The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has announced plans to reveal the 12th cohort of its flagship Entrepreneurship Programme on Sunday, March 22, 2026, marking another milestone in its mission to empower young African business leaders.
The 2026 edition of the programme attracted over 265,000 applications from all 54 African countries, highlighting both the continent’s thriving entrepreneurial spirit and the growing demand for early-stage funding. According to the Foundation, key sectors of interest among applicants include agriculture, artificial intelligence, healthcare, and the green economy.
This year, TEF will support a total of 3,200 entrepreneurs through various partnerships. These include 1,751 beneficiaries funded by the Heirs Holdings Group—comprising Heirs Energies, Transcorp Power, Transcorp Hotels, and United Capital. Additional entrepreneurs will be supported through collaborations with global institutions such as the European Commission, Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), German Agency for International Cooperation, Sèmè City Development Agency, DEG, IKEA Foundation, UNICEF, the Dutch Government, United Nations Development Programme, and the Rwandan Ministry of Youth and Arts.
The selection process is being handled by Ernst & Young to ensure transparency and rigorous evaluation.
Each successful entrepreneur will receive a non-refundable seed capital grant of $5,000, alongside access to business training on TEFConnect, mentorship, and entry into a broad network of investors and business partners.
Since its inception, TEF has trained over 2.5 million young Africans through its digital platform and disbursed more than $100 million in funding to over 24,000 entrepreneurs. Beneficiaries of the programme have collectively generated $4.2 billion in revenue and created over 1.5 million jobs, while lifting more than 2.1 million people out of poverty and impacting over 4 million households. Notably, 46 percent of supported entrepreneurs are women.
Founder of the Foundation, Tony Elumelu, reaffirmed his belief in the power of entrepreneurship to transform Africa’s economy.
He stated that Africa’s future lies in the hands of entrepreneurs who can build businesses, create jobs, and address the continent’s challenges, adding that empowering them remains the most sustainable path to economic growth.
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The Foundation urged stakeholders and the public to save the date and join the announcement event virtually.
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