Lagos, Nigeria – January 1, 2025 – The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Africa’s leading champion of entrepreneurship, is pleased to announce that applications for its 2025 Entrepreneurship Programmes are now open. Aspiring and existing entrepreneurs from across Africa are invited to apply for a chance to receive world-class training, expert mentoring, and non-refundable seed capital funding to scale their businesses.
Table of Content- TEF Entrepreneurship Program
- Benefits of TEF Entrepreneurship Program
- Requirements for TEF Entrepreneurship Program
- Selection Process
- Application Deadline
- How to Apply
TEF Entrepreneurship Program
| Application Deadline | March 1, 2025 |
| Type | Entrepreneurs |
| Sponsor | Tony Elumelu Foundation |
| Gender | Men and Women |
Benefits of TEF Entrepreneurship Program
Seed Capital:
- The Selected Entrepreneurs from the Pitching Competition will be notified via email.
- Disbursement of the Seed Capital will be made via electronic transfer into the Selected Entrepreneurs’ Business Bank Account. Banking and other charges may apply and shall not be borne by the Foundation. The total amount received may therefore be less than US$5,000 equivalent.
- TEF Partner funded entrepreneurs will receive seed capital in line with the partner commitments and this will be communicated in due course to Programme Participants who will be funded by partners.
Requirements for TEF Entrepreneurship Program
- The Programme is open to all citizens of the Selected Countries (as defined) who are 18 years or older. The submitted age of all Applicants must be supported by government-approved means of identification.
- All applications must be for a green business idea or a business that is for profit, focused on one business area only, and must be the original idea of the Applicant.
- The Business or Business Idea must not be for an illegal or unethical purpose.
BeGreen Africa Programme: This programme is open to entrepreneurs with green businesses in Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa, as well as waste management businesses in Kenya. For existing businesses, registration must not exceed five years at the time of application. Applicants must be between 18 and 35 years old.
The following categories of persons are not eligible to apply:
- Employees from the Tony Elumelu Foundation, companies within the Heirs Holdings (HH) Group, affiliates of HH and their Immediate Family Members either individually or as part of a Business.
- Employee of companies affiliated to the Tony Elumelu Foundation who have been involved in the creation or administration of the Programme and their Immediate Family Members.
- The Promoter’s consultants, agents and companies affiliated with the Tony Elumelu Foundation (and employees and Immediate Family Members where the consultants and agents are companies) involved in the creation and administration of this Programme.
- Research institutions, faith-based organisations, government agencies and Businesses not located in Africa will not be eligible to apply for the Programme.
Selection Process
The Programme is made up of the following stages all of which form the Programme cycle:
Verification & Onboarding:
- Applicants will be verified and onboarded by the Promoter. Verification will involve the submission of required documents by the Applicant in order to enable the Promoter to ascertain the state of the Business or Business idea as well as the identity of the applicant.
- Successful Applicants who do not meet the verification requirements will be removed from the Programme and notified of removal via email.
- Successful applicants who meet the verification requirements will be enrolled in the TEF Business Management Training programme.
- Unsuccessful Applicants will be directed to take the TEF General Business Training on TEFConnect and will be eligible to reapply for other TEF Programmes.
Business Plan Preparation & Submission
- Programme Participants who have completed the TEF Business Management Training Programme will receive a business plan template to develop a business plan document for review and assessment. This review and assessment will be based on relevant metrics including feasibility and sustainability. Programme Participants must submit their Business Plans by the required deadline to be eligible for consideration for the next stage of the programme.
- The top scoring Programme Participants from this stage will be notified via email and will proceed to the Pitching Competition stage.
- Any Programme Participant who does not complete this stage of the Programme within the prescribed timeline or is not successful at this stage will be removed from the Programme and notified of removal via email.
Pitching Competition:
- Top scoring Programme Participants shortlisted from the business plan stage will participate in the Pitching Competition where they will pitch their business plans to a panel of judges physically or submit their pitch videos to the Promoter.
- Top scoring Programme Participants from the Pitching Competition will be selected based on predetermined selection criteria and will be eligible to receive the Seed Capital.
- Programme Participants who are not selected from the Pitching Competition to receive the Seed Capital will be notified via email and will be categorised as TEF Trainees.
- Any Programme Participant who does not complete this stage of the Programme will be removed from the Programme and notified of removal via email.
Application Deadline
March 1, 2025How to Apply
Interested and qualified? Go to Tony Elumelu Foundation on tefconnect3production.azurewebsites.net to applyThe application form consists of four parts:
- Personal information
- Business information
- Cognitive assessment
- Declaration section
To ensure a transparent application process, all applicants will need to have a valid government issued ID and indicate their name on the application form on TEFConnect exactly as it appears on the ID card.
Contact: For further assistance, please email .
For more details, visit TEF webpage