How entrepreneurs are transforming Africa

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June 28, 2016 2:01 PM

The Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs Programme (TEEP) was founded in 2015 by businessman, investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Tony Elumelu.

Elumelu is Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Transcorp Plc., Heirs Holdings and founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation; he was recognized by Forbes as one of Africa’s most powerful 20 people.

According to Tony Elumelu, “Africa is a land of opportunities. People in Africa are so warm, so embracing, so friendly, and they want the best things in life as their counterparts in Asia and America and Europe. From my investments, there is nowhere that yields the kind of returns on investments as what I make in Africa”

The Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme was launched on January 1, 2015 with a decade-long commitment of a whopping 100 Million Dollars to grow 10, 000 African entrepreneurs. 20, 000 applications were received from 52 African countries, and 1000 participants were selected.

The Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs go through the seven pillars of TEEP which are:

- Start-up enterprise toolkit- Mentoring- Online resources- Bootcamp- Elumelu Entrepreneurship Forum- Seed capital funding- Alumni network

On the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme and the entrepreneurs themselves and his dream for Africa, Elumelu says he dreams of an Africa that is “a land of plenty, a land where there is no more poverty, income per capita is good. Poverty, inequality is low, unemployment is single digit or almost nonexistent. An Africa where there is no extremism, an Africa where we’re not fighting, an Africa where we have self-confidence and above all, an Africa where there is self-sufficiency. An Africa that can feed itself, and feed the world. That is my dream, and I believe that the seed we plant today through the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme will help to develop Africa in the future.”

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