There is a new $6 million strategic partnership pact with United Arab Emirates (UAE) Office of Development Affairs and Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation (an affiliate of Erth Zayed) to empower additional 1000 young African entrepreneurs by the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF).
The benefiting entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries will receive business training, mentorship, access to networks, and non-refundable $5,000 seed capital from TEF and its partners.
The agreement, signed at the World Governments Summit, by TEF Founder, Tony Elumelu, and the Director General of the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, Mohamed Haji Al Khoori, showed both organisations’ shared commitment to fostering economic empowerment and entrepreneurship across Africa.
Through this partnership, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation will leverage the TEF’s expertise and execution ability in catalysing entrepreneurship through the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme, which has pioneered business management training, mentorship, and capital funding for African entrepreneurs.
The Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, a distinguished philanthropic organisation, affiliated with Erth Zayed, has a long-standing commitment to humanitarian and developmental projects, focusing on education, healthcare, economic empowerment and enterprise development.
According to Elumelu, empowering entrepreneurs is not just a moral imperative, but also a strategic investment in Africa’s future.
He said that by providing the necessary access to capital, mentorship, and resources, the partners will be are unlocking the potential of Africa’s entrepreneurial talent, eradicating poverty, driving self-reliance, and paving the way for inclusive growth and prosperity on the continent.
“This partnership between the Tony Elumelu Foundation and the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation not only reflects our shared vision of empowering Africa’s next generation of business leaders, but will also create a ripple effect of economic transformation across the continent”, Elumelu stated.
According to statement from TEF, since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the Tony Elumelu Foundation has provided up to 2.5 million young Africans with access to trainings on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed over $100 million in direct funding to more than 21,000 African women and men, who have collectively created over 1.5 million direct and indirect jobs.
