That question became the foundation of Passion Poultry Pvt Ltd, an agritech company designing affordable, environmentally friendly equipment that helps small-scale poultry farmers improve productivity, reduce losses and build more sustainable businesses.

Evangelista Chekera designs solutions around farmers, not laboratories

Innovation is often associated with sophisticated technology and expensive machinery. Yet some of the most transformative inventions emerge from observing everyday challenges.

For Evangelista Chekera, those challenges were visible in poultry farms across Zimbabwe, where high chick mortality continued to limit farmers’ incomes and confidence.

Working closely with producers, she designed a specialised chick brooding device that recreates the natural warmth of a mother hen. Powered by biomass briquettes made from agricultural waste, the system provides consistent heat while reducing dependence on charcoal, helping protect forests and lowering operating costs.

The innovation has been shown to reduce chick mortality by as much as 95 per cent, offering farmers a practical solution that improves productivity without increasing complexity.

Passion Poultry is modernising smallholder farming

Evangelista Chekera’s vision extends beyond a single product.

Through Passion Poultry, she has developed a growing portfolio of agricultural innovations designed to make poultry farming more efficient, affordable and environmentally sustainable.

Among them is an innovative poultry slaughtering device that simplifies processing for small-scale producers while improving consistency and reducing labour demands.

Both innovations received utility model protection from the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), reflecting the originality and practical value of her work.

Today, Passion Poultry supports hundreds of farmers across Zimbabwe while continuing to expand access to technologies that bridge the gap between traditional farming practices and modern agricultural efficiency.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation accelerated Evangelista Chekera’s growth

A defining milestone in Evangelista Chekera’s entrepreneurial journey came in 2021, when she was selected for the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme.

Through the programme, she received business training, mentorship, US$5,000 in seed capital and access to one of Africa’s largest entrepreneurial ecosystems.

The investment helped Passion Poultry formalise its growth by registering as a Private Limited Company and increasing production of its patented agricultural equipment.

Beyond financial support, the programme strengthened her ability to scale innovations capable of improving livelihoods for poultry farmers across Zimbabwe and beyond.

From Zimbabwe to the global stage

Evangelista Chekera’s work has attracted recognition far beyond Zimbabwe.

She has participated in the TechWomen Emerging Leaders programme, received national innovation awards and earned international recognition for advancing sustainable agricultural technologies.

Her innovations have also been recognised by organisations including the World Farmers’ Organisation, highlighting the growing global interest in practical African solutions for sustainable food systems.

These achievements reinforce a broader truth: African entrepreneurs are not simply adopting global innovations—they are creating them.

Why Evangelista Chekera’s work matters

Food security begins long before food reaches the market.

It begins with farmers having access to the right tools, reliable technologies and affordable innovations that improve productivity while protecting natural resources.

Through Passion Poultry, Evangelista Chekera is demonstrating that agricultural innovation does not have to be complex to be transformative. By designing solutions around the realities of smallholder farmers, she is helping strengthen food production, reduce waste and promote greener farming practices.

Her work represents a growing movement of African entrepreneurs building technologies specifically for African challenges.

Evangelista Chekera continues to expand Passion Poultry’s mission of making poultry farming smarter, more sustainable and more profitable for smallholder producers.

Her journey demonstrates that meaningful innovation is measured not by the sophistication of a product, but by the lives it improves.

For every farmer whose chicks survive, every household whose income becomes more secure and every tree preserved through cleaner energy alternatives, Evangelista Chekera’s vision continues to prove that the future of African agriculture can be built one practical innovation at a time.

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Oluwaseyi Akanbi took the initiative to change the narrative of indiscriminate dumping of refuse on waterways, drainages, and roads in Keffi, Nasarawa State, Nigeria by establishing his waste management company Zero-Waste Management Konsult.

“I am motivated to be an entrepreneur today because of the need to solve environmental problems, creating jobs for unemployed youth populations and to be financially independent.“

He offers waste bins to the Keffi community through his company to curb the menace caused by the indiscriminate dumping of refuse. He collects this waste weekly from individual premises, sorting, processing the recyclable waste materials, and disposing of non-recyclable materials for farmers as fertilizers.

“My business is changing the attitude of indiscriminate dumping of refuse on waterways, drainages, uncompleted buildings and even on roads by the citizens in my community.”

