Apply For Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Program 2023
The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme is pleased to invite applications for the 2023 cycle. This program is designed to empower entrepreneurs across the African continent with training, mentorship, networking opportunities, and a US$5,000 seed capital.
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An Overview
The Tony Elumelu Foundation 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’s 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 Foundation’s ability to fund, train, mentor, and network young African entrepreneurs, has created a unique platform for catalyzing growth across the African continent. The robust ability of the Foundation to reach entrepreneurs across geographies and sectors has enabled it to conduct innovative partnerships with the European Union, the United Nations Development Programme, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United States Government via the United States African Development Foundation (USADF), The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), The French Development Agency (AFD), The German Development Finance Institution (DEG), The German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), The African Development Bank (AfDB), and Google, with bespoke programs including targeting female empowerment and growth in fragile states.
Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Programme Eligibility
The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme is open to Africans from all 54 African countries with scalable business ideas or businesses that have been operational for no more than five years. Applicants must be 18 years of age and above. Interested applicants may register on TEFConnect.net. The program is not open to research institutions, faith-based organizations, value-adding trading companies, government contractors, or businesses not located in Africa. Businesses must not adversely affect the environment, lives, and property. All businesses must be business ideas or early-stage companies, in the range of 0 to 5 years old.
Benefits of Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Programme
Selected entrepreneurs will have access to the following benefits:
- US$5,000 seed capital
- Training
- Mentorship
- Networking opportunities with over 1 million African entrepreneurs
- Hundreds of learning content on Finance, Marketing, Branding, Talent Management, Technology and many more…
- The Marketplace creates access to the African market and offers our Alumni the opportunity to showcase their business products and services for increased visibility
- View and apply for global business opportunities made available by our network of Partners
- View and access business tools to ease the management of your business
Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Programme Application Process
To apply for the program, interested and qualified candidates should register/login to TEFConnect, click on the Applications link on the Home Page, select the Programme, and follow the instructions. The application portal opens on the 1st of January of each year, and it’s free to apply.
START APPLICATION
Important Notes:
- The application closing date is not specified.
- The Tony Elumelu Foundation is not associated with any agent for its entrepreneurship program application purposes and condemns such acts. If you know of anyone asking for money in exchange for application assistance, please report it by sending an email to [email protected].
- Current employees or their family members from the Tony Elumelu Foundation and affiliate companies in the Heirs Holdings Group and UBA Group are not eligible to apply for the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, either individually or as part of a team.
- No existing TEF Beneficiaries can reapply to the program after receiving seed capital. For non-TEF beneficiaries who have applied to the program unsuccessfully in the past, you are eligible to re-apply.
