The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) and Google have announced an inaugural Google.org Fellowship to provide one million additional Africans with access to the TEFConnect platform, which offers entrepreneurs access to tailored tools, market partnerships, coaches and investors.
The announcement was made during an event held at the TEF headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria, which was attended by several African political and business leaders. This partnership is the first Google.org Fellowship in Africa, and will see nine full-time Google employees, including software engineers, UI/UX researchers, and policy experts, work with the foundation to design and build an upgraded version of the TEFConnect platform.
TEFConnect is already home to over one million African entrepreneurs and offers tailored tools, market partnerships, and access to coaches and investors to small businesses.
“We are pleased to continue to share our unique ability and platform to identify, train, mentor and fund young entrepreneurs across Africa with like-minded institutions like Google.org who share in our commitment to empower young African entrepreneurs. It will be exciting to see the ways in which the refreshed TEFConnect platform will continue to provide a space for growth, personal development, and meaningful exchange for African entrepreneurs,” said the co-founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Dr Awele V Elumelu.
Jen Carter, global head of technology at Google.org, said she was delighted to kick off its first Google.org Fellowship in Africa.
“The Tony Elumelu Foundation does so much to empower African entrepreneurs, and we are thrilled to be able to lend the expertise of Googlers to expand the reach of the TEFConnect platform,” she said.