His business generates USD 550 every month. With the collaboration of the Nasarawa State Waste Management Bureau (NASWAMB), the agency in charge of waste management in Nasarawa state, he has acquired up to 180 customers with a team of 8, which he currently employs. More than 20,000 people have access to a clean, safe, and healthy environment through his intervention and the support he got through the TEF entrepreneurship program.

“Through TEF entrepreneurship program, my business has been standardized through the training I have received and also the networking opportunity I have been exposed to.”

About The Tony Elumelu Foundation


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.

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The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has given $2 million to nearly 400 entrepreneurs in Rwanda as seed capital.

The global ambassadors praised the Foundation’s great impact in Rwanda and all 54 African countries.

The TEF is a famous charity founded by Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, a respected and influential business figure. The foundation operates with the primary objective of empowering and supporting African entrepreneurs in their journey towards success and economic development.

One of the key ways in which TEF achieves its mission is by providing seed capital to aspiring entrepreneurs. TEF provides money to help entrepreneurs start their businesses and make their creative ideas come true.

In addition to financial assistance, the foundation also offers mentorship programs to its beneficiaries. Through these programs, experienced and successful entrepreneurs provide guidance, advice, and support to the emerging business owners. This mentorship is important for entrepreneurs to overcome business challenges and complexities, improving their chances of long-term success.

TEF’s commitment to empowering African entrepreneurs extends beyond just financial support, mentorship, and training. The foundation also fosters a vibrant and dynamic community of entrepreneurs, facilitating networking opportunities and collaboration among its beneficiaries. This community-driven approach encourages knowledge sharing, idea exchange, and the formation of valuable partnerships, further enhancing the prospects of success for African entrepreneurs.

The foundation has given $2 million to nearly 400 entrepreneurs in Rwanda to help them start their businesses.

The foundation’s work extends beyond Rwanda and has had an extraordinary impact across all 54 African countries. The global ambassadors, including Amb. Cui Jian Chun, Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, and Amb. Christophe Bazivamo, Rwandan Ambassador to Nigeria, have praised the foundation’s efforts and its contribution to entrepreneurship in Africa.

More pictures with the global Ambassadors below:

People often highlight the foundation’s initiatives with hashtags such as #EmpoweredByTEF and #TEF2024.

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The application portal for BeGreen Africa is now open on TEFConnect, the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s digital platform, to all waste management start-ups in Kenya, and green start-ups in Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa.

BeGreen Africa is a green entrepreneurship pilot programme co-created by The Tony Elumelu Foundation, UNICEF Generation Unlimited (GenU), IKEA Foundation, and young green entrepreneurs.

The key objective of this mission-aligned partnership is to create a holistic, sustainable, and youth-led green entrepreneurship initiative in the waste sector [in Kenya], and the green sector [in Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal and South Africa], to advance marginalized youth’s social and economic prosperity, while addressing the triple planetary crisis by reducing inequalities, and creating sustainable livelihoods for themselves and their peers.

The founding partners of BeGreen Africa will leverage their collective expertise, close relations with government, the private sector and youth networks, and extensive field presence across Africa and in Kenya to: a) develop a green-focused curricula that addresses the gaps and capacity needs of the identified target youth, b) engage expert trainers to deliver the trainings via www.TEFConnect.com, c) facilitate mentor and alumni network connections, and d) provide seed capital funding that will empower the identified entrepreneurs to kickstart, develop, and scale their green businesses.

In this pilot, #BeGreenAfrica aims to train 1,000 Kenyan youth in the waste management sector, and economically empower 120 of them, as well as empower 25 green sector entrepreneurs in Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa, all under the age of 35, with new or existing green businesses. The initiative will build evidence around youth entrepreneurship in high-impact green sectors, exploring how young entrepreneurs can contribute to circular economies and a sustained green revolution in Africa.

The multilingual Application Portal is open on www.TEFConnect.com from August 10 till August 31, 2023.

About the Tony Elumelu Foundation:

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 increasing women economic empowerment. Since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the Foundation has provided over 1.5 million young Africans with access to training 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.

