Billionaire philanthropist and Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings, celebrated his birthday on Sunday by unveiling the 12th cohort of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme. The initiative supports thousands of young African founders, providing funding, mentorship, and business training.
In a post on his X handle, Elumelu reflected on his philosophy of creating opportunities, stating that “luck can be engineered” and “hope is not just a feeling; it is a system we can build.” He emphasised that the entrepreneurs were selected for their resilience and determination rather than an easy path.
“To our new Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs: this is your moment. We did not choose you because your path was easy. We chose you because you kept going when it wasn’t,” he said. Elumelu encouraged the cohort to transform Africa, noting that the continent’s greatest resource is its people, not its natural wealth.
This year’s intake expands to 3,200 entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries, selected from over 265,000 applications. Each entrepreneur will receive a non-refundable seed grant of $5,000, totaling $16 million in direct funding, along with comprehensive training, mentorship, and access to TEF’s pan-African network.
Elumelu and his wife, Awele Elumelu, co-founder of the Foundation, officially launched the new cohort, reiterating their commitment to fostering opportunity and certainty for young African entrepreneurs despite global uncertainty.
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