Apply for Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme TEEP 2016

The 2^nd edition of the $100m Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme TEEP 2016 for emerging African Entrepreneurs has been announced by Tony Elumelu Foundation.

The business plan competition started in 2015 and is an annual business grant competition targeting entrepreneurs in Africa. 1000 African entrepreneurs are selected and are given $5,000 each.

ABOUT TEEP

TEEP, the flagship programme of The Tony Elumelu Foundation, is a $100m initiative to support emerging entrepreneurs across Africa over 10 years, aiming to generate a projected $10bn in revenues for the Continent and one new million jobs for its citizens.  The 2015 round drew over 20,000 applicants from 51 countries and has created partnerships with entrepreneurs, the private sector and governments across Africa and internationally.

The first edition saw 1000 entrepreneurs selected from 51 African countries and were given $5000 each:

• In 2015, TEEP empowered 1,000 African entrepreneurs, selected from over 20,000 applicants, with start-up investment, active mentoring, business training, an entrepreneurship boot camp and regional networking across Africa.

• Entrepreneurs, with an average age range of 21-40, from 51 African countries completed the programme and received $5,000 in seed capital for their start-up businesses.

• The Tony Elumelu Foundation invested a total of $4,860,000, including $1,405,000 in agriculture; $410,000 in education and training; and $365,000 in manufacturing.  The sector-agnostic programme funded start-ups across a further 20 industries, all based in Africa.

TEEP opens for entries at 00:00am WAT on 1^st January 2016 and will accept applications until midnight WAT on March 1st, 2016.  To be eligible, entrepreneurs must complete the online application form with questions on their background, experience and business idea, plans for growth and proposed pan-African impact.  Further guidance and application procedures can be found on the online portal: http://TonyElumelufoundation.org/TEEP.  Applications are reviewed by an Advisory Board of distinguished African entrepreneurs.

“I set out to institutionalise luck with the Foundation and give back to the Continent that made me”, said Tony O. Elumelu, the serial entrepreneur investor and philanthropist, who established the Tony Elumelu Foundation in 2010.  “Entrepreneurship can chart a new course of development for Africa, with Africans taking responsibility for wealth creation, creating value adding businesses here in Africa and this is why I encourage applications from across the Continent, regardless of age, gender, religion or colour.” TEEP is driven by Elumelu’s philosophy of Africapitalism, which calls for the African private sector to focus on long term investments that create social and economic prosperity in Africa, and take the lead role in Africa’s transformation.

In addition to directly supporting African entrepreneurs with “Empowerment Capital”, the Tony Elumelu Foundation uses data gathered to conduct research and advocate for policy improvements to the enabling environment. Earlier this year, the Foundation released a report titled “Unleashing Africa’s Entrepreneurs: Improving the Enabling Environment for Start-ups”, which includes insights based on the most comprehensive and diverse data set on African entrepreneurs ever compiled.

The Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme is open to citizens and legal residents of all 54 African countries.  Applications for 2016 open on 1^st January and can be made by any for-profit business based in Africa in existence for less than three years, including new business ideas.

Application Deadline

TEEP opens for entries at 00:00am WAT on 1^st January 2016 and will accept applications until midnight WAT on March 1st, 2016.

To Apply

Visit http://TonyElumelufoundation.org/TEEP

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