As we celebrate another year of independence, it is time to reflect, to look in the mirror, for our nation and ourselves.

We know Nigeria, we love Nigeria, Nigeria is one of Africa’s most diverse and dynamic countries.  We are a nation that excites, beguiles, and dreams.  Yet, amidst our diversity and that potential that we all feel, we have faced so many challenges.  These challenges ask us to answer a fundamental question:  What is our collective responsibility in nation-building?

The destiny of Nigeria lies firmly in the hands of its people – you and me.  I am an optimist and I believe strongly in the potential of our nation.  We must work together to create the progress we so desire through innovation, and with unity in diversity.

In August, I spoke to the Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference in Abuja.  At the time of a new administration – and without doubt some of our toughest times economically, I spoke about our collective responsibility as Nigerians, and what we must do to foster nation-building.

My prescription, my advice, my philosophy is simple:

1. Unity

We must set our differences aside and be united with one ambition, and one duty – nation-building.  Whatever our backgrounds, geographies, religions, and experiences let us ensure that our country experiences a true renaissance.

• Celebrate our Global Success

We know the potential of Nigeria.

We know the resources, human and natural, that Nigeria has at her disposal. We must learn to champion the successes of Nigerians globally – in international leadership positions at the WTO, at the UN, at the African Development Bank, at the Afreximbank, in technology, in music and entertainment, in business, in arts and in media, in film, in sports.

We see these replicated at home – what we need to do is unleash our potential, create that enabling environment in Nigeria.

• Business Excellence

The Nigerian private sector is showing globally our capability, our ingenuity, our institutionalisation. We have global businesses with Nigerian origins. For instance – UBA, the United Bank for Africa, the only African Bank that operates in the USA, as a deposit-taking bank. We are now in Dubai, Paris, and London – and just as importantly 20 other countries in Africa. Who would have thought 20 years ago, that Nigeria would be home to Africa’s global bank!

The private sector must continue to surpass its own achievements and continue to put Nigeria on the map.

• Shared Responsibility

Nation-building is a call to arms – a vital task – a necessity.

At its core, nation-building is the intricate process of forging a cohesive, harmonious, and united society, out of diverse individuals, cultures, and ideologies.  It is the art of constructing a shared identity.

Transforming Nigeria is a journey that demands our collective dedication, building across political affiliations, ethnic differences, and socioeconomic differences.

One that is not the responsibility of our government alone. Great nations start with great people, not just great leaders.

• A Shared Ambition Across Our Society

Our private sector, our philanthropies, our civil society, all citizens must be brought together and be empowered – as real, valued and executing partners for this national renewal, this nation building.

• Love For Country

Let Nigeria be at the centre of our hearts. Let us invest in the brand Nigeria.

We have no other place, no other motherland than Nigeria. We must begin to show and share a sense of pride in Nigeria.  We must begin to rekindle our hope and have confidence in Nigeria and in our leaders. Let us be proud of Nigeria.

The responsibility of nation-building falls upon each and every one of us.  To truly build a strong and prosperous nation, we must be more conscious and dedicated in our efforts.

Let us be inspired by the lessons of history, motivated by the sacrifices of our forefathers, guided by the wisdom of our elders, and energised by the aspirations of our youth.

Together, we can build a nation we can all be proud of.

Celebrate 63!

#TOEWay

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Background

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) is the leading philanthropy empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, driving poverty eradication, catalyzing 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 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 Foundations aims to:

• Promote entrepreneurship development in Africa with a focus on startups and existing MSMEs (Micro Small and Medium Enterprises).
• Provide entrepreneurship skills training to startups and emerging African entrepreneurs.
• Deliver Business Development Services (BDS) necessary for startups and existing MSMEs across Africa for growth and diversification.
• Promote innovation, mentoring, technology development, networks, and market linkages among African Entrepreneurs.
• Undertake initiatives that promote access to affordable credit, working capital, guarantees, and other financial services suitable for startups and small businesses in Africa.
• Advance policy advocacy by facilitating partnerships with state and non-state actors to improve the operating business environment for local enterprises’ development in Africa.
• Setting up systematic monitoring and evaluation of the impact on African Entrepreneurs.
• Engage private sector leaders, corporations, and businesses to support the development of African entrepreneurs.

