional Africans with access to TEFConnect, the Foundation’s digital platform. It also offered enormous opportunities for Africa’s digital communities; nine full-time Google employees, including software engineers, UI/UX engineers and policy experts worked with the Foundation to design and build an upgraded version of the TEFConnect platform.

This has enabled young African entrepreneurs to develop innovative solutions that address some of the continent’s most pressing challenges in healthcare, education, agriculture, energy etc.

The Foundation has also partnered with governments and international organizations to promote entrepreneurship and job creation. The Foundation has worked closely with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to support entrepreneurship development in Africa. TEF and UNDP have also worked exclusively in regions such as Mali, Sahel, and Rwanda to empower young African entrepreneurs in those regions. Through these programmes, young African entrepreneurs have been provided with funding, training, and mentorship to enable them to create sustainable businesses and drive economic growth in their communities.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation has also worked with the European Commission in an inaugural 3-part partnership – to support 2,420 African women entrepreneurs from select countries as part of the flagship Entrepreneurship Programme, to offer technical assistance as needed to TEF’s alumni network and lastly to support 120 TEF alumni with additional grants of up to €50,000.   

Furthermore, the TEF has partnered with DEG-KfW, the German development agency, to support 200 African entrepreneurs.  The partnership also helped to scale TEFConnect, the Foundation’s proprietary digital platform, supporting African entrepreneurs and providing platform access to an additional 500,000 SMEs and fostering economic growth on the continent.

The Foundation has also collaborated with other organisations and governments such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), Seme City, BMZ, GIZ, DEG, African Education Foundation (FAE) in Congo Brazzaville, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), Indorama Corporation, Sightsavers, United States African Development Foundation (USADF), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and so on, to empower more young African entrepreneurs on the continent.

In addition, the TEF has established partnerships with leading universities and research institutions to support the development of innovative solutions that can drive economic growth and development in Africa. These partnerships focus on fostering collaboration between academia and industry, enabling researchers and entrepreneurs to work together to develop innovative solutions that can address complex challenges faced by African entrepreneurs on the continent.

With a focus on strategic partnerships, the Foundation has been able to scale its ten-year plan which aimed to support 10,000 young African entrepreneurs over a period of ten years. The Foundation is currently in the ninth cycle of its flagship programme, and it has been able to empower over 18,000 young African entrepreneurs. The Foundation owes this outstanding accomplishment to strategic alliances with the various organisations it has worked with over the years.

Strategic partnerships are essential for driving economic growth and development in Africa. The Tony Elumelu Foundation has recognized the importance of partnerships and has established collaborations with leading organizations in different sectors to support entrepreneurship, job creation, and innovation on the continent. Through these partnerships, the TEF is creating new opportunities for young entrepreneurs, promoting innovation, and driving economic growth and development in Africa.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation is using this opportunity to call on all well-intentioned actors across the public, private and development sectors to join us on our mission to empower millions of African entrepreneurs on the continent. By working together, we can create a sustainable and vibrant entrepreneurial environment in Africa. Join us in this effort to create wealth in Africa! Let us make a difference together!

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The event emphasised the “Youth Engagement for Global Action” agenda and the role of African entrepreneurs in pushing for sustainable development. It also examined the critical role of the youth in igniting their potential, population, and influence to create mechanisms for sustainable development across the continent. 

Moderated by TEF CEO, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, the event featured a line-up of pan-African entrepreneurs and speakers from the development sector.

Addressing the audience, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu drew attention to the plight of startup African entrepreneurs during the pandemic while highlighting the importance of SMEs, especially during this period. “The SMEs are the major contributors to African economies. We must not underestimate the level of disruption and uncertainty that young people all over the world have faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.”

Ifeyinwa emphasized the need to empower the youth to tackle the menace of poverty on the continent.

Wambui Gichuri, Ag. VP Agriculture, Human, and Social Development, African Development Bank stated: “Entrepreneurship is an essential part of Africa’s employment challenge and it is where we have to put our focus as a multilateral development bank”.  

She added: “We need to do whatever it takes to empower our youth because they are the future of the continent”.

