The first cycle of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) has been completed, with the first 1,000 entrepreneurs having received their seed capital of US$5,000 and completed their online business skills training programmes.
TEEP was launched in December last year by the Tony Elumelu Foundation with a target of creating one million new jobs and US$10 billion in additional revenues in the process.
Over 20,000 applications were received for the programme from 52 countries, with TEEP in March announcing the first 1,000 entrepreneurs selected to take part in the initiative to discover and support 10,000 African entrepreneurs over the next ten years.
The first cycle has now been completed, with the entrepreneurs completing a 12-week online business skills training programme with mentor support. In July, all 1,000 entrepreneurs participated in the TEEP Bootcamp in Lagos, while they have also now all received the initial seed capital investment of US$5,000.
Parminder Vir, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, said she had travelled across Africa with Tony Elumelu to meet with TEEP entrepreneurs in countries including Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, Zambia, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, Cameroon, Benin Republic and Congo.
“We are setting up Alumni Country Chapters and Networks in 51 African countries and replicating the TEEP model in Ivory Coast at the request of Minister for Entrepreneurship and Kaduna, Nigeria at the request of Governor of Kaduna,” she said.
