80% Of TEF-Supported Businesses Scale Beyond Early Stage, Elumelu Reveals As Foundation Unveils 3,200 Beneficiaries

Tony Elumelu says 80 percent of businesses supported by the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) scale beyond the early stage, as the foundation unveiled 3,200 new beneficiaries across 54 African countries.

The leading investor spoke on Sunday in Abuja as he marked his birthday and announced the 12th cohort of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, describing the journey as “a story of hope” built on deliberate investment in young Africans.

“For a long time, I believed luck was something that simply happened to you. Then I came to understand: luck can be engineered. Opportunity can be democratised. Hope is not just a feeling — it is a system we can build,” Elumelu stated.

The philanthropist noted that the foundation, which began in 2010 with a target of supporting 10,000 entrepreneurs, has now far exceeded that ambition.

“To date, the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme has disbursed over $100 million in seed capital to more than 24,000 entrepreneurs across Africa,” he said, adding that “80% of the entrepreneurs supported through our programmes have scaled beyond their early stages.”

The champion of commerce disclosed the impact of the initiative has translated into “over 4 million African households positively impacted,” “2.1 million Africans lifted out of poverty,” and “1.5 million jobs created,” with businesses generating $4.2 billion in revenue.

The Chairman of financial powerhouse, United Bank for Africa (UBA) added that the foundation has also provided training opportunities to millions, noting that “over 2.5 million Africans have been granted access to trainings.”

Announcing the new cohort, the frontline campaigner for shared prosperity across Africa said 3,200 entrepreneurs would receive funding, mentorship, and access to TEFConnect, the foundation’s digital platform.

The king of commerce highlighted the growing influence of women in entrepreneurship, revealing that “51% of the entrepreneurs selected this year are women,” stressing that the outcome was “purely by merit and not by quota.”

“Across thousands of applications, women stood out, through the strength of their ideas, the clarity of their business models and the ambition of their vision,” he said, adding that “when opportunity is accessible, African women do not simply participate — they lead.”

Elumelu further revealed that the foundation’s work reflects a broader philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions entrepreneurship as a driver of the continent’s economic transformation.

“Africa’s greatest resource has never been oil or gold. It has always been its people,” he said, noting that the initiative has helped shift the continent’s development narrative “from aid dependency to partnership.”

Meanwhile, Bola Ahmed Tinubu congratulated Elumelu on his birthday, describing him as “an African business icon and a leading advocate of Nigerian and African enterprise.”

The president commended his “resilience, the excellence that governs his entire enterprise, and his steadfast belief in Africapitalism,” noting that his contributions continue to shape Africa’s economic landscape.

Tinubu also praised the foundation’s entrepreneurship programme, saying it “has so far trained 2.5 million young Africans across 54 countries and empowered over 24,000 budding African entrepreneurs with non-refundable seed capital of $5,000 each.”

“As a strong supporter of youth investment,” the president said he “particularly lauds the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s entrepreneurship programme,” adding that it plays a key role in driving inclusive growth.

Elumelu, however, maintained that the work is far from over, urging the new beneficiaries to seize the opportunity.

“We did not choose you because your journey was easy — we chose you because you kept going when it wasn’t,” he asserted, declaring “Now, let us transform our continent together.”