HighLife
As 2021 eases to a close and we prepare to welcome the new year, it must be said that women have felt both the scalding heat of human nature and its soothing coolness. But, thanks to agencies and organizations like the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), the year is ending on a positive note for some women. 3,369 women would each receive TEF’s non-refundable seed capital of $5,000.
Tony Elumelu, the Nigerian economist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist has made his mark on the world. From running one of the biggest financial institutions on the African continent to steering one of the biggest empowerment foundations, TEF, the man’s vision for the economy of Africa is vast and overwhelming, starting with youths and women.
During the most recent TEF entrepreneurship program, Elumelu and his team trained 1.5 million young Africans across the continent. The course content revolved around setting up and scaling businesses for maximum value, profit, and effect on the economy in general. To set them off, TEF empowered each of these 5,000 Africans with a jaw-dropping $5,000 that is N2 million to serve as the beneficiaries’ seed capital.
Even bigger than this gesture is the fact that 68 per cent of the beneficiaries are women. In other words, 3,369 women will start the new year with N2 million in their accounts waiting to be used for impactful business.
The figures are striking, especially since it all comes very close to N7 billion. That excludes the funds that went to the remaining 32%. Even so, it demonstrates Elumelu’s seriousness regarding Africapitalism which requires active inclusive education, empowerment, and development.
For Elumelu and company, as well as his wife, Awele Vivian Elumelu-a champion of female entrepreneurs in Africa, this is just a step in the right direction. To be so trusted and entrusted with that magnitude of seed capital, these women are nothing but elated. Undoubtedly, a new economic transformation is underway, and these women will be the captains commandeering the business industries on the African continent.
