By Christopher Oji
When the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) was founded in 2010, with the objective of “empowering youths across Africa, catalysing economic growth, driving poverty eradication and ensuring job creation,” its Executive Chairman knew there was a lot of work to be done towards attaining the foundation’s goals of creating wealth and freeing Africa from the shackles of poverty. Consequently, the managers of the initiative had to set out with strategies and resources to empower youngn Africans with the right mix of mentorship, training and seed capital.
Thirteen years after it took off, the foundation has transformed to the leading champion of entrepreneurship in Africa and earning plaudits on the world stage.
Last week, on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, United States, TEF held a roundtable session alongside partners like the United Nations Development Programme, UNICEF, Generation Unlimited (GenU) and IKEA Foundation, to chart the way for a more prosperous Africa and its large entrepreneurial youth population.
The good work of TEF, which has shaped up to be the “leading philanthropy platform in Africa,” would always be attributed to its founder, Mr Tony Elumelu, an economist, banker and philanthropist of no mean repute who is also the chairman of Heirs Holdings and Transcorp.
Within these years, TEF has built infrastructure to support entrepreneurs across the continent, with the objective to “empower women and men” promoting economic growth, “driving poverty eradication and ensuring job creation.”
The foundation has supported over a million youths by empowering them through programmes aimed at ending poverty, illiteracy, migration for greener pastures and hunger, among other issues affecting the growth of Africa.
In 2015, Elumelu and his family launched a more ambitious project, the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, with a $100 million commitment.
At the session during the just -concluded 78th UNGA in New York, President Bola Tinubu, who was represented by the Minister for Trade and Industry, Doris Uzoka-Anite, commended Elumelu for being the key person driving investments in supporting youths and start-ups. The minister remarked that Africans must begin immediately to help themselves and stop looking for international organisations for donor funding.
In his speech, Elumelu highlighted the contributions of the TEF’s $100 million entrepreneurship programme in advancing Africa’s socio-economic development, stating, however, that it was “a drop of water in the ocean,” as he called for more investments.
Elaborating on the seed capital, training and mentoring and networking provided by TEF, he said, “We have lit a beacon, and we need the beacon to shine brighter and better. To do this, we need the support and collaboration of everyone.
“One hundred million dollars is like a drop in the ocean compared to what we need in Africa. Young Africans need economic support. We’ve seen the devastating effect of climate change, how our young ones, due to hopelessness, are migrating and living in difficult situations. We want to put a stop to that.”He said the TEF would achieve this and more through collaboration to prioritise young Africans, bring more women to economic activities and alleviate poverty.
TEF’s entrepreneurship drive also relies on partnerships with leading development institutions, including the European Union, UNDP, International Committee of the Red Cross, United States Government (USADF), Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), French Development Agency (AFD), German Development Finance Institution (DEG), German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), African Development Bank (AfDB) and Google, among others.
Lending her support to the initiative, Ahunna Eziakonwa, assistant administrator and regional director for Africa, UNDP, said they partnered with TEF because they had similar beliefs in galvanising development globally, as Africa’s wealth was its population: “It is our loss, if we don’t invest in them because that is the future of prosperity.”
Earlier, TEF’s chief executive officer, Somachi Chris-Asoluka, said the organisation was the partner of choice for all development agencies across the world who want to transform the way they give to Africa, to have a more catalytic, impactful partnership with the continent.
She said: “We launched our flagship programme, the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, in 2015 with a $100 million commitment by Mr. Elumelu and his family.
“His goal was to see 10,000 African entrepreneurs over 10 years; in only eight years, we have more than surpassed that target. We have funded 18,000 entrepreneurs, disbursing over a $100 million directly as seed capital to these entrepreneurs and they have gone on to create over 400,000 jobs across all African countries.”
The roundtable session turned out to be a meeting place of ideas and dignitaries in the development, climate and finance ecosystems. Among other personalities present were director for Africa, National Security Council, Deniece Laurent-Mantey; Travis Atkins, president, USADF, the independent U.S. government agency established by Congress to invest directly in African grassroots enterprises and social entrepreneurs; Oliver Alawuba,
CEO of the United Bank for Africa; executive director for International Banking and the CEO of UBA America, Sola Yomi-Ajayi; managing director and CEO of Transcorp Hotels Plc, Modupe Olusola; Linus Idahosa, founder, Del York Group; and Nollywood actress and director, Omoni Oboli.
The event also witnessed commendations for the foundation and its founder. President Tinubu led the way when he commended Elumelu for the impact his foundation has had on young people and SMEs since 2010.
Also, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State said: “Listening to the great work that Tony Elumelu has done, especially with partners, resonates with me. As the governor in the largest African economy with the largest youth population, I know the importance of inclusive empowerment.”
Per Heggenes, CEO, IKEA Foundation, also expressed delight at the chance to work with TEF and GenU, to “collaborate with entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa to help create their own opportunities.”
Similarly, Kevin Frey, CEO, GenU, said TEF has continued to drive them forward in entrepreneurship and it was amazing that they have achieved so much already.
Other important guests included Microsoft’s executive vice-president and president for National Transformation Partnerships, J.P. Courtois, who also lent support to empowering more young African entrepreneurs to shape the future and deliver the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Alexia Latortue, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Trade and Development, USA, said, “If we are to reach the SDGs, we need Africa. If we are to reach the SDGs, we need the youth.”
In furtherance of its objectives, the TEF announced The Tony Elumelu Foundation Impact Report, a “Decade of Impact,” revealing how Elumelu’s $100 million commitment ignited socio-economic transformation across Africa.
In the “Decade of Impact” for 2022, Fatou Assah, TEF advisory board member, said, in its 13 years of empowering young entrepreneurs across all 54 African nations, TEF has trained 1.5 million entrepreneurs, over 18,000 beneficiaries and disbursed $100 million seed capital, with 400,000 jobs created (with 58 per cent created by female-owned businesses).
In the second initiative, TEF joined UNICEF Generation Unlimited and IKEA Foundation to launch #BeGreenAfrica, a groundbreaking green entrepreneurship programme with the goal to equip African youth to combat climate change, biodiversity loss and resource scarcity while creating sustainable job opportunities. Applications are ongoing and will end on September 30, 2023.
TEF-funded businesses generated $2.3 billion in revenue since 2015, while the beneficiaries’ annual profits were on average of over 22X (the average annual income per capita in their corresponding countries).
Over 25 per cent of TEF beneficiaries have acquired additional investments in their business since receiving TEF’s seed capital and women employment rate has risen from 24 per cent to 52 per cent, given that the programme has empowered over 7,183 women, with 85 per cent of these women singlehandedly leading their businesses.
TEF pledged to deepen its commitment to reach across sectors and geographics to identify and support young African entrepreneurs, targeting female empowerment and growth in fragile states, through its soon-to-be-launched Coalition for African Entrepreneurs that would catalyse a further 100,000 young African entrepreneurs and small businesses, focusing on fragile states, women entrepreneurs and green entrepreneurship.