• His Excellency, President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi of Congo DRC, My dear brother and friend. Un grand merci!

• H.E. Nicolas Kazadi – Minister of Finance and H.E. Eustache Muhanzi Mubembe – Minister of Entrepreneurship

• Distinguished guests from the public and private sector here with us today

• And most important of all, as it is their day, the young African entrepreneurs here today!

• I would like to commend Mr. President for his focus on developing the young people in his country and his administration’s strong stance on promoting entrepreneurship as a viable means for his citizens to create sustainable wealth and jobs

• Today, I am happy to announce the 2022 cohort of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme.

• I am delighted to do this here in Kinshasa. We are a pan African institution; we support entrepreneurs, young women and men,  in all 54 African countries. It is an honour and pleasure to come to the DRC to make this announcement.

• The Tony Elumelu Foundation was founded in 2010 democratise luck and create economic opportunities of jobs creation, poverty alleviation and women inclusion.

• As I always say, luck on its own is nothing but when luck meets preparedness, it translates into success.

• So let me commend our beneficiaries, you were selected based on your unwavering passion and hard work. You demonstrated this determination, which you applied from the moment you started your application on TEFConnect, till you participated in the final pitching competition, and you see the results – and this is is only the beginning. The seed capital, the training, the networks will propel you forward.

• You have worked for your luck, and that is what I preach, that luck is hard work, that luck is passion.

• So let us welcome you onboard this journey of helping to develop Africa, because no one but us will develop our continent.

• What we do at the Tony Elumelu Foundation is our own contribution towards developing Africa, because we realise that ultimately it is not the money that we have in our bank accounts that matters, it is the impact and legacy.

• Now is Africa’s time – we know life is tough, we know the road can be long, but we – and this young generation – have thr strength the aptitude and the confidence to succeed.

• I join the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo – H.E. Félix Antoine Tshisekedi, and all our other partners:

• The United States African Development Foundation

• UNDP Mali

• UNDP Rwanda

• BADEA

• SightSavers and

• The African Education Foundation in Congo Brazaville, in congratulating all of you.

• We thank these wonderful partners – partners and allies we cherish, because we know there is so much to do. It is truly a celebration of Africans and our global friends coming together, creating direct, measurable impact – catalysing the private sector, a sector that can do well and do good – it is a message and example I want the world to recognise.

• To our young ones who have been empowered through the training, mentoring and now funding, the time has come for you to develop Africa.

• The future of our continent indeed lies in your hands!

• Thank you

• Merci et bonne chance

Tony O. Elumelu, CFR
Founder, Tony Elumelu Foundation

The post TEF Founder, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu’s Speech at the 2022 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme selection announcement in Kinshasa, Congo-DRC appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

…. each entrepreneur receives non-refundable US$5,000

….56% of beneficiaries are women entrepreneurs

Kinshasa, DRC: On Monday, December 5, 2022, The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) announced the 2022 beneficiaries of its flagship Entrepreneurship Programme at the annual Tony Elumelu Foundation selection announcement, which was held for first time ever, outside of Nigeria, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Hosting the 2022 selection announcement of the pan-African Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme in DRC is highly significant, as it underlines TEF’s commitment to democratizing luck and increasing access to opportunity for all Africans across the continent.

This highly symbolic occasion represents the next chapter of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, and was co-convened in the capital city of Kinshasa, in partnership with the DRC Minister of Finance; H.E. Nicolas Kazadi, under the leadership of the DRC Head of State, H.E. President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, and supported by the United Bank for Africa (UBA) in DRC. In attendance were the DRC Minister of Finance; H.E. Nicolas Kazadi, the DRC Minister of State for Entrepreneurship; H.E. Eustache Muhanzi Mubembe, and the DRC Prime Minister; S.E.  Sama Lukonde, and other honourable members of the government and key public-private sector players from the DRC entrepreneurship ecosystem.

In 2015, TEF Founder, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, and his family committed USD$100million to democratise luck and spread economic hope across Africa, by empowering 10,000 African women and men, over 10 years, through the annual Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme.

After only 7 cycles into this Programme, the Tony Elumelu Foundation has disbursed over USD$85million to young and enterprising beneficiaries and empowered 18,000 African women and men, who have gone on to achieve their innovative concepts and who are solving Africa’s most challenging problems.

What the Tony Elumelu Foundation has set out to do through its entrepreneurship programme is truly catalysing development across Africa and changing not just the narrative, but the reality, of what Africa is capable of. Through the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s strategic Public-Private-Youth partnerships with local and international agencies, has catalysed a global movement of jobs creation, poverty alleviation and women inclusion across all 54 countries in Africa.

The partners that worked with the Tony Elumelu Foundation to scale its impact across Africa in 2022 include: the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); led by H.E. President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi, United States African Development Foundation (USADF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for Mali, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for Rwanda, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), SightSavers and the African Education Foundation (FAE Africa) in Congo Brazzaville.

The 2022 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs were selected from a pool of hundreds of thousands of applications from all 54 African countries who undertook a world-class business management training, received expert mentoring, and participated in a business pitching competition, where they demonstrated their business growth potential and innovation, all designed to provide lasting solutions to Africa’s unique problems.

All selected Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs are granted life-long access to www.TEFConnect.com, the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s digital platform where they have life-long access to the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s alumni and mentor networks, market linkages, and the opportunity to network with the over 1.5 million African entrepreneurs from across the continent that are subscribed to the platform.

“I am very happy to be here today. [The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)] is a second home for me; the United Bank for Africa (UBA); and the Tony Elumelu Foundation. We have a very strong relationship with [DRC], UBA operates here but more importantly the Tony Elumelu Foundation is firmly rooted in this great country.

In 2019 [the DRC] amiable president, H.E. President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, was personally physically in attendance for the 2019 Tony Elumelu Foundation Forum, and not only did he attend but his government also sponsored entrepreneurs who were selected from [DRC] under his leadership. His love for the youth and entrepreneurship continued in every conversation we had, and his stance was always “what more can we do for our youth?”. This year his government, through the Minister of Finance, H.E. Nicolas Kazadi, has partnered with the Tony Elumelu Foundation to increase the participation of beneficiaries in [DRC].

They are supporting more entrepreneurs with the sum of USD$600,000.00. This is significant and to us at the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we believe that the future of our continent lies in the hand of our young ones. We support and commend the government for recognising the significant role that our young ones are playing, should play, and have to play, in the development of our continent. So, in appreciation of this we decided to make the 2022 Tony Elumelu Foundation selection announcement in your great country.” – Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, CFR., Founder, The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

“It is wonderful to see the end result of the exchange between the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Tony Elumelu Foundation, to set up this great initiative to support entrepreneurship. I would like to thank our partner Tony Elumelu and his Foundation for this first action put together to support the blossoming of SMEs to play a main role in African economies, especially the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).” – S.E. Sama, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The Tony Elumelu Foundation continues to foster youth entrepreneurship for Africa’s sustainable development through strategic partnerships with governments, development organisations and private bodies across the globe, to create economic opportunities of jobs creation, poverty alleviation and women inclusion across the continent.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation will start receiving applications for its entrepreneurship programme on the 1st of January, 2023 on January 1, 2023, via www.tefconnect.com. The list of the selected 2022 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs can be found on the website of the Tony Elumelu Foundation here.

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