TEF announces $15m grant for 3,000 African entrepreneurs

The Tony Elumelu Foundation has announced a $15m grant to support 3,000 young entrepreneurs across 52 African countries, as part of its 2025 entrepreneurship programme.

Founder of the Foundation and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Transcorp, and United Bank for Africa, Mr Tony Elumelu, made the announcement in Abuja on Saturday during the unveiling of the 11th cohort of beneficiaries.

He said each selected entrepreneur would receive a non-refundable seed grant of $5,000 to either launch or scale their businesses.

“Our vision, which began in 2010, is to create a self-sustaining Africa powered by the energy, vision, and resilience of young entrepreneurs,” he said.

“We recognise the challenges they face in contributing to Africa’s economic transformation. However, if empowered and encouraged, these young Africans can drive meaningful change.”

Elumelu emphasised that access to capital alone was not sufficient, noting the importance of mentorship, business education, and continuous training in building sustainable enterprises.

He said, “In the 21st century, Africa does not need aid; what it needs is investment in its youth.”

According to him, the Foundation, now in its 15th year, has disbursed over $115m to more than 24,000 entrepreneurs since the launch of the programme in 2015, creating over 1.5 million jobs across the continent.

He said the initiative, originally aimed at supporting 10,000 young African entrepreneurs over 10 years, had already surpassed its initial target.

“We are keenly aware of the millions we’ve yet to reach, which is why I keep advocating that what Africa needs is not aid, but investments – in infrastructure and in our young ones, where the future lies.

“What we do at the Foundation is not out of an abundance of wealth, but from a deep realisation that if we don’t do this, we are creating problems for ourselves. It is in our collective existential interest to identify and support them,” Elumelu said.

Speaking further, he described TEF as a platform for catalysing growth, with its capacity to fund, train, mentor, and connect young entrepreneurs across Africa.

Chief Executive Officer of TEF, Mrs Somachi Chris-Asoluka, said the Foundation had received over 200,000 applications for the 2025 cohort, from which 3,000 entrepreneurs across 52 African countries were selected to benefit from the $15m grant.

“Our entrepreneurs have demonstrated that ideas are the lifeblood of the African continent. For the 2025 cohort, we received over 200,000 applications, and from this pool, 3,000 entrepreneurs from 52 African countries will receive $15m in funding. Each entrepreneur will receive a $5,000 non-refundable seed grant; this is neither a loan nor equity.

“We will continue to fund young African entrepreneurs, and inspire like-minded partners in Africa and beyond, to work with us on this journey,” she stated.

Chris-Asoluka noted that the Foundation had trained over 2.5 million young Africans through its digital platform, TEFConnect, equipping them with essential business skills.

She added that the Foundation had put in place a robust monitoring and evaluation framework to track the progress of funded entrepreneurs six months after disbursement.

According to her, the selection process is overseen by Ernst & Young and based on five criteria – feasibility, scalability, market opportunity, financial literacy and leadership.

She also highlighted the Foundation’s strategic partnerships with global organisations, including the European Union, United Nations Development Programme, UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited, IKEA Foundation, and the United States African Development Foundation, among others.

Data from the Foundation showed that 45 per cent of TEF-funded businesses are women-owned, having created over 500,000 jobs and generated more than $320m in revenue.