The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme directly addresses some of the most endemic challenges to African start-ups through a 4-step process:

• An online toolkit– The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme provides access to TEF’s proprietary online Start-up Toolkit training, which is comprehensive, practical training that equips entrepreneurs with resources on financial planning, market analysis, product marketing, business management skills, and many more. Over a period of 8 weeks, the entrepreneurs are assigned training modules with assignments that are completed with dedicated mentors. A weekly webinar is held by TEF to facilitate a deeper understanding of the principles covered and respond to questions. Interpretation in French, Portuguese and Arabic are available for non-English speaking entrepreneurs to follow the training as well.
• Mentoring– The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme matches mentors selected from all over the world with entrepreneurs to coach and guide them through the training window. The mentorship leverages online tools such as the TEFconnect platform, emails, social media, etc. Mentor selection and matching is carefully conducted to ensure alignment with the entrepreneurs’ goals and objective
• Business plan preparation and review– The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme further supports entrepreneurs that have been through the training to develop a business plan using a simplified template provided. After this, a business plan certification competitive process occurs to review, provide feedback, and refine the document to ensure feasibility.
• Seed capital investment– Upon certification of the business plan, the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme and its funding partner will provide a non- refundable seed capital investment of up to USD2,000 or its equivalent in local currency in a corporate bank account in the business name of the entrepreneur. A due diligence exercise is conducted in which the entrepreneur is required to fulfill certain compliance criteria before being eligible for the funding.

SCOPE of Work

1. Undertake a review of 396 submitted business plans from participants from 7 focus states of Lagos, FCT, Kano, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger, and Plateau to
   1. Establish the extent through which the entrepreneur has imbibed/utilized the key learnings from the TEF Business Management Training to advance their ideas/businesses.
   1. Determine the level of readiness (or otherwise) of the business with respect to receiving the non-returnable seed capital investment.
   1. Categorize all TEF EP entrepreneurs/businesses based on the degree of effort required by the entrepreneur for her business to be considered ready for the seed capital and select the top 220. [It is worthy to note that exceptional consideration will be given to 69 uniqueparticipants; the selected vendor will be informed of whom they are and why].

REVIEW CRITERIA

The criteria below should be used as the metric for review:

Methodology

• The provider will use the methodology/criteria listed above for the business plan reviews.
  • Recommendations should have a clear audience and be specific, accessible, and actionable.
  • Appendices should include a list of evaluators, evaluator(s) brief biography, and measured indicator metrics.

Ethical Considerations

It is expected that this business plan review will be ethically conducted. Proposals submitted should adhere to inclusion principles (i.e fair representation across all states for selected participants.) in the review.

In addition, the vendor is required to respect the following Ethical Principles1:

• Comprehensive and systematic inquiry: The consultant should make the most of the existing information and the full range of stakeholders available at the time of the review. He or she should communicate his or her methods and approaches accurately and in sufficient detail to allow others to understand, interpret and critique his or her work. He or she should make clear the limitations of the review and its results.
• Competence: The consultant should possess the abilities, skills, and experience appropriate to undertake the tasks proposed and should practice within the limits of his or her professional training and competence.
• Honesty and integrity: The consultant should be transparent with any conflict of interest, any change made in the negotiated project plan and the reasons why those changes were made, any risk that certain procedures or activities produce misleading review information.
• Respect for people: the firm respects the security, dignity, and self-worth of respondents and program participants. The consultant has the responsibility to be sensitive to and respect differences amongst participants in culture, religion, gender, disability, age, and ethnicity.

Quality Assurance and Management

All proposals will be reviewed and approved by TEF Team prior to acceptance and selection of the final vendor. The proposal detailing the proposed method and work plan is also to be approved by the TEF team.

Timeline

2 weeks (commencing on October 1, 2023)

Minimum Organizational Requirements

• Sound general organizational capacity and demonstrated ability to provide sound business plan review services.
• Have suitably qualified key experts for the provision of the services including experts in Business Strategy, Finance/Accounting experience, and Market Research.
• Experience in similar work with top tier organizations on similar programme or projects.

Criteria for Selection

Upon the advertisement of the RFP, a qualified Consultancy Firm is expected to submit the proposal with an inclusive commercial:

• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. In this regard, the respective weight of the proposals are:

STANDARD TECHNICAL PROPOSAL EVALUATION CRITERIA

Confidentiality and PROPRIETARY Interests

The consultants shall not either during the term or after the termination of the assignment, disclose any proprietary or confidential information related to the project without prior written consent. Proprietary interests in all materials and documents prepared by the consultants under the assignment shall become and remain properties of the Tony Elumelu Foundation.

Annex

Annex I. Vendor Deliverables and timeline

Send your proposals to Tender@tonyelumelufoundation.org

The post CALL FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) – THE TONY ELUMELU FOUNDATION (BUSINESS PLAN REVIEW) appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

Our Founder, Tony O. Elumelu, C.F.R. was invited to a special breakfast to launch the TIME 100 TALK, a new live event series that convenes leaders from every field to spotlight solutions to urgent global problems and encourage cross-disciplinary actions.

This special breakfast hosted by TIME100 on the sidelines of UNGA78, and themed Closing the Digital Divide: The Importance of Digital Equity, was hosted by Jess Sibley, CEO TIME and Hans Vestberg, Chairman and CEO, Verizon. 

The conversation centered around the importance of equal access to the same level of digital infrastructure and internet connectivity across the continent.

“I see first-hand the importance of digital connectivity, of access. I also see the negative impact of the digital divide that we have and every time I interact with my young children – I have an 8-year-old young son and he’s almost always playing on his iPad, he tells me everything about sports, he puts me on to so many things. But ladies and gentlemen, each time this happens in my conversations with him, I reflect, I think about those other young African kids who don’t have the kind of access my son has, and I think about the future and the digital divide we are creating. There is so much lack of connectivity on the continent and I am happy that TIME100 is taking this very seriously.”

Our Founder concluded his message by stressing the urgent need for equitable access to technology to create an inclusive digital future, where Africans can benefit from the transformative power of technology.

“I would like us to escalate this to the next level because this is one of those things that will continue to create the divide we have in societies. This is one of the things that can even lead to more extremism in the world. I see my son informed, I see others not so informed, it’s a cause for concern because what kind of world are we leaving for them? I am happy this is happening and I’m also happy that the US Government, I was recently approached by the US Vice President, Kamala that they want to set up a digital initiative in Africa and I welcome it. I think all of us in our own way should collaborate to make connectivity a little more accessible to everyone on the continent and elsewhere in the world where the lack of access exists. I think in doing so, we will play our role in catalysing prosperity, catalysing a safer, saner more inclusive society and one that all of us will be very proud of because poverty anywhere is a threat to all of us everywhere.”

The TEFCEO, Somachi Chris Asoluka also gave her remarks at the Clinton Global Initiative: Greenhouse Inclusive Economic Growth, whew she emphasized the importance of providing young African entrepreneurs with the funding, capacity building support and technical assistance they need to build profitable businesses.

“I’m here to advocate for young African Entrepreneurs, they deserve our attention, they deserve the spotlight, they deserve the capacity building support, the technical assistance and I think most importantly, the funding. So when we think about funding and investing in entrepreneurs, we shouldn’t just look to the West. Africa offers very exciting business opportunities, even more incredible results, and return on investments. It’s a decade for African entrepreneurs!”

The TEF CEO, Somachi Chris-Asoluka also took on the role of a judge, handpicking a winner from 10 social impact startups who are poised to receive a grant of US $25,000 at the session.

#TEF2023

#UNGA78

#TEFatUNGA

The post TEFATUNGA DAY 1: TEF ATTENDS THE 78TH UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

A: I’m doing great, thank you. 

Q: So, what has been the highlight of your day because I know you’ve been in a lot of meetings today?

A: UNGA 2022 has been very exciting in so many ways, for us as a group, the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we’ve been able to consummate two significant partnerships. We live in Africa, we see poverty, we see how our people are suffering, we see the energy of our youths (our young ones), we see their ambition, we see their aspirations to make a difference; but access to capital is always a problem for these young ones, and for us at the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we are trying to catalyse luck, we are trying to catalyse entrepreneurship across the continent. But we understand that we can’t do it alone.

Personally, I’m an exemplar of success in Africa. I come from a modest background, I’ve built multi-national businesses, but I realize that we need more Tony Elumelu’s in Africa, and for this to happen, we need to increase our capacity to empower young ones. The Tony Elumelu Foundation alone cannot do this, so we have tried to reach out to like-minded development agencies, governments, individuals, institutions, to partner with us so that we can scale what we know how to do, what we know works through what we have done at the Tony Elumelu Foundation; and happily, at this UNGA 22, we found two partnerships; one with the American Foundation for Africa development, and two, with the UN Agency for capital. So, we’ve signed partnerships with UNCDF, and USADF to scale what we do at the Tony Elumelu Foundation.  So, to me, it’s a wonderful time for us as a Foundation because the success of young Africans is our preoccupation. So, we’re happy that we can now do more in partnership with this and existing partners we already have.  

Q: So, let’s look at job creation in Africa and youth entrepreneurship because I know that it’s one of your fortes, how do you feel about it? How can governments create jobs for the youth? And encourage the youth to engage in entrepreneurship? 

