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TEF announces training programme for $100m fund

By on June 27, 2015

The Tony Elumelu Foundation says the inaugural training session for the first set of participants in the $100m Entrepreneurship Programme will commence next month.

The Founder, TEF, Mr. Tony Elumelu, who stated this at a news conference in Lagos, said the private sector held the key to Africa’s development.

The training, called the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme Boot Camp, will feature 1000 emerging entrepreneurs selected from the 36 states in the country and 51 countries in Africa.

“We hope The Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme can catalyse and encourage other African business leaders to empower emerging entrepreneurs. If we all come together with requisite resources we can make a significant difference,” Elumelu told journalists in Lagos.

A thousand entrepreneurs selected from over 20,000 applicants from all over Africa are expected to converge on Nigeria for the two-day boot camp session.

According to him, this will be the maiden boot camp of the TEF entrepreneurship programme, a $100m Pan-African entrepreneurship initiative.

He said the boot camp, which is a major milestone of the foundation’s programme would see an interaction between established entrepreneurs from different sectors of industry, and the 1000 selectees of the TEEP.

Elumelu, who has been vocal about entrepreneurship-led development and the push for a private sector-driven turnaround of Africa, said, “In empowering these emerging entrepreneurs, we are providing the capital, the networks, the training and support for them to drive economic and social transformation throughout Africa, providing solutions to its problems as well as securing their future and that of generations to come.”

In the build-up to the boot camp, the TEF has engaged the emerging entrepreneurs in a 12-week online training programme that culminates in the planned two-day session, according to a statement by the TEF.

“The boot camp format will be predominately plenary style sessions from speakers with proven track record in business and leadership; the entrepreneurs will participate in sessions including an open mic with Mr. Tony Elumelu and other captains of industry,” the statement added.

The Chief Executive Officer, TEF, Parminder Vir, highlighted the importance of the training.

She said, “We are excited to be pushing the envelope and providing a springboard for this set of emerging African entrepreneurs to take over the world with their innovative ideas, beginning from their local communities.

“At the end of this boot camp, we want them to have come, seen and be transformed into full-fledged entrepreneurs and ambassadors for Africapitalism.”

 

 

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