Martha T.M. Phiri, PhD, Director, Human, Youth and Social Development, African Development Bank, stated that the $5million partnership between the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Tony Elumelu Foundation in 2019 to empower additional young African entrepreneurs, was a step in the right direction to create jobs on the continent. “That was a very exciting partnership and we feel this should be the way forward if we are going to create jobs on the continent,” she said.  

Shoroke H. Zedan, Chairman, World Youth Skills, Egypt said: “It is important that governments start looking at entrepreneurship as a fundamental core topic that needs to be integrated into the educational system”. 

Speaking on incorporating the youth into policymaking decisions, the Global President, AISEC, Alexandra Robinson stated: “I advocate for any policy that involves young people as co-owners of the policymaking process. I really believe that when young people are given co-ownership of the table, not just invited to someone else’s, they are able to have those meaningful conversations”.

Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, Founder, Wecyclers Nigeria and past fellow of the Tony Elumelu Foundation recalled the moment when she got accepted into the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme: “In 2012, when I was invited to the Tony Elumelu Foundation to pitch my idea, I was very fortunate to pitch directly to Mr. Elumelu and I was surprised a couple of days after, we got the grant. That grant was very important for Wecyclers”. 

Speaking as an entrepreneur doing business on the continent, Leroy Mwasaru, Founder, Greenpact Kenya and an alumnus of the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s flagship Entrepreneurship Programme highlighted the need for transparency to attract more investors: “It is as a result of sharing what we have been doing that we hope there are less failures and more successes”.  Earlier in the year, due to the pandemic, the Tony Elumelu Foundation announced the postponement of its flagship TEF Entrepreneurship Programme and TEF Forum, the largest gathering of African entrepreneurs on the continent. Celebrating its 10^th year anniversary later in 2020, the Foundation counts over 9,000 young African countries across all 54 African countries as beneficiaries and alumni of its Entrepreneurship Programme. It continues to support African entrepreneurs with expert-led masterclasses, business management training and market linkages on its digital networking platform, TEFConnect.  

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His statement is backed by his experience as an economist, a philanthropist, and more importantly, an investor through his investment vehicle, Heirs Holdings, in Africa’s key sectors – power, financial services, oil & gas, hospitality, real estate, and healthcare. While he has been an avid investor, his hard work, and bet on the continent’s potential to generate a worthy return on investments, do not come without its own challenges. For decades, the private sector has worked with the hope that business necessities, including electricity, infrastructure and security would be fixed by African governments; sadly, the hope is yet to become a reality. Yet the private sector holds firm in its belief. In 2015, Tony Elumelu committed $100 million through his Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Programme to empower 10,000 young African entrepreneurs to validate his conviction in the potential of the private sector to catalyse transformation. In 2019, Tony Elumelu’s Transcorp Power invested an undisclosed amount into acquiring Afam Power station in the hope that, combined with its existing assets, it would raise the standard of living in Nigeria, by contributing 25% of the total power generation capacity in the country. He replicated this same conviction across several of his businesses including Transcorp Hotels Plc with an upgrade worth billions of naira, and a recent commitment in a yet to be disclosed energy deal. Many more private investors like Tony Elumelu have exhibited the same faith in the future of the continent.

The Importance of a Private-Public Sector Partnership

The private sector continues to play its part, backing words with action. However, it recognises that a mutually beneficial partnership with the
public sector is needed at this time. As stated by Tony Elumelu at the recently concluded virtual roundtable involving African business leaders, there was a consensus that the pandemic is indeed the reset that Africa needs to catalyse the much-needed transformation on the continent. This stance was corroborated by Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former finance minister, Tidjane Thiam, African Union Special Envoy on Covid-19, and moderator Vera Songwe, Under-Secretary-General for the United Nations, as they jointly discussed the topic “Resilient World: An African Call for a New World Order,” at the New York Forum Institute Virtual Roundtable. Okonjo-Iweala emphasised the need to diversify the economy through strengthening the manufacturing sector, Thiam harped on the need to create more jobs on the continent, and Songwe stated that the African Continental Free Trade Zone may just be the policy needed to kickstart the transformation – this is the best time to achieve it. For Elumelu, prioritising the youth, ensuring access to electricity and stabilising the macroeconomic environment are additional focus areas needed at this time.