A: I have often said that youth unemployment is a tragic waste of our talent. It’s a betrayal of a generation, and I know that one sure way of creating employment for our people is by encouraging entrepreneurship amongst our young ones. I live in Africa, I see the harsh impact of youth unemployment, and I know that as an African leader, we must do something about it. The time is ticking so fast. I know from my experience with in interacting with these young Africans, they feel highly betrayed, and we as African leaders, friends of Africa, political leaders in Africa, and the world at large must do something quickly so that all of us will have peace. To me, it has become an existential issue. It’s something we must do for our own enlightened self-interest. These guys, very energetic, we either channel their energy positively, or they use their energy in a negative way; and that will be disastrous, and that will be difficult for us to contain.

We can do less now than what we can do in the future if we fail to do what we can do right now. So I believe that entrepreneurship presents the way forward and that is why the Tony Elumelu Foundation will do it. We have trained over 1.2 million young Africans, we’ve provided seed capital of non-refundable $5000 dollars each to more than 16,000 young Africans. Through their works, we’ve created about 400,000 jobs on the continent. This is what we need to scale up. And this space, we don’t want to be in this space alone, we want others to come to this space, and that is why when I told you before, I was happy with UNCDF and USADF who have signed the partnership that we have signed. Plus the existing ones with the European Union and the UNDP, International Red Cross, you know these are great partnerships helping to catalyze more entrepreneurship on our continent so that collectively, we can deal with this issue of unemployment, and also Google has come into the space too. 

Q: But what about governments across Africa? 

A: I believe that governments in Africa can do more. I think our governments pay a lot of lip service to the issue and importance and relevance and the future of our continent as it relates to our young ones. The future of Africa truly belongs to the young ones. Their success is our success, and we must see success, modifying success, through that prism, that the success of the young ones, if they succeed, we know that Africa is succeeding and we succeed further. Our government must create an enabling environment. At the Tony Elumelu Foundation, I told you before, we funded over 16,000 young African entrepreneurs, but what is important is creating the enabling environment that will allow and support these young Africans with the seed capital we’ve given them, with the mentorship we’ve provided them, with the business education and training we’ve given them to succeed.

If you’re an entrepreneur, a small-scale entrepreneur and you don’t have access to electricity, please tell me, what can you do with $5000? So government must do something, and government must put in place policies that support our young ones. You know for me, I feel so bad about this and truly so because it seems to me that we miss the point most times, how do we move out of poverty if we cannot empower the young ones; and empowering them like I said is not about the capital we provide, its about creating the ecosystem, the enabling environment that will enable them to succeed. So I look forward to all of us embracing this and I think that this should be the preoccupation of one of the things the AU should focus on.

Youth empowerment, security issues; those two to a large extent will help us, and knowing that for youths to be economically empowered and to succeed, the infrastructure that we need, access to electricity and power is so critical. Stifling policies must be removed, tax reforms that support the young entrepreneurs must be put in place, incentive system to shape the right behaviour must be put in place; and for those of us in the private sector who have succeeded, we must realize that our success is nothing if we go alone. We need to carry others along so they become even more successful than us, so that collectively, we create a commonwealth system that makes it difficult for anyone that wants to destroy because we are all stakeholders. People want to destroy when they feel that it’s true that they are marginalized and so we would need to go together on this journey.  

Q: Let’s look at climate change and the agenda for Africa. A lot of African leaders here at the UN General Assembly have been hammering on that because they say their economies have been impacted or negatively impacted by the effect of climate change. What’s your take on that? 

A: My take is this; first our contribution to climate problem in the world is almost insignificant compared to the rest of the world. Less than 2% of the carbon emissions come from Africa. But we disproportionately suffer the brunt of climate change and that is a major concern and then the world goes on and on, and I believe we need to do something about it and expecting Africa to come on board as quickly as possible and I encourage our leaders to do so. However, what I expect and as we go to COP27 in Egypt, I would like African leaders to come together and speak with one voice. We have not caused this situation but we bear the brunt of it, and I see it firsthand because I live in Africa. Nigeria floods now. In fact, in a Guardian report yesterday, almost 400 people’s lives lost as a result of of the flooding that just occurred. The Lake Chad basin that cuts between the Sahel region and the Savannah region of Africa is drying up and the extremism that we have in the Sahel region today is traceable to that. So we indeed are bearing and feeling the impact of this climate change so we must do something as members of the world.

But what I say is that there should be a deal that recognizes that 1) Africa’s energy transition requires a lot of capital and that Africa does not have that capital. Africa is battling from the Covid pandemic and Africa has a lot of hospital, healthcare issues, access to electricity issues, poverty issues and any transition costs a lot. So my call is let us come together and realize that there is a need for a deal that supports Africa to go through that transition, 2) There is also a need for an accommodation in terms of policies that recognizes the abundance of certain natural resources in Africa, and the fact that we need a combination of renewables and traditional energy sources for the short term to move Africa forward. So, this to me are two major points I believe in. I support climate change, I support the energy transition, but we need massive capital support to go through that and 3) We need to make sure that in the short term, that Africa is supported to approach it by combination of renewable and traditional sources of energy.  

Q: Talking about massive financial support this is Africa yet again going to wealthy nations cup in hand begging to be saved from the effects of climate change and that the wealthier nations do not necessarily owe anything to Africa to support them. 

A: From multinationalism to going alone and we have seen that we live in a global world we cannot go it alone. Advanced countries need the support of everyone. The less developed countries need the support of the more developed countries. We need to work together as members of the global community to address these issues. Climate change affects everyone, a problem anywhere is a problem everywhere. If there is a flood, if there is the drying up of the lake Chad basin creating extremism or migration of people out of Africa it is affecting people in places around the world. The truth is that food security is affecting everyone and we should come together to address these issues. Carbon emission in the west is about 17%.

And carbon emission on the continent is about 2%. So, people are saying there should be a form of energy reparation here to come and compensate us for creating the climate situation. So, I think for me our state men should rise and put some of this criticism behind. It is not time for criticism. One, climate change or climate disaster is real. Tow the solution is that we need to change our ways as members of the world three Africa is part of this and we need to join hands in making this possible. 

However, Africa needs capital support because that transition is huge. Also, we must recognise that renewable alone cannot take us to where we are going. Over 60% of Africans do not have access to electricity today. We are not talking of a switch first there is a deficit we need to bridge that gap and then switch the good thing is we cannot leapfrog because leapfrog requires capital. 

Q: Mr. Elumelu do you think African countries are doing enough to cushion the effect of climate change on their respective citizens in their countries?  

A: I think that first there is a realisation that there is a need to transition that to me is a positive development. Some people did not believe in covid but now people agree that climate change is real. But how are different countries responding to it that is a function of resources available to those countries? Let me tell you what we do at the Tony Elumelu Foundation.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation supports young entrepreneurs to grow. We had a long retreat on this and we came up with the conclusion that people that cause this climate disaster are the private sector to a large extent so we need to instill a new way of doing things to the private sector, let’s capture them young let us cultivate in their mind the need to be more climate-focused. So we can sustain it. So what we try to do is introduce in the curriculum that climate consciousness. We need a secure climate feature for all of us. In everything you do, you business let them be businesses sensitive to climate issues. So I think for me the climate challenge does not call for blame as a world we have blamed one another for too long. It is so easy to blame the government or less developed countries. Our focus should be what can every one of us do.

As the private sector we should be more responsible we should encourage government and find ways to deal with existential crises. If you see what I am saying you would understand. So let’s come together and put resources together and do something. To me the window is closing fast on us the time to act is now if we don’t act now we are putting our future and our childrens future at stake. 

Q: Before we go, talk to me about what you think about the Africa US relationship in the 21st century

A: I think it has been defined or redefined by the Biden administration. A month ago they put out the US policy on Africa and before that we had Trump regime that in my viewpoint did not have any concrete strategy for Africa. Before that was Palmer who had Pan African trade with Africa. I think the US has created a huge void in the continent and they must rise to the expectations. And why do I say that? Most people love the US but they do not think that they are responsive enough on the issues. I speak when I come to the US it is time to engage in a more structured activity in Africa. Aid is good but there is a need for more strategic relations with Africa. There are often the complaints about China and the land grabbing and all the horrible things they said China is doing on the continent but we know how people think of china on the continent.

People think they come to our aid in terms of infrastructural development. America needs to e more active in areas of infrastructural development and more active in youth empowerment for Africa. I took this message to Washington in April this year but I am happy the partnership we signed is a result of that. So people are listening and Joe Biden just released his Africa strategy. And has conveyed the Africa leaders forum for December in Washington. So these are positive signs and indications and I hope it’s sustained. We need a new deal for Africa from the U.S we need a partnership. America’s influence in Africa is huge but I think Americans don’t understand that , every young African wants to behave like an American, speak like an American, and go to school in America. So there is this cultural tie people love America but is America there for us? Look at the Tony Elumelu Foundation the European Union supported over 3000 African Females, they gave 25 million dollars to support over 3000 African women. That s impactful all across the African continent.

So terms for assistance you can see it and you don’t have people taking out of the aid. We want to ensure that the thing that America is doing for the continent is gotten by those who truly need it. The young people the people in local communities who need this development and not the middlemen who divert this or earn by way of commission. I see a progressive forward-looking policy coming and our Foundation is happy that we are at the table negotiating this at the white house. America has done well during covid America helped a lot but there is still a lot to do. Luckily, we also have some Africans who have a bit of resource and want to partner with American organisations.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation through our family has put in 100 million dollars so every year we empower a thousand African entrepreneurs. It is a 10 year program and we want to see others come together to do more. We are seeing moves and we are saying in the 21st century there is a better way of giving in Africa. A more catalytic way of giving a more strategic way that creates self-sufficiency, self reliance and does not keep people dependent on aid. 

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The hall was filled with students and alumni of the Business School who were excited to hear Mr. Elumelu share his thoughts on entrepreneurship, youth empowerment and the role of the private and public sectors in fostering development.

“For you all, in the African diaspora, I’d like for everyone to be successful in what they do. Because the development of Africa is not just material, it goes as far as even in terms of characterisation, mindset, and perception.

Perception has brand equity. If people see that a continent is good, has industrious people, people who are succeeding; the propensity to invest in that kind of environment will be high.”

Also in attendance was a 2015 Alumni of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme; Ayoade Oyedotun.

Ayo was one of the first cohort of beneficiaries of the Foundation’s US$100million programme, and he was excited to share the impact of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme on his startup called Afrimash.

“I run an Agri-tech company for farmers. We run an e-commerce site like Amazon. Our products are agricultural products like planters, harvesters, and pesticides and chemicals. We deliver them to farmers across all of Nigeria.

I can proudly say that the US $ 5,000 that the Tony Elumelu Foundation gave to us in 2015, is less than our monthly salary today. We’ve just been multiplying what was given to us by the Tony Elumelu Foundation over 5 years ago.

Right now, we have and pay about 50 staff, and we serve tens of thousands of farmers across Nigeria. I am just really very grateful to you and the Foundation. Thank you very much for your support. I am very excited to see you”

Ayoade’s story is just one from thousands of Africans who can testify about the transformative impact of the Foundation in their lives, and Mr. Elumelu was happy to share tips on the best approach for African entrepreneurs to expand their brand from the domestic market to the global stage.

“Start small, make mistakes, apply the expertise, and move on. It takes time to make effective and lasting change”

Watch the full session here!

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I am honoured to be here this afternoon to share a few thoughts with all of us. I was saying to people earlier today that the time we have now is dwindling for us to do good in life. It’s not time for talk but more time for action.

I come from Africa – proudly born and bred in Africa and I have achieved some level of comfort on the continent, but I am not alone; there are so many others who have achieved this level of comfort on the continent. Africa has a lot of opportunities, but we also have our challenges. We have poverty on our continent, access to electricity is very poor on our continent, women are excluded from mainstream economic activities and youth unemployment is huge. In fact, I say that youth unemployment is a tragic waste of human talent and a betrayal of a generation, and we all must do something about it and this is the time to do something. That is why I like this topic, social entrepreneurship.

For someone who has been in business and grown to the level where we’ve put in place the Tony Elumelu Foundation, to help eradicate poverty, create employment for our young people and most importantly to help give economic growth and opportunity to our people. I don’t want us to be fixated on any particular kind of entrepreneurship.  We should promote entrepreneurship on the continent. We need entrepreneurs to grow employment. We need entrepreneurship to give hope to our people. We need entrepreneurship to stop our people from crossing the Mediterranean in very harsh conditions. We need entrepreneurship to stop extremism on our continent. We need entrepreneurship to provide security and assure prosperity for everyone.

For this, its just about embracing it and doing what we need to do collectively as Africans and as friends of Africa to power our people through entrepreneurship and prosperity. As I said before, the time to act is now. We think we know what we need in Africa, what we do at the Tony Elumelu Foundation has demonstrated and proven to us that this time-tested path of empowering our young ones – young females and young males is clearly the way to developing our continent.

So, as we gather for #UNGA77 in the centre of world affluence and prosperity, I want all of us to join hands in making this 21^st century, Africa’s year of youth empowerment, that is the future. We must realise and embrace the fact that our future totally belongs to this young Africans.

What we do at the Tony Elumelu Foundation is we want to team up with others, to do more. Let us democratise luck. I am where I am today because I am a product of luck not because I am the most intelligent in my set. It’s just being at the right place at the right time, being ready and when luck came, I took advantage of it. But I don’t want to be the only African that should benefit from this luck. Over 60% of our people are under the age of 30. We must create a hope and future for them, so that all of us can live a secured future and a secure life. So, my charge to all of us today is – let us collaborate, let us join hands, let us partner to make the future a better one for our young Africans.

