24 EMASWATI GET SHARE OF E1.4BN

MBABANE – About 24 emaSwati will each get a share of E1.4 billion from Nigeria-founded Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF).

The names of the beneficiaries were announced last weekend, by Aisha Buhari, the wife of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who also made an official statement.

These entrepreneurs will also attend the TEF Entrepreneurship Forum – Africa’s largest entrepreneurship convening – to be held on July 26-27, 2019.
The selected entrepreneurs will each receive non-refundable E70 000 of seed capital, access to mentors, and a 12-week business training programme, directly focused on the needs of African entrepreneurs.

During an event held at the Transcorp Hilton Abuja, where the Accenture Development Partners made a presentation of the selection process, it was said that in total, 3 050 people were selected from the 54 countries of the African continent.

“The foundation just announced 3 050 selected applicants into the fifth cohort of its Entrepreneurship Programme. We continue our commitment to empowering African entrepreneurs to sustainably develop the continent,” read a press statement seen by this reporter.

On an annual basis, TEF directly funds 1 000 entrepreneurs. This year, however, there was an additional 2 050 beneficiaries supported by foundation’s partners.

Hungry

“This year, over 216 000 applications were received, an increase from last year’s 150 000. Nearly 90 000 were submitted by female entrepreneurs, an increase of 45 per cent, illustrating the Foundation’s strategy to achieve greater gender balance. Every year, we face an almost impossible task – to select 1 000 entrepreneurs, from the hundreds of thousands that apply. Our entrepreneurs are hungry to effect change,” the statement read.

The TEF said the selection of these individuals was only scratching the surface, as they saw the depth of entrepreneurial talent, which government, business and society must harness to transform economies and livelihoods. “We must rally together to empower them and accelerate the change we want on the continent,” the statement further read.

empowering

The foundation is committed to empowering the 3 050 African entrepreneurs, through the 5th cycle of its E1.4 billion TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.
In her speech, Aisha Buhari is said to have commended the programme’s impact on the continent, charging the selected entrepreneurs to contribute to the advancement of the African continent.

“Indeed, I am confident that these Tony Elumelu entrepreneurs will inspire deep confidence and be of immense value, not just to Nigeria, but to the entire continent,” she was quoted.
According to the incoming CEO of TEF, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, the foundation’s Entrepreneurship Programme has empowered 7 520 entrepreneurs in its first five years of the 10-year programme.

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