Tony Elumelu, a renowned Nigerian businessman and philanthropist, has announced the 12th cohort of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Programme, marking his birthday. This year’s programme has attracted over 265,000 applications from all 54 African countries, showcasing the continent’s growing entrepreneurial spirit.
The selected cohort comprises 3,200 entrepreneurs who will receive non-refundable seed grants of $5,000 each, totaling $16 million in direct funding. This support is part of the foundation’s commitment to empowering young African entrepreneurs and fostering economic growth.
Elumelu emphasized that the selected entrepreneurs were chosen for their resilience and persistence, despite the challenging business environments they faced. He urged them to focus on transformative development and play a role in shaping Africa’s economic future.
The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme is one of Africa’s largest private-sector initiatives, aiming to catalyze job creation and economic growth. Since its inception, the programme has trained over 2.5 million young Africans and disbursed more than $100 million to over 24,000 entrepreneurs.
The 2026 cohort represents entrepreneurs from diverse sectors, including agriculture, artificial intelligence, healthcare, and the green economy. These sectors are critical to Africa’s future growth and sustainability.
Elumelu reiterated his belief in Africa’s human capital as the continent’s primary resource, stating that “luck can be engineered” and “opportunity can be democratised”. He emphasized the importance of empowering entrepreneurs to drive economic transformation.
The announcement was made in partnership with organizations such as Heirs Holdings, the European Commission, IKEA Foundation, UNICEF, and the United Nations Development Programme.
The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme has generated over $4.2 billion in revenue and created more than 1.5 million jobs, demonstrating its impact on Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.