This archive report was first published on 5 August 2019.
Kenyans among entrepreneurs to get funding, training under Elumelu plan ¶
On August 5, 2019, the Tony Elumelu Foundation announced that it had selected 3,050 entrepreneurs from 54 African countries to receive $5,000 in seed capital and training.
Among the beneficiaries were 113 Kenyans, who will benefit from the foundation's Entrepreneurship Forum, which was held in Abuja, Nigeria.
The entrepreneurs will receive $5,000 (Sh500,000) in seed capital for their ventures and training, with the aim of spurring economic growth on the African continent.
The foundation, which was started by Nigerian billionaire and philanthropist Tony Elumelu in 2015, received about 216,000 applications this year, with around 10,170 applications making it to the evaluation stage.
Startups in the agriculture sector benefited the most, with 26.4 percent getting the funding, followed by the fashion sector with 13.6 percent and retail at 9.1 percent.
Healthcare, identified as pivotal to the continent's growth, was represented by only 3.8 percent, while other sectors included ICT (7.6 percent), manufacturing (6.2 percent), media and entertainment (4.9 percent), professional service (4.1 percent), and hospitality (2.6 percent).
This year, 42 percent of the beneficiaries were female entrepreneurs, with around 69.2 percent of the applications coming from urban areas and 30.8 percent from rural areas.
Since the forum was started five years ago, 7,521 beneficiaries have received seed capital of $5,000 each and have access to mentoring and training.
Mr. Tony Elumelu, founder of the foundation and United Bank of Africa (UBA) chairman, urged other private sector players to take an active role in empowering entrepreneurs to eradicate poverty and create more opportunities for young people.
“Extremism is a product of poverty and joblessness. Poverty anywhere is a threat to everyone everywhere,” said Mr. Elumelu, who urged governments to put in place policies that would increase partnerships with the private sector to solve problems such as unemployment the continent faces.
His sentiments were echoed by the President of African Development Bank Akinwumi Adesina, who said, “African governments should shift from youth empowerment to youth investment. Lenders should start seeing young people as an asset and not a liability.”
Majority of the applications came from Nigeria (112,455), Kenya (5,247), and Uganda (3,993), with most of the applications coming from the sub-Saharan Africa region.
Speaking to journalists after the forum, the chief executive of the foundation Ifeyinwa Ogochukwu said as from next year they will involve more partners in the region to increase applications.
The Western Africa region was leading with 1,758 startups winning the competition followed by Eastern Africa with 773.
Southern and Central Africa regions got 346 and 146 beneficiaries respectively.
Giving a keynote speech at the forum, Vice President of Nigeria Yemi Osinbajo commended Mr. Elumelu for the effort he was making in uplifting young entrepreneurs “who struggle to realise their dreams”.
“By birthing this particular intervention, Tony Elumelu has compelled us to focus on what really matters, our youth and their dreams. The message to Africa’s emerging business giants is a clear one: How and what can you contribute, like Tony Elumelu,” he said.
