The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has announced the opening of applications for its 2025 Entrepreneurship Programmes. This was revealed in a statement issued on Monday.
As a leading philanthropic organization, TEF empowers a new generation of African entrepreneurs, drives poverty eradication, creates jobs across all 54 African countries, and promotes women’s economic empowerment. Its flagship TEF Entrepreneurship Programme is designed for entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas or existing businesses under five years old.
Application Details
Applications for the 2025 programmes can be submitted via TEF’s digital platform, TEFConnect, between January 1, 2025, and March 1, 2025. The programmes are open to African entrepreneurs with scalable ideas or businesses not older than five years. Applicants must be at least 18 years old. Those selected will benefit from world-class training, expert mentoring, and non-refundable seed capital to scale their businesses.
Available Programmes
- Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme: This programme is open to all African entrepreneurs with a focus this year on businesses leveraging artificial intelligence and green initiatives.
- IYBA-WE4A Entrepreneurship Programme: This programme, in partnership with the European Union and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, targets women entrepreneurs with green business ideas or existing green businesses in specific African countries, including Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Cameroon, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, and Togo.
- Aguka Ideation Programme: In collaboration with the UNDP Rwanda and the Rwandan Ministry of Youth and Arts, this programme aims to support young Rwandan entrepreneurs between the ages of 18-30 with business ideas, offering seed capital of $3,000 to develop innovative concepts into viable businesses.
TEF’s Impact
Since its founding in 2010, the Tony Elumelu Foundation has provided training to 2.5 million young Africans through TEFConnect and disbursed over $100 million in direct funding to more than 21,000 African entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs have collectively created over 800,000 direct and indirect jobs and generated over $4.2 billion in revenue.
The foundation’s focus on nurturing African entrepreneurship continues to drive significant impact across the continent, supporting business growth, job creation, and economic empowerment.
