He may have worked with world leaders, but now Nigerian billionaire investor Tony Elumelu is focusing on those yet to turn their business dream into reality. The chairman of pan-African investment company Heirs Holdings Limited has pledged $100 million to find and support 10,000 entrepreneurs throughout Africa.
Launched earlier this week, the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Program (TEEP) wants to help find and grow businesses who will contribute $10 billion in revenue across Africa over the next 10 years.
"I have always sought ways to help inspire a generation across our continent," said Elumelu. "[It is] my fundamental belief that entrepreneurs -- women and men across Africa -- will lead Africa's development and transform our futures."
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Driving entrepreneurship
It is this belief that led Elumelu to coin the term "Africapitalism" -- an economic philosophy "that the African private sector has the power to transform the continent through long-term investments, creating both economic prosperity and social wealth."
Entries are open to entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries and applications will be accepted in English, French and Portuguese. These will be reviewed by a panel of judges, tasked with selecting the 1,000 most promising startups each year. The chosen entrepreneurs will be given seed funding and 12 weeks of business skills training. They will also be put through their paces at an entrepreneurship "boot camp."
Among the judges are Ayodeji Adewunmi, the co-founder of the popular Nigerian job search site Jobberman, Opunimi Akinkugbe, CEO of African board game company Bestman Games, and Monica Musonda, chief executive Zambia-based Java Food.
As well as these business names, the initiative is also collaborating with big hitters from other sectors, like Vera Songwe, the World Bank country director for Senegal, Cape Verde, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania. "We must strive for entrepreneurial innovation in Africa," says Songwe, "and my participation in this program further promotes the World Bank Group's push for entrepreneur-led global development."
Africa brimming with entrepreneurs
The initiative's goal to nurture 1,000 entrepreneurs every year for a decade may sound ambitious, but research reveals Africa is a hotbed of entrepreneurial spirit. According to research conducted in 2012 by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, over 80% of people in Nigeria and Uganda see opportunities for starting businesses.
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