Tony Elumelu champions youth entrepreneurship across Africa, advocates for investment over aid

With a burgeoning youth population estimated to be one half of the world’s youth by 2,100, and the highest entrepreneurship rates across the globe – where over 20% of working-age Africans launching new businesses and more than 75% of young people intend to start one within the next five years – it is within this landscape of ambition and potential that Africa’s path to development and prosperity lies.

Yet, despite this promising entrepreneurial fervor, the continent’s youth demographic grapples with systemic challenges. Joblessness persists as a significant concern, exacerbated by limited access to basic infrastructure and the escalating impacts of the global climate crisis.

These challenges underpinned our Founder’s trinational mission; to drive awareness and ignite conversations aimed at fostering partnerships, urge collaborative action to tackle the multifaceted challenges hindering the potential of young African entrepreneurs, and drive meaningful change on a global scale.

Mr. Elumelu’s journey kicked off on Monday, May 13, with a private roundtable co-hosted by him and Badr Jafar on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Global Healthcare Week, in the vibrant capital city of the United Arab Emirates. In attendance were senior government officials, business luminaries, philanthropic trailblazers, as well as four Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs from Tunisia, Mali, Cameroon, and Kenya, all united in the Foundation’s commitment to fostering entrepreneurship across Africa and the Middle East.

Sharing her success story at the Tony Elumelu Foundation roundtable session, Maureen Amakabane, 2017 #TEFAlumna from Kenya stated, “I received the US $5,000 seed capital from the Tony Elumelu Foundation in 2017 and with this capital, I had an idea to create dignified for schools in Kenya because we lack toilets. Even as we speak today, schools are having difficulties opening in Kenya as a result of the flooding and one of the hard hit infrastructure is toilets. With the seed capital from the Tony Elumelu Foundation, I was able to visit 73 schools in Kenya to understand their sanitation problems and we installed 10 toilets in each school.”

Continuing the momentum, on Wednesday, May 15, in the bustling metropolis of London, our Founder hosted Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Programme, at an intimate cocktail session. Here, key stakeholders in the United Kingdom’s development sector came together to highlight the pivotal role of entrepreneurial activity in fostering economic growth and stability. In acknowledging the impact of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Cindy McCain lauded Mr. Elumelu as a visionary and humanitarian.

She remarked, ” There are not very many visionaries or very many people that really can wear the tag of humanitarian, but you do both. This is so important because a true humanitarian understand that its not about the people, although it affects the people. It’s about making sure that everyone is equal and has food, shelter, medicine, clothes and education and that’s what you do and thank you for that. Thank you for giving hope to so many people.”

Our Founder’s journey culminated on Friday, May 17th, at the B7 Summit in Rome, Italy, where he shared insights and recommendations focused on enhancing the potential of talents and skills in the labor market, among other thematic macro-priorities. “Africa does not need aid. Africa needs investments to catalyse economic prosperity and development on the continent”, our Founder stated, as he stressed the need to invest in the immense talent, energy, and ambition present on the continent.

Central to our Founder’s trinational journey was the overarching message that Africa’s future prosperity hinges upon harnessing the immense potential of its youthful population, and through the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we have empowered young entrepreneurs, providing them with the resources and opportunities to transform their communities and drive progress across Africa.