About UNICEF GEN-U:

Launched by the UN Secretary-General at the 2018 UN General Assembly, and anchored in UNICEF, Generation Unlimited is a leading global Public-Private-Youth Partnership, bringing together global organizations and leaders including Heads of State, CEOs, Heads of UN agencies, and civil society champions with young people to co-create and deliver innovative solutions on a global scale.

Generation Unlimited is on a mission to skill the world’s 1.8 billion young people and connect them to opportunities for employment, entrepreneurship, and social impact.

About IKEA Foundation:

The IKEA Foundation is a strategic philanthropy that focuses its grant making efforts on tackling the two biggest threats to children’s futures: poverty and climate change. It currently grants more than €200 million per year to help improve family incomes and quality of life while protecting the planet from climate change. Since 2009, the IKEA Foundation has granted more than €1.8 billion to create a better future for children and their families.

In 2021 the Board of the IKEA Foundation decided to make an additional €1 billion available over the next five years to accelerate the reduction of Greenhouse Gas emissions. In 2023, IKEA Foundation has already provided more than € 31 Million in emergency funding.

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Since inception, The Tony Elumelu Foundation has directly empowered over 3,000 female entrepreneurs. TEF Alumni have gone to directly create an additional 35,000 jobs for women. Our position is clear and actionable: create an ecosystem where everyone, regardless of their gender benefits from equal opportunity to scale and thrive.

Google.org, shares a similar vision. Earlier this week, we announced a $3Million grant from Google.org to complement the 2021 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme. 500 additional rural-based aspiring women entrepreneurs will receive seed capital of $5,000. These 500 aspiring African women entrepreneurs will come from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and select Francophone countries. The objective is to increase economic inclusion, improve economies and further empower these rural-based women to lift them from poverty, strengthen their livelihoods and incomes, while creating more decent jobs in the African economy.

Addressing this announcement, our CEO, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu commented, “As Africa’s leading philanthropy empowering young African entrepreneurs, this grant support will provide financial and technical support for additional women-owned businesses and marginalized groups in the informal sector through the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme. There is no better time to invest in women’s economic participation on the continent than now. Through this support, women will drive growth for local economies and enable better living conditions for their communities. We are delighted to disburse the Google.org grant to scale our ongoing work to empower young African entrepreneurs as we believe this will be instrumental in building much-needed businesses and resilient economies”.

This announcement directly correlates with our mission to catalyze economic growth, drive poverty eradication, and ensure job creation in Africa. Selection would prioritise informal businesses, further equipping them with digital skills through TEFConnect, our proprietary digital platform supporting millions of African entrepreneurs with access to free resources for professional development, knowledge sharing opportunities and quality market linkages.

Nitin Gajria, Managing Director of Google Sub-Saharan Africa echoed a dedication to building a world where all women can thrive. Looking at data collected by the World Bank across 10 African countries, he revealed that male-owned enterprises have six times more capital than female owned enterprises. For him, “The huge capital gap is not stopping the rise of female entrepreneurs, but it slows them down and makes their journeys that much more challenging. We hope that the support to The Tony Elumelu Foundation will help accelerate the growth of women tech-makers and entrepreneurs in Africa”.

Today, women-led businesses are disproportionately at risk as a result of the pandemic that has led to economic strife. This is unsurprising, given that they had very limited support to begin with. Female African Entrepreneurs require access to knowledge, skills, tools, and funding in order to navigate the changing operational landscape.

Rowan Barnett, Head of Google.org EMEA, agrees to this. He says, “we support organizations that offer financial and training resources to underserved small business owners to improve their economic livelihoods and create opportunity for themselves, their employees, and their communities. As one of the leading pan-African philanthropies empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, we are delighted to support the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme created to empower, invest in and create opportunities for African entrepreneurs”.

Update: About The WE4A II (Women Entrepreneurship for Africa, 2024 Application Process)

Following the successful pilot of the WE4A programme in 2021, the Foundation in partnership with the European Union (EU) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) has launched the WE4A II for sustainable and inclusive growth. Application for the WE4A II is ongoing, Read about the WE4A II FAQs here

This partnership is part of the overall IYBA-WE4A programme which will work to strengthen the entrepreneurship ecosystems, access to finance and capacities of women-led MSMEs and start-ups in selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The design of the IYBA-WE4A programme seeks to address the existing capacity, business services and funding gaps for its target group -women-led MSMEs and start-ups- and strengthen relevant networks and learning on successful pathways for women entrepreneurs. Overall, the IYBA-WE4A programme in encouraging and sustaining women entrepreneurs and their businesses contributes to the creation of employment and economic prosperity.

