Continuing with its quest to create
thousands of entrepreneurs on the African continent and create a path
for sustainable development and independence, the Tony Elumelu
Foundation (TEF) recently hosted nearly 1,000 entrepreneurs from 54
African countries during the second TEF Entrepreneurship Forum – the
largest annual gathering of African businessmen and women.
The forum celebrated the 2016
gathering of Elumelu entrepreneurs, selected from over 45,000
applicants. It was the highlight of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme
and brought together leading policy makers and business leaders in
support of the Foundation’s $100 million commitment to empower 10,000
African entrepreneurs in 10 years.
Speaking at the event, the President of
Sierra Leone, Mr. Ernest Bai Koroma, hailed the programme as a
“genuinely innovative approach to philanthropy in Africa – an African
offering African solutions”.
“Other philanthropists will be inspired
to support and promote this philosophy. Even when we had Ebola in Sierra
Leone, Tony (Elumelu) was there. His is an example which other
successful Africans must follow,” he added.
In his keynote speech, TEF founder, Mr.
Tony O. Elumelu, saluted those present, stating: “Our ambition is that
you become ambassadors for entrepreneurship in Africa. You are a
generation of wealth creators who share our commitment to the
transformation of Africa.”
Speaking on one of the programme’s
stellar participants, Elumelu informed his audience that Mr. Momar
Mass-Taal had turned his first $5,000 seed capital from the Foundation
into a $1.2 million revenue business. “We will have many more of these,”
he added.
The two-day forum buzzed with energy as
entrepreneurs shared and gained knowledge, built cross-border
partnerships, and connected with investors and policymakers, fostering
intra-African innovation and collaboration.
The first day featured master classes,
sector specific workshops, and an in-depth session on Africapitalism,
while the second day featured high-level panels to identify policies for
strengthening the enabling environment for entrepreneurs.
Moderated by BBC News correspondent
Lerato Mbele, the panel featured the Sierra Leonean president, former
President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Prime Minister of Benin Republic,
Mr. Lionel Zinsou, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, and Vice Chair of Famfa Oil, Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija.
Obasanjo congratulated Elumelu for the
initiative, stating: “By every means, God has made His face to shine
upon you. You are not the only one, but unlike you, others do not have
the idea of empowering the next generation of Africans in the manner and
scale that you are doing.”
In his remarks, Zinsou also reminded the
participants that what Elumelu was doing to encourage and support
entrepreneurship on the continent was the exception, not the norm.
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