A Task to Reset Africa Calls for a Marshall Plan

In the near future, African currencies will depreciate significantly, and servicing our external debts will become even more of a challenge. Today, many African countries already spend more annually on debt servicing than on education, healthcare and social welfare combined. Therefore, mobilising the level of finance that will give Africa room to begin this hard task of resetting, will require a Marshall plan, akin to America’s Marshall Plan for Europe after World War II. This Marshall Plan for Africa will be in collaboration with the World Bank, IMF, G20 countries
and all other relevant agencies but must be led by African multilateral financial institutions as in the case of AFREXIM under the leadership of Prof. Okey Oramah, whose efficient and immediate deployment of US$3 billion to finance and support trade and SME business through African banks, is commendable and deserves emulation.

The Covid-19 pandemic presents a bittersweet moment of clarity and reflection which we must seize to reset our continent. It provides the opportunity to finally place Africa on the right path of sustainability built on the bedrock of competitiveness.

Sustained Investment in Infrastructure

We can engender African competitiveness by sustained investment in basic infrastructure, electricity, internet access and digital connectivity, and most importantly by enabling and encouraging entrepreneurship. This combination will provide economic hope and opportunity that will productively engage our young Africans who account for over 60% of our 1.3b population. This is the only way we can reset the economy, create employment, eliminate poverty, generate revenue and attract capital to the continent.

Be Ready for Disruption

Africa must embrace the new normal. The disruptions we have seen across sectors (healthcare, logistics, supply chain, digital economy, IT) are here to stay. This presents a unique opportunity for a united Africa, a strong regional bloc acting in a coordinated fashion in response to this new era. As globalisation, trade and foreign policy adjusts in response to these times, Africa will only enjoy more traction, increased leverage and
more influence by forging a united front. This is the time for the continent to fully leverage its competitive advantage in agriculture, through focused investments in mechanisation, storage facilities, logistics, pest control, quality assurance, and processing, while strengthening our expertise in textile, manufacturing, supply chain etc.

In truth, disruption is here. It may not be ideal, but disruption, in the many facets it presents itself, has heralded new eras, and economic powers. If Africa treats this pandemic as a warning and begins to put in place the systems to ensure economic stability, this could be the beginning of the next global economic power, all business leaders agreed.

The post Amidst the Panic, Does the Pandemic Present an Opportunity to Reset Africa? Tony Elumelu, Other African Business Leaders Think So. appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

The TEF Masterclasses cover insightful topics around business growth and innovation to help startup entrepreneurs remodel their business for the new normal, despite the pandemic. It will be conducted live, and thereafter hosted on TEFConnect.com, for easy access.

The TEF Masterclasses is one of the ways the Foundation supports the entrepreneurship community while fulfilling its mission of empowering African entrepreneurs to accelerate the development of the continent.

To register for the Monday Masterclasses, which take place at 12noon (West African Time), click HERE.

To access previous classes, click HERE.

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لكن مؤسسة توني أيلوميلو سوف تجهز بتدريب عبر TEFConnect مجانا ومشاركة مع ذوي الأمور والحكومات والمعاهد التمويلية التنمية لأجل تحريك التأييد المزيد للملتزمين الأفريقيين بعد أزمة فيروس كورونا. وتضيف TEFConnect إطلاعا حاسما حول الوباء لأجل صون صحة وأمان جميع الأفارقة مع إصدار أخبار تأثيرية من ملتزمين أفريقيين إلى غاية إحداث تبددات بارعة ضد هذه الوباء المنفجرة.

الصحة والأمان هما المقدمان عندنا، وترغب المؤسسة الجميع بأن يكونوا على الحذر وأن يلتزموا الوصايا الصحية الصادرة من التنظيم العالمي الصحي (WHO) والحكومات الدولية وسائر التنظيمات الصحية المناسبة.

للمزيد من الأخبار وما بقي من الخطوات التالية للمتميزين الذين قد قدموا استخداماتهم لبرنامج 2020، زوروا موضع الاسئلة المسؤولة عنها دائما (FAQs) على الموقع بضغط هنا.

Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu
CEO
مؤسسة توني أيلوميلو
لاغوس, Nigeria.

Click here for French , Arabic, Portuguese

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