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On Friday, September 23, 2022, TEF Founder, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, C.O.N, CEO, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu and TEF Director of Partnerships, Somachi Chris-Asoluka, held a series of bilateral meetings to further drive the importance and urgency of global investment in Africa for jobs creation, economic opportunities, climate responsibility, environmental sustainability, and poverty eradication.

The team met with Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy, for conversations around climate change and the current global focus on green and renewable energy. Africa’s focus is and should remain, providing energy from both traditional and green sources for its citizens, including energy sustainability and clean cooking for women. It was determined that Africa’s full transition green and renewable energy sources will require considerable investment, and this cannot be at the expense of the drive to urgently address the current energy deficit. Green energy transition must allow room for Africa to power its development and sustain its economic growth. Anything else will be potentially detrimental to all across the continent.

The team also met with Benedikt Sobotka CEO of Eurasian Resource Group (ERG) – The 2nd largest producer of cobalt in the world operating in 8 African countries, as well as Bogolo J. Kenewendo, Africa Director, UN High Level Climate Champion to discuss the increasing need for African voices on climate change, ahead of COP27 in Egypt.

“Africa must go to Cop 27 with one voice highlighting the importance and need for capital to fund the energy transition”, Mr. Elumelu said. “African governments must provide the enabling environment to promote climate change and incentivise the private sector to own these initiatives and begin implementation in their various organisations.”

The bi-lat meetings closed with a high-level session with President Adama Barrow of Gambia, where the party discussed ways in which the country’s government can work with the Foundation to empower even more young Gambians. The President expressed his deepest appreciation to the Tony Elumelu Foundation for empowering entrepreneurs in The Gambia and across Africa.

So far the Foundation has mentored, trained and disbursed nearly US $200,000 directly in seed capital to hundreds of Gambian entrepreneurs.

“We look forward to exploring investment opportunities in the Gambian financial sector with UBA, and hospitality sector with Transcorp Hotels PLC”
– Mr. Elumelu

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“We should promote entrepreneurship on the continent. We need entrepreneurs to grow employment. We need entrepreneurship to give hope to our people. We need entrepreneurship to stop our people from crossing the Mediterranean in very harsh conditions. We need entrepreneurship to stop extremism on our continent. We need entrepreneurship to provide security and assure prosperity for everyone.”

On Thursday, September 22, 2022, TEF Founder, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, headlined the Nigeria International Economic Partnership Forum with investors, alongside H.E. President Mohammad Buhari and other Nigerian public and private leaders.

The conversation centred around improving policies and international partnerships to boost Nigeria’s global investment potential, and Mr. Elumelu highlighted @UBAGroup and @Heirs_Holdings’ track record of success in Nigeria as an example to others.

Then, in his capacity as a member of the board, he attended the United Nations Generation Unlimited Leadership Council board meeting where the TEF Director of Partnerships Tony Elumelu Foundation, Somachi Chris-Asoluka moderated sessions with the global leaders in attendance to discussed a first-of-its-kind partnership to support green entrepreneurs across Africa.

Mr. Elumelu also delivered headline remarks at the Forbes Philanthropy Summit with President of #UNGA77; Abdulla Shahid.

Our founder’s message was simple:

“Youth unemployment is an erosion of talent and a betrayal of a generation. We must prioritize our young ones- the government needs to create an enabling environment with access to stable infrastructure for young entrepreneurs to thrive.

Collectively, leaders in the private and public sectors must work together to ensure that our young global citizens are economically empowered for shared prosperity.”

At the United Nations’ side event, he delivered the keynote and ended the night by attending the inaugural Global Business African Initiative on the margins of #UNGA, hosted by the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.

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On Wednesday, September 21, 2022, The Tony Elumelu Foundation brought the best of Africa to New York at the #UBAAfricaFoodfest. It was a celebration of African tastes, sounds, and people. The room was filled with peals of laughter and the aroma of unique African cuisine.

All young Africans and guests of the #UNGA77 were invited, and TEF Founder, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu naturally played the part of gracious host, as he attentively mingled and interacted with every single guest at the food fest.

After the festival, he was interviewed by a journalist from the Voice of America, where he touched on Africa’s contribution to climate change, global unity, and TEF’s catalytic approach to empowering young African entrepreneurs to transform the African continent.

