The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF)

About the organization

The Tony Elumelu Foundation is the leading philanthropy empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, driving poverty eradication, catalyzing job creation across all 54 African countries, and ensuring inclusive economic empowerment. Since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the Tony Elumelu Foundation has provided up to 2.5 million young Africans with access to trainings on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed over US$ 100 million in direct funding to more than 21,000 African women and men, who have collectively created over 1.5 million direct and indirect jobs. With its strong ability to reach entrepreneurs across diverse regions and industries, the Foundation has forged innovative partnerships with leading global institutions, including the European Union (EU), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the US Government via the United States African Development Foundation (USADF), the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), the French Development Agency (AFD), the German Development Finance Institution (DEG), the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and Google. These collaborations have enabled the Foundation to develop bespoke programs, particularly focusing on women’s empowerment and economic growth in fragile states.