• Beneficiaries to Receive $5000 Capital

• Safiu Kehinde

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) is set to announce the 11th cohort of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.

TEF, an African-leading philanthropy empowering entrepreneurs will announce the commencement date for the 2025 edition of the programme on the Saturday, 22nd of March.

This was disclosed in a statement issued by the foundation on Friday.

According to the statement, the initiative established by the United Bank of Africa’s (UBA) Chief Executive Officer, Tony Elumelu, have collectively created 1.5 million jobs and generated $4.2 billion in revenue.

The 2025 announcement comes at a critical time, as Africa’s entrepreneurship ecosystem faces funding constraints and global economic headwinds.

TEF continues to provide much-needed support, empowering African entrepreneurs to transform their ideas into sustainable businesses and engines of economic growth.

Each selected Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, according to the statement, will receive $5,000 non-refundable seed capital, a world-class business training on TEFConnect, one-on-one mentorship, and access to global networks and investment opportunities.

The selection process will be conducted by Ernst & Young firm, to ensure independent assessment.

In remark ahead of the announcement, Elumelu reiterates his unwavering belief in the potential of Africa’s entrepreneurs

“I believe that Africa’s transformation will not be led by aid, but by empowering the next generation of African entrepreneurs—giving them the tools, the funding, the training, and the networks to build sustainable businesses that create jobs and drive economic growth.

“Over the past decade, we have nurtured entrepreneurs from inception to success, scaling our impact across all 54 African countries. We have provided capital and also developed a robust monitoring and evaluation framework that allows us to track the progress of our entrepreneurs and measure their contributions to their communities and economies.

“No other organisation is implementing entrepreneurship development at this scale across Africa.

“We have learned, we have refined, and we continue to improve, ensuring that African entrepreneurs—women and men—are at the forefront of solving our continent’s challenges and creating wealth for themselves and their communities.

“Entrepreneurship is the key to Africa’s prosperity. I wish the 2025 cohort of Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs success, as they chase their ambitions, and play their part in Africa’s transformation.” he said.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation is a leading philanthropy empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, driving poverty eradication, catalysing job creation across all 54 African countries and ensuring inclusive economic empowerment.

Since the launch of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, TEF has reportedly lifted over 2 million Africans out of poverty, provided 2.5 million young Africans with access to training on TEFConnect, and disbursed more than $100millon in direct funding to thousands of African entrepreneurs who have gone on to create over 1.5 million direct and indirect jobs and generate over $4.2 billion in revenue.