European think tanks, private sector leaders gather in Brussels to discuss Africa’s economic transformation

The Tony Elumelu Foundation, Africa’s leading philanthropy empowering African entrepreneurs, will host a gathering of European think tanks, development organisations and private sector leaders in Brussels, Belgium to discuss ways to scale the impact of entrepreneurship in Africa and accelerate Africa’s economic transformation.

Themed, “A Convening on Africa’s Economic Transformation: A Case Study of the Tony Elumelu Foundation”, the focus of the event will be on to discuss proven ways to scale the impact of entrepreneurship on the continent, and to forge research and advocacy partnerships and networks while uncovering the potential of the booming entrepreneurship landscape in Africa.

They will also discuss on share stories of impact at the local level of 4,470 African entrepreneurs who have benefitted from the Tony Elumelu Foundation, and to learn more about Africapitalism and the new approach to philanthropy championed by its founder, Tony Elumelu and the Tony Elumelu Foundation

To partner on harnessing and interpreting the large repository of data (data from over 300,000 applications across 54 African countries) collated by the Tony Elumeu Foundation on the African entrepreneurship ecosystem, will further catch the attention of the discussants.

This event follows the event in June 2018 when the Tony Elumelu Foundation hosted President Emmanuel Macron, President of France in an interactive session in Lagos, Nigeria, as well as the Foundation hosting Belgian startup delegates and the Belgium Minister for Digital Agenda, Philippe De Backer, in Lagos, Nigeria in March 2018.

WHY

With Africa in the spotlight and the Marshall Plan still a blueprint, the discourse on ways to curb the immigration crisis and develop the African continent has been a regular topic for discussion.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation believes that Africans have the solution to this crisis. It believes that Africans will develop Africa, if the private sector – led by its entrepreneurs – leads the charge in catalyzing the economic transformation of the continent.

If entrepreneurs are empowered, they will remain on the continent and commit to developing the continent by building businesses that will create jobs and wealth on the continent, according to a media advisory issued by the Foundation.

Instructively, the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) is the leading African philanthropy committed to empowering African entrepreneurs. The Foundation was founded in 2010 by Tony O. Elumelu, CON, an entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist who is passionate about Africa’s economic development.

Our long-term investment in empowering African entrepreneurs is emblematic of Tony Elumelu’s philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions Africa’s private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the continent.

Through its flagship Entrepreneurship Programme, the Foundation empowers African entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurship ecosystem across 54 African countries. The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme is a $100million commitment by the Elumelu family to empower 10,000 African entrepreneurs over a 10-year period. The goal is to create at least 1million jobs and contribute over $10billion in revenue to the African economy.

The Entrepreneurship Programme is built on a 7-pillar model, a unique holistic system of effective and intensive support to the African entrepreneurs, consisting of startup enterprise toolkit, online mentoring, online resource library, meet-ups, TEF Entrepreneurship Forum, seed capital and alumni network.

In 2018, the Foundation launched TEFConnect, Africa’s digital entrepreneurship hub last year to connect the entrepreneurship ecosystem and facilitate businesses beyond physical borders.