Deadline: March 1, 2017 | Apply here
Eligibility: Business must be 0-3 years’ old, based in Africa and be for profit. Applicants must be at least 18 and a legal resident or citizen of an African country

Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme 2017

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Africa’s largest business incubator is now accepting applications from African entrepreneurs, with business ideas that can transform Africa.

Successful applicants will join the third cycle of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, TEF’s 10-year, $100 million commitment to train, mentor and fund 10,000 African entrepreneurs in every African country.

Since inception in 2015, the Programme has assisted nearly 2,000 entrepreneurs and created hundreds of jobs across the continent.

Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme operates with the belief that entrepreneurship and business skills are teachable and learnable. This is why they have devised a 12-week programme to equip startups with the basic skills required to launch and run their businesses at the early stage of their growth.

The programme will be a mix of online and face-to-face instruction, including webinars and video tutorials with support from your mentor throughout. It will cover topics on starting and scaling a business, business development, marketing strategy, effective management and product design.

Mentoring

The importance of mentoring cannot be overemphasised, especially for early stage startups. They are a vital part of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) and will be selected for their expertise, passion and alignment to the programme vision and mission.

TEEP will assemble world-class mentors from across Africa and internationally who faced similar challenges and can steer TEEP startups along this tumultuous path.

Mentors will also benefit from collaborative learning and by helping start-ups, they may be inspired with new ideas, new business strategies and learn more about the realities of doing business in Africa from African startups.

Online Resource Library

Start-ups, alumni and mentors of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Programme (TEEP) will have access to the curated online resource library of case studies, sample business plans, research documents, video presentations, industry articles and podcasts that will enhance the competitiveness of TEEP startups, accessible from anywhere in Africa. All course content and training materials used at the boot camp will also be cross-linked with the training modules, accessible on the online resource library.

Meet-ups

These are TEEP networking events hosted by members of TEEP alumni, with a representative of the Foundation present, to create opportunities for knowledge-sharing and collaboration and development of ideas and business alliances.

Objectives of meetups are:

• For the Founder (or representatives of the Foundation) to meet and engage with the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs in that region/country/state
• To communicate key programme information, to get feedback from the entrepreneurs which may contribute to the improvement of the overall programme coordination
• To connect entrepreneurs with key government stakeholders in their country/region/state to understand their challenges and needs for the promotion and facilitation of entrepreneurship in that region
• To provide further physical industry-specific training and mentorship
• To enable the entrepreneurs to meet one another, explore potential partnerships and possibilities for collaboration
• To inaugurate official alumni chapters in the region/country/state

TEF entrepreneurship forum

TEF will host an annual TEF Entrepreneurship Forum to showcase the African startup to a global audience of entrepreneurs, incubators, business, corporations, government, investors, academia and foundations. It will be a time of engagement, networking, learning and inspiration for start-ups as they conclude their TEEP tenure, and a chance to hear from world-renowned executives, scholars and entrepreneurs.

Seed capital funding

The African startups that successfully complete the 12-week programme with the support of their mentors and attend the two-day TEF Entrepreneurship Forum will be awarded a non-returnable investment for further development of their business idea. Tony O. Elumelu, the Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP), will present the investment cheque, at the close of the three-day conference.

TEEP startups will be continuously monitored on both a portfolio and individual basis as we evaluate the startups for follow-on funding and beyond. The qualifying startups that have progressed their business plans sufficiently will each qualify for a second stage seed capital investment of $5,000 that will be provided as returnable capital.

TEEP Alumni Network

The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) is a year-long programme in which selected start-ups each of go through a 12-week training course, develop a rapport with a mentor and build the business. Graduation in December of each year marks the end of the programme and one might wonder, “what next?”

Benefits of the 7 Pillars of TEEP

The combination of all of TEEP’s modalities; the online live-learning support, web mentoring, immersive boot camp, resource library, global entrepreneurship forum, seed funding and membership of the alumni network provides a unique system of intensive and effective support for the start-ups.The end outcome being strong viable businesses, which go on to create new jobs, more new revenue and ultimately enlarge Africa’s private business sector.

The end outcome being strong viable businesses, which go on to create new jobs, more new revenue and ultimately enlarge Africa’s private business sector.

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