The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) on Friday announced the selection of 1,104 beneficiaries from 54 African countries for the 2024 edition of its annual entrepreneurship program which will see all of them trained and financially empowered with a non-refundable grant.
The well-attended event was held in Lagos, Nigeria, and streamed live in Kenya via NTV Kenya. In Kenya, the United Bank for Africa (UBA Kenya) CEO Mary Mulili led a group of journalists, former beneficiaries, and members of the Board in following the event live at Roma House.
The Chairman and Founder of the TEF, Tony Elumelu, announced that each of the beneficiaries will receive a non-refundable seed of $5,000. At least 37 of the beneficiaries are from Kenya, making the country a leader in terms of beneficiaries from the East African region.
During the unveiling of the beneficiaries, Tony Elumelu said that the rigorous selection process was conducted by the globally renowned accounting firm, Ernst & Young, adding that since its inception in 2014, the Foundation has disbursed 100 million dollars to over 20,000 beneficiaries who in turn has generated 400,000 jobs and revenue of more than 2.5 billion dollars.
“We believe in spreading luck, we believe in democratizing luck, we believe in prosperity, and we think that the easiest way to spread prosperity in Africa is by identifying our young ones, encouraging them, and helping them to start their businesses. This is why we have done this.
“To date, over 20,000 young men and women from across Africa have received over $100 million in support of their program. We are happy to see our young ones progressing. We are happy that what we started alone as the Tony Elumelu Foundation will have been able to identify and partner with other global institutions,” said Tony who was also celebrating his birthday.
Today is a day of impact, a day of gratitude, and most importantly, a day of reflection for me because God has been kind in so many ways. My family and I do what we do, not from the abundance of wealth, but just a realization that poverty anywhere is a threat to us everywhere and that we cannot live alone in prosperity.
“So, I’m happy that today, we continue to spread that prosperity- not just in Nigeria, not just in our family, but in all 54 African countries. I am indeed happy that in our lifetime, we can impact the next generation,” he added.
Mary Mulili, on her part, thanked the Foundation for always putting the interests of African entrepreneurs ahead of anything and promised that UBA Bank would do everything possible to continue giving Kenyan entrepreneurs support.
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