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The Business Management training was conducted exclusively on TEFConnect,  the Foundation’s proprietary digital platform that provides capacity-building support, advisory and market linkages to over 1 Million Africans and counting.

The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme Business Management Training equips entrepreneurs with critical skills required to launch and run their businesses at the early growth stage. With a unique curriculum that encompasses topics on Starting Your Business, Business Management & Fundamentals, Leadership & Business Growth, Selecting and Building a Team, amongst others, entrepreneurs are effectively armed to achieve business growth, profitability, and sustained success.

Entrepreneurs were hosted to weekly information sessions, as part of the training, to address relevant concerns and share vital programme updates. All entrepreneurs received active support from coaches and mentors who provided technical guidance, counsel and one-one interaction throughout the duration of the training programme.

The training, which is one element of the 7 pillars of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, was carried out in the official African languages including English, French, Portuguese and Arabic, and over 40 percent of trained participants were women.

Commenting on this milestone, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, said “Every year, our commitment to transform Africa is further strengthened with the passion, resilience and talent of the high-calibre entrepreneurs who onboard our flagship programme. Our curricular provides a holistic opportunity for entrepreneurs to learn, grow and contribute to the development of their communities.”

The Chief Executive Officer added: “Furthermore, it is a testament to the eagerness and readiness of African entrepreneurs across all of Africa to make themselves available to transform the continent for good. I would like to commend these entrepreneurs for their discipline, dedication and hard work throughout the training and look forward to the immense impact of their businesses across diverse sectors in Africa. We remain committed to empowering African entrepreneurs with the required resources and support that will ensure that their businesses can scale and drive sustainable change on the continent”.

The TEF Entrepreneurship Training is immediately followed by a Business Plan review process for each entrepreneur. The top-performing entrepreneurs subsequently participate in the Pitching phase of the Programme after which successful entrepreneurs receive a non-returnable seed capital of US$5000 each.

The leading African philanthropy also hopes to train and empower thousands more across the African continent as part of its commitment to catalyze economic growth, drive poverty eradication and ensure job creation.

In 2020, the Tony Elumelu Foundation marked ten years of impact, having empowered and funded nearly 10,000 African entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries as part of its US$100 million TEF Entrepreneurship Programme. The Tony Elumelu Foundation is inspired by Tony Elumelu’s economic philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the long-term social and economic development of the African continent.

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The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Global Development Network and the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) – the leading champion of entrepreneurship in Africa – recently opened applications for the TEF Entrepreneurship Program-UNDP Mali to train, supervise and finance 10,000 young Malian entrepreneurs over a period of 3 years, as part of a major economic recovery intervention in Mali.

How does this fit into the UNDP agenda and how can the private and public sectors work more collaboratively to achieve sustainable goals?

The Sustainable Development Goals cannot be realized without leveraging the collaborative advantages of the private and public sector. The UNDP-TEF Entrepreneurship Program in Mali is an extension of the ongoing collaboration between our two organizations to support entrepreneurship development across the continent within the framework of the MoU signed in 2017.

The partnership with TEF is a strategic first step towards more effective collaboration with the private sector and non-state entities to empower vulnerable and under-served communities in rural and border areas through capacity building/training, mentoring and providing access to innovative financing schemes for promising young start-ups.

Similar to the previous 2 pilot programmes implemented in 2019 that supported 755 entrepreneurs from across the continent and over 2,000 entrepreneurs in the Sahel, the Mali programme seeks to harness the abundant entrepreneurial, creative and innovative spirit of its youth population in order to generate productive employment opportunities for a more inclusive economic recovery.

The UNDP has a large portfolio of work across Africa. What real challenges are there to achieving sustainable development in Africa?

The challenges in achieving sustainable development are complex and multi-dimensional. Issues of governance, inequality, peace and security, infrastructure, climate change, and many more, present serious impediments to realizing the SDGs.

