The second annual round of the $100m Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) for emerging African entrepreneurs will be launched in January 2016.
Entry details and eligibility
Entries open at 00:00am WAT on 1st January 2016 and will accept applications until midnight WAT on March 1st, 2016. To be eligible, entrepreneurs must complete the online application form with questions on their background, experience and business idea, plans for growth and proposed pan-African impact. Further guidance and application procedures can be found on the online portal: TonyElumelufoundation.org. Applications are reviewed by an Advisory Board of distinguished African entrepreneurs.
The Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme is open to citizens and legal residents of all 54 African countries. Applications for 2016 open on 1st January and can be made by any for-profit business based in Africa in existence for less than three years, including new business ideas.
To stay informed about The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, including the 2015 selection of African Entrepreneurs, click HERE and follow @TonyElumeluFDN on Twitter and join the conversation #TEEP2016
In 2015, TEEP empowered 1,000 African entrepreneurs, selected from over 20,000 applicants, with start-up investment, active mentoring, business training, an entrepreneurship boot camp and regional networking across Africa.
Entrepreneurs, with an average age range of 21-40, from 51 African countries completed the programme and received $5,000 in seed capital for their start-up businesses.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation invested a total of $4,860,000, including $1,405,000 in agriculture; $410,000 in education and training; and $365,000 in manufacturing. The sector-agnostic programme funded start-ups across a further 20 industries, all based in Africa.
Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, Stella Nakatudde, founder of ICT company, Ella Solutions Ltd, based in Uganda, said of her experience: “Since being selected for TEEP 2015, I have learned invaluable life and business lessons, expanded and enriched my business network, opened our first office, hired two staff and closed two web development deals. TEEP is not just a means to start or propel your business, it is the torch that will light your entrepreneurship journey for life and the pen that will script your story in the new African Narrative”.
TEEP is driven by Elumelu’s philosophy of Africapitalism, which calls for the African private sector to focus on long term investments that create social and economic prosperity in Africa, and take the lead role in Africa’s transformation.
According to Parminder Vir OBE, CEO of Tony Elumelu Foundation, "Africa does not need aid alone, it needs investment and it needs entrepreneurs. TEEP brings both and our ability to bring capital and the necessary support, for those who will help Africa harness its enormous potential is creating extraordinary opportunities across the Continent."
In addition to directly supporting African entrepreneurs with “Empowerment Capital”, the Tony Elumelu Foundation uses data gathered to conduct research and advocate for policy improvements to the enabling environment. Earlier this year, the Foundation released a report titled “Unleashing Africa’s Entrepreneurs: Improving the Enabling Environment for Start-ups”, which includes insights based on the most comprehensive and diverse data set on African entrepreneurs ever compiled.
Facts bout TEEP
TEEP, the flagship programme of The Tony Elumelu Foundation, is a $100m initiative to support emerging entrepreneurs across Africa over 10 years, aiming to generate a projected $10bn in revenues for the Continent and one new million jobs for its citizens. The 2015 round drew over 20,000 applicants from 51 countries and has created partnerships with entrepreneurs, the private sector and governments across Africa and internationally.