The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) will host its fourth annual Entrepreneurship Forum in Lagos, Nigeria on October 25, connecting over 5,000 entrepreneurs with investors, corporates and developmental organisations.
The event, which takes place at the Federal Palace Hotel, will help attendees generate ideas and forge networks, as well as bring policymakers and the private sector together.
The 1,250 entrepreneurs that make up the 2018 cohort of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme, as well as mentors and partners, will be present, as the culmination of their intensive twelve-week induction programme.
In keeping with the foundation’s track record of bringing politicians face to face with African entrepreneurs – most recently with President Macron of France – the forum will include an interactive session with President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, moderated by TEF founder Tony Elumelu.
It will also feature the launch of the TEFConnect, a digital platform for African entrepreneurs, dedicated to connecting African entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
“In just four years, we have directly impacted 4,460 entrepreneurs, and we are beginning to see the results – job creation, ripple effects, but most importantly a recognition that Africa’s economic well-being is driven by entrepreneurs: female and male, large and small – they are the engine of our continent’s transformation,” said Elumelu.
“We will be championing and celebrating them. This year, we are truly achieving scale and impact; we received over 150,000 applications in 2017 alone, up from 20,000 applications in 2015. We are now calling on the current generation of African success stories and others to partner with us to see how we can all further create impact, genuinely transform millions of lives and increase the number of inspiring stories we will be hearing in Lagos.”