Within the framework of UNDP’s Renewed Strategic Offer for Africa, a wide range of programmes, initiatives and interventions are being undertaken under 6 strategic impact areas (natural resource governance, youth and women employment and empowerment, structural economic transformation, climate change mitigation and adaption, affordable and sustainable energy, and peace and security). The objective of this framework is to leverage UNDP’s position as Africa’s leading enabler and integrator for the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the AU 2063 Agenda. It seeks to respond to the challenges faced on the continent by disrupting the way in which UNDP thinks, invests, manages and delivers- so that African countries can perform faster and better than ever to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

What role can African governments play on the road to recovery, especially considering the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic?

The coronavirus pandemic continues to have serious socio-economic and political effects that could reverse human development for the first time in 30 years. It has further exposed inequalities globally and continues to hit poorer economies and vulnerable populations harder. It is therefore the responsibility of governments, supported by development organizations, private sector and civil society, to respond effectively to the shocks caused by the pandemic and ensure that recovery is efficiently achieved.

The UN Secretary-General launched a $2 billion global humanitarian response fund for the most vulnerable countries, including many in Africa. UNDP plays a technical lead role in the UN’s socio-economic framework for post-pandemic recovery. This support ensures that governments have additional capacity and resources to effectively collect data, assess COVID-19 pathways and impact, and design integrated, effective and sustainable policy and programmatic responses.

The need for young people to be present and equally active where decisions are made cannot be overemphasised. How can we ensure that this is the case in every sector? 

Youth inclusion in decision making processes and leadership remains critical for sustainable development. In Africa, youth constitute more than 60% of the population. Disenfranchising this majority has been demonstrated to have dire long-term consequences. Ensuring that youth inclusion is mainstreamed in all areas for development calls for a combination and implementation of effective policies, programmes, and partnerships.

UNDP takes an innovative approach in addressing the challenges of youth inclusion. Our engagements ensure meaningful civic engagement, inclusion of youth in decision making processes, and the strengthening of youth-led interventions for conflict prevention, reconciliation and climate action. Working with government and non-state partners such as TEF enables us to execute improved catalytic effort and impact at scale.

What would success look like regarding youth development and entrepreneurship on the continent?

I would define successful youth development and entrepreneurship as equal access to socio-economic opportunities and resources for young people in a conducive and enabling environment. This includes enabling policy and regulatory frameworks, equal access to entrepreneurship and employment opportunities, development resources (such as information/knowledge, financing and technological tools), representation of young people in leadership and decision-making processes, strong youth civic engagement, and many more. The overall UNDP approach is to ensure youth participation as active agents of change rather than passive recipients of development assistance.

How does the partnership with the Tony Elumelu Foundation align with the purpose of empowering young Africans?

The UNDP partnership with TEF has been mutually reinforcing in efforts to empower young Africans. In prioritizing youth empowerment as a key focus area, the two organizations effectively collaborate on promoting and implementing projects on entrepreneurship development, Business Development Services (BDS), innovation, technology development, as well as fostering networks and market linkages. The collaboration aims to strengthen partnerships with state and non-state actors, engage private-sector corporations, and jointly develop structures for systematic monitoring and evaluation.

The entrepreneurship programme with TEF further compliments other UNDP youth development initiatives such as YouthConnekt and the Sahel Youth Programme.

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The webinar themed ‘SME Industrial Investment Opportunities for Nigerian Entrepreneurs in 774 LGAs in Nigeria’ focused on ways to catalyse increased local production of quality goods with high local content for in-country consumption and export and ideas on how to urgently establish viable SME industries in every Local Government in Nigeria.

Okafor-Obi highlighted the importance of enabling small businesses to scale, the impact of the Tony Elumelu Foundation over the last ten years, the importance of public-private sector partnerships in empowering entrepreneurs.

“In 2014, our founder, Tony Elumelu announced the Entrepreneurship Programme which has been running for about six years now, and over those six years we have empowered, in Nigeria, almost 3,700 entrepreneurs,” she said.

“We are trying to start-up entrepreneurs and businesses that can stand the test of time, survive the founders, can compete anywhere in the world, and is a testament to the strength and versatility of Nigerians, and of course, Africans,” she concluded.

NESH Nigeria & Entrepreneurship Summit & Honours, is an indigenous platform that provides an avenue for thought leadership and appreciation of the contribution of entrepreneurs to national development.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation begins applications for the 2021 edition of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme on January 1, 2020.

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