The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has announced that applications are now opened for its 2025 Entrepreneurship Programmes.
The Africa’s leading champion of entrepreneurship application opened January 1, 2025 and would be on till March 1, 2025, and applicants are encouraged to complete and submit their applications well ahead of the deadline.
The 2025 Entrepreneurship Programmes is an opportunity for aspiring and existing entrepreneurs across Africa to apply for a chance to receive world-class training, expert mentoring, and non-refundable seed capital funding to scale their businesses.
The Foundation in a statement stated that the flagship TEF Entrepreneurship Programme is open to all entrepreneurs across Africa with innovative business ideas or existing businesses not older than five years.
“This year, there is a special emphasis on businesses leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and green initiatives. Applicants must be at least 18 years old,” the statement stated.
The programme also opened for the IYBA-WE4A Entrepreneurship Programme.
“Launched by the Tony Elumelu Foundation in partnership with the European Union (EU) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), IYBA-WE4A stands for Investing in Young Businesses in Africa – Women Entrepreneurship for Africa and is exclusively for women entrepreneurs with green business ideas or existing green businesses in Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Cameroon, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, and Togo. Applicants must be at least 18 years old, with businesses not exceeding five years in operation,” it explained on IYBA-WE4A Entrepreneurship Programme.
For the Aguka Ideation Programme, the statement made available to THISDAY explained: “The Aguka Ideation Entrepreneurship Programme is a partnership with the Tony Elumelu Foundation, UNDP Rwanda and the Rwandan Ministry of Youths and Arts to support young Rwandan entrepreneurs between 18 -30 with business ideas with a seed capital of $3000, with the aim of nurturing and developing innovative concepts into viable enterprises.”
Applications are to be submitted through TEF’s proprietary digital hub, TEFConnect.
On eligibility, “the programme is open to African entrepreneurs with scalable business ideas or existing businesses not older than five years. Applicants must be at least 18 years old.
“To learn more about the TEF’s transformative work and the success of our African entrepreneurs. Applicant can explore: impact report, which highlights the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s achievements and contributions to Africa’s economic growth; African Entrepreneurs’ Success Stories, showcasing the inspiring journeys of Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs and annual reports that offers insights into the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s strategies and outcomes,” the statement added.
Since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the Foundation has provided up to 2.5 million young Africans with access to training on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed over $100 million in direct funding to over 21,000 African women and men, who have collectively created over 800,000 direct and indirect jobs, and generated over $4.2 billion in revenue.
