Entrepreneurship
|
Business
Executive Governors, Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Nigeria, Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State and Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State; Chief Operating
Officer, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Abimbola Adebakin, with the Kaduna State based Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs at a meet-up session hosted by His Excellency,
Governor El-Rufai as part of his focus on promoting entrepreneurship in the state.
A cross section of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs at the TEEP Bootcamp
MD/CEO, UBA Tanzania, Mr. Demola Ogunfeyimi having a chat with the TEEP
beneficiaries from Tanzania
DMD, UBA Ghana, Usman Isiaka (3rd left) and other UBA staff with the
Ghanaian beneficiaries of TEEP during their visit to UBA Ghana Head Office
in Accra
July - September 2015 •
The Lion King
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built on our technology platform to facilitate B2B trade.
The TEEP 2015 will graduate to become TEEP Alumni in
November, thus completing their annual programme cycle.
In addition, we have used our convening power to connect
the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs to local government minis-
ters, policy makers, incubators, investors and to each other.
We have held these meetings in Cote d’Ivoire, Kaduna,
Mali, Senegal, Zambia, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, South
Africa, Cameroon, Benin Republic and Congo over the past
four months. We are in the process of setting up Alumni
Country Chapters in the 51 African countries, led by the
Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs. At the request of Minister for
Entrepreneurship, Cote d’Ivoire and Governor of Kaduna,
Nigeria, we are in the process of replicating the TEEP model
with both.
In its first year, the Programme received over 20,000 applica-
tions from across 52 countries of the continent from which
1000 entrepreneurs emerged from 51 countries. Nigeria,
Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and South Africa make up over 70%
of the selected pool of 2015 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs.
Agriculture, Education, Retail, Manufacturing, ICT and
Energy are amongst the top ten sectors and account for
80% of the 1000 businesses we are supporting. Women
formed 30% of the 2015 cohort, while youth (18 – 35 years)
make up 80%. Our selected businesses came from a range
of development stages; early development (29%), Growth
(21%), Idea (24%), and Market Entry (24%).
With TEEP we have pioneered an innovative programme
and financing approach to accelerate job creation and
wealth generation for and by Africa’s demographic asset.
In the words of the Founder and Chairman, Mr Tony Elumelu,
“I strongly believe entrepreneurship is the one solution to
Africa’s poverty and unemployment challenge. As African
stakeholders, we must do our part to foster a culture of self-
reliance and empowerment through an entrepreneurial
revolution where young businesses play a crucial role in the
African economy.”
We thank all the UBA branches across Africa, that have pro-
vided us with much needed support and we look forward to
continuing to work with them to champion the next genera-
tion of African entrepreneurs as they identify unique gaps
in the market for specific products and services, tap into
strong local networks, and create innovative and disruptive
solutions to complex challenges.
*
Parminder Vir OBE
is the Chief Executive Officer of Tony Elumelu Foundation.
For further information about the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme,
please visit:
