Applications For Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme Close March 31

<p><em>Applications for Tony Elumelu entrepreneurship foundation&comma; which opens to all African entrepreneurs with business ideas from across all 54 African countries&comma; closes March 31<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that the Tony Elumelu Foundation &lpar;TEF&rpar;&comma; Africa’s leading philanthropy dedicated to empowering African entrepreneurs&comma; will close applications for the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme on its TEFConnect digital platform &lpar;www&period;tefconnect&period;com&rpar; on March 31&period; This year’s intervention prioritises the economic recovery of small and medium scale enterprises &lpar;SMEs&rpar; and young African entrepreneurs&comma; following the Covid-19 disruption to economic activities&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;This is contained in a statement signed by Omede Odekina&comma; Head&comma; External Relations&comma; United Bank for Africa Plc and made available to OpenLife&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;In the statement&comma; the foundation stated that the Entrepreneurship Programme will empower over 3&comma;500 young African entrepreneurs in collaboration with global partners&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Accordingly&comma; this would address the unique challenges arising from the pandemic&comma; lift millions out of poverty and create sustainable employment across the continent&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The Tony Elumelu Foundation&comma; which celebrated ten years of impact in 2020&comma; is empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs&comma; through the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Successful applicants receive a world-class business training&comma; mentorship&comma; non-refundable seed capital up to &dollar;5&comma;000&comma; and global networking opportunities&period; The Programme is open to entrepreneurs across Africa&comma; both new start-ups and existing young businesses&comma; operating in any sector&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;According to the Director of Partnerships &amp&semi; Communications at the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">Tony Elumelu Foundation<&sol;a>&comma; Somachi Chris-Asoluka&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Africa’s growing&comma; and active youth population must take advantage of this opportunity and apply for the programme before the 31st of March&comma; as their full participation will create a pathway to economic prosperity&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This year&comma; we have the capacity to empower more African entrepreneurs than ever&comma; further ensuring that they have adequate training&comma; funding and mentorship to boost their performance&period; It is time for young African entrepreneurs to embrace this much-needed support system to enable thriving and sustainable economic activity&period; We believe we will continue to see exponential change in sectors across the continent&period;”<br &sol;>&NewLine;The Tony Elumelu Foundation’s &dollar;100million Entrepreneurship Programme&comma; launched in 2015 to empower 10&comma;000 entrepreneurs over 10 years&comma; is now entering its 7th year and has empowered to date&comma; over 9&comma;000 young African entrepreneurs from 54 African countries&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;As applications for the programme closes March 31&comma; prospective applicants should apply on the digital networking hub for African entrepreneurs&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;tefconnect&period;com&sol;">www&period;tefconnect&period;com<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;