Entrepreneurship is the path to sustainability

President Koroma of Sierra Leone, President Obasanjo of Nigeria, Governor Ikpeazu, Minister Lai Mohammed, Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, join 1,000 African entrepreneurs at the 2016 Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Forum.

The Foundation announced partnerships with African Development Bank, ECOWAS, Coca-Cola, Nigeria’s Ministry of Information.

At the largest annual gathering of African entrepreneurs, held in Lagos, Nigeria, the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) hosted almost 1,000 women and men from 54 African countries, for the 2nd TEF Entrepreneurship Forum.

The forum celebrated the 2016 cohort of Elumelu Entrepreneurs, selected from over 45,000 applicants.

It was the annual highlight of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship programme and saw the presence of leading policy makers and business leaders from across Africa, giving their support to the Foundation and its promise to identify, train, mentor and seed 1,000 entrepreneurs in a decade-long $100 million commitment. Following the Forum, each entrepreneur is eligible to receive up to $10,000 to implement their business plan.

Applauding Tony Elumelu’s promise not to only empower entrepreneurs, but also tackle the fundamental economic challenges confronting the African continent, His Excellency, Ernest Bai Koroma, President of Sierra Leone, called on others to emulate Elumelu.

“Even when we had Ebola in Sierra Leone, Tony was there. His is an example which other successful Africans must follow.”

Focusing on the uniqueness of TEF’s approach to entrepreneurship development, President Koroma hailed the programme as “a genuinely innovative approach to philanthropy in Africa – an African offering African solutions.”

“What is unique about this programme is that it not only provides a platform for entrepreneurs to build connections, but they are also being taught how to build their businesses in a sustainable way. Other philanthropists will be inspired to support and promote this philosophy,” the President concluded.

In his keynote speech, Mr. Elumelu stated “I salute those here; our ambition is that you become ambassadors for entrepreneurship in Africa – you are a generation of wealth creators, who share our commitment to the economic and social transformation of Africa. Let me tell you about Momarr Mass Taal, the CEO of Tropingo Foods, who has turned his first $5,000 seed capital received from the Foundation last year, into a $1.2 million revenue business. We all want many more of these! However, as excited as I am about the 2,000 entrepreneurs that we have selected, this gathering is in some ways bittersweet, as I reflect on the 63,000 ideas received in the programme’s short two years of existence we were unable to select – our commitment is to all entrepreneurs in Africa.”

Mr. Elumelu challenged all stakeholders from the public and private sectors, civil society, multilateral organisations and all individuals invested in Africa’s economic development to join hands with the Foundation to support the wider African entrepreneurial community.

“We need to support our entrepreneurs because extreme poverty and economic opportunity rarely coexist in the same place.”

He also announced partnerships with regional institutions including the African Development Bank, ECOWAS among others.