“We live in Africa; we see poverty and how our people are suffering. We see the energy of our young ones – their ambition and aspiration to make a difference – but access to capital is a problem for these young ones and for us at the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we are trying to catalyse luck, we are trying to catalyse entrepreneurship across the continent, but we understand that we cannot do it alone. I am an exemplar of success in Africa. I come from a modest background, but I realise that we need more Tony Elumelus in Africa.

We have seen the world swing from multilateralism to going alone, and we have seen that we live in a global world, we cannot do it alone. The advanced countries need the corporation of the developing countries and vice versa. We need to work together as members of the global community.

Africa’s contribution to global climate change is insignificant, compared to the rest of the world. It is less than 2%. However, we disproportionately suffer the brunt of climate change and that is a major concern that we need to do something about.”

The day ended with Mr. Elumelu and the TEF delegate hosting bilateral meetings with business leaders and policymakers to further advance the interest of African youth.

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Three beneficiaries of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme were present and shared testimonials of the Programme’s impact on their lives and community at the roundtable event: Ugochi Obidiegwu, founder of The Safety Chic, a Social Development Strategist with a specialty in developing products, programmes and providing policy advisory on pressing development issues affecting young Africans; Kwabena Danso, founder of Booomers International Ltd, an eco-friendly manufacturing company that exports high quality bicycles and related products such as children tricycles, Balance Bikes, bicycle stands and the phone speakers to Germany, Canada, USA, Australia and Netherlands; and Chioma Ukonu, co-founder of Recycle Points, seasoned environmental sustainability and social development professional with over a decade of international experience in circular economy, social impact, sustainability, climate change mitigation, government engagement, community outreach, and people management.

The roundtable breakfast closed with the Foundation signing a $20m partnership with the United States African Development Foundation (USADF), a leading US Government agency, to fund, train, mentor and provide further access to capital and market linkages for African entrepreneurs through the Foundation’s digital proprietary platform –TEFConnect.com.

Following the roundtable breakfast, Mr. Elumelu was interviewed by CNN’s Richard Quest, to promote his key messages at #UNGA77 and the role of the African private sector, which he purveys, in partnering with global private, public and development sectors for Africa’s prosperity.

“I am an example of success in Africa. There are a lot of opportunities on the continent but capital is very difficult to come by. I come from a modest background and have been able to grow multinational businesses from the modest background. But I’m not the only one., there are a lot of other young Africans who are more energetic, equally intelligent, if not more intelligent. But access to capital is very difficult to come by in Africa.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation for the past 12 years has been catalysing and supporting African entrepreneurs and from my interactions with them and what we’ve seen, they need capital, mentoring and business education so that when the capital comes they know how to manage it.”, Mr. Elumelu said during his interview with CNN’s Richard Quest.

Later in the day, Mr. Elumelu spoke at the UNDP Africa Investment Partnership Forum alongside select Heads of State. The day ended with the delegates attending the Clinton Global Initiative where they discussed partnerships between leaders from the public sector, private sector, and civil society to drive progress in climate resilience, health equality, and inclusive economic development.

In attendance at the TEF-Google Roundtable were: Mr. Tony O. Elumelu (CON); Founder, Tony Elumelu Foundation; Jacquelline Fuller; President, Google.org; Nitin Gajria; Managing Director – Sub-Saharan Africa, Google; Ahunna Eziakonwa; Assistant SG, UNDP; Shirin Pakfar; Chief of Private Partnerships and Philanthropy, UNHCR; Jemimah Njuki; Chief of Economic Empowerment Section, UN Women; Nadi Albino; Deputy Director Partnerships, GEN U; Peter Maurer; President, ICRC; Pren-Tsilya Boa-Guehe; Government Affairs & Public Policy Manager, African Institutions, Google; Charles Wetherill; UNCDF; John Sankara; UNCDF; Travis Atkins; President, USADF; Sola Yomi-Ajayi; CEO, UBA Africa/America; Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu; CEO, TEF; Somachi Chris-Asoluka; Director – Comms and Partnerships, TEF; Jorge Olague; Deputy Director of Private Fundraising and Partnerships, UNICEF; Ms. Nigina Muntean; Head of Innovation Unit at the Office of the Executive Director, UNFPA; Maria Sol Pintos Castro; Senior Manager, Resource Mobilization Private Sector Engagement Department, Global Fund for HIV/TB/AIDS; Chiemelie Ezeobi; Group Features Editor, THISDAY; Mayowa Tijani; Editor-at-Large, The Cable; Anne Nwaghodoh; Journalist, Channels TV; and Hassan Ali Al-Mulla; CEO, Silatec.

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