On February 12, 2025, the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) signed a USD $6 million strategic partnership agreement with the UAE Office of Development Affairs and the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation. This collaboration aims to empower an additional 1,000 young African entrepreneurs by providing business training, mentorship, access to networks, and non-refundable $5,000 seed capital.
The agreement was formalized at the World Government Summit by TEF Founder, Tony O. Elumelu, and the Director General of the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, His Excellency Mohamed Haji Al Khoori. This partnership underscores both organisations’ commitment to fostering economic empowerment and entrepreneurship across Africa.
In reaction to this monumental win for Africa, Somachi Chris Asoluka (CEO, Tony Elumelu Foundation) said:
I’m incredibly emotional as this is a huge milestone personally and professionally for me.
Today, we signed a partnership agreement with the UAE Office of Development Affairs and Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation to empower an additional 1000 young African entrepreneurs. This is big – a first of this scale for the continent and the GCC, and also serves as crucial signaling for the world to prioritise African entrepreneurs.
I never get emotional as there’s hardly any time to slow down, but today I want to take a quick break and breathe, truly living in this moment and celebrating this win with my entire team at @tonyelumelufoundation ❤️
Since inception in 2015, the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme – with a vision to empower young African entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries – has provided up to 2.5 million of them with access to training through its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed over $100 million in direct funding to more than 21,000 African entrepreneurs. These efforts have collectively created over 1.5 million direct and indirect jobs and lifted 2 million Africans out of poverty.
The Foundation is currently accepting applications from young African entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas or existing businesses not older than five years. The application deadline is March 1, 2025.
Apply here.
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