Sunday, March 22, 2026, has been fixed for the unveiling of the 12th cohort of the flagship TEF Entrepreneurship Programme of the Tony Elumelu Foundation.
Business Post gathered that over 265,000 applications were received from all 54 African countries, all vying for a share of the $16 million to be disbursed by the organisers this year. They will join the TEF Alumni community of more than 24,000 entrepreneurs.
Each selected Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur will receive $5,000 in non-refundable seed capital, access to world-class business management training on TEFConnect, one-on-one mentorship, and entry into a powerful network of investors, partners, and other entrepreneurs.
It was learned that this year, the organisation will empower about 3,200 entrepreneurs across all its entrepreneurship programmes, with 1,751 through Heirs Holdings Group: Heirs Energies, Transcorp Power, Transcorp Hotels, and United Capital; 1,049 in partnership with the European Commission, OACPS, BMZ and GIZ; 100 in partnership with Sèmè City Development Agency; 200 entrepreneurs in partnership with DEG, the German Development Agency; 100 entrepreneurs in partnership with the IKEA Foundation, UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited and the Dutch Government; and 100 entrepreneurs in partnership with UNDP and the Rwandan Ministry of Youth and Arts.
The selection process is conducted by Ernst & Young, ensuring an independent and rigorous assessment of applicants.
“The future of Africa will be built by Africans who create businesses, generate jobs and solve the challenges of our continent. At the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we believe that empowering entrepreneurs is the most sustainable path to Africa’s economic transformation.
“I look forward to announcing and congratulating the 2026 cohort of Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs and look forward to witnessing the impact they will create across our continent,” the founder of the programme, Mr Tony Elumelu, said.
Since its inception, TEF has empowered over 2.5 million young Africans with access to business management training on our proprietary digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed over $100 million in seed capital to more than 24,000 selected entrepreneurs.
Collectively, these entrepreneurs have generated $4.2 billion in revenue and created more than 1.5 million direct and indirect jobs.
TEF has also lifted 2.1 million Africans above the poverty line, and positively impacted more than 4 million African households, with 46 per cent of supported entrepreneurs being African women.