By NDUMBE BELL GASTON
The Tony Elumelu Foundation, a traditionally private sector driven philanthropy, has selected 2,100 youth-based entrepreneurs out of an estimated 81,000 online applications from 7 Sahel countries such as Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Mali. Following the list, 248 youth entrepreneurs from Cameroon are to benefit from the package, The SUN has gathered.
According to sources, the selected will now join the broad-based TEF flagship programme and have automatically qualified for funding ranging from U.S.$ 1 500 to U.S.$5000 taking into consideration the size of the business.
UNDP rep (L) and TEF (R)5
This project whose selection process is said to have started calling for applications in July 2019 and ended with what UBA describes as a pitching competition in the 7 countries, is what is called the Tony Elumelu Foundation in partnership with United Nations Development Programme (TEF-U.N.D.P.). The programme targets small businesses in rural communities of this zone within the TEF wider framework of “empowering 100,000 entrepreneurs over 10 years across Africa to economically empower young African entrepreneurs, create millions of jobs and revenue in Africa”, and eliminate poverty.
At the signing ceremony between TEF and UNDP that ended recently in Niger in the presence of Founder of TEF, Ahunna Eziakonwa, UNDP Regional Director for Africa, the Regional Director declared, “Youth employment and economic empowerment are critical for the socio-economic transformation of the Sahel. The sheer size of applicants, 81,000 for the TEF-UNDP Entrepreneurship Program demonstrates an urgent need to scale up. The regeneration of the Sahel is a key priority for UNDP. We will continue to prioritise initiatives that break down barriers to attaining the full potential of the Sahel and bring closer to home, the hope for productive lives for Africa’s youth”.
The CEO of TEF, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu later declared “creating opportunities and giving young Africans hope for a brighter future will reduce poverty, extremism and illegal emigration in Africa. This is why at the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we forge partnerships to enable us to reach more youths and scale our impact to convert the impending demographic doom to economic boom on the continent”.