To all of Africa’s aspiring entrepreneurs,
I commend your courage and determination to build a business in the face of constraints that inhibit the viability of your startup and significantly threaten its survival.
Last year, over 20,000 of you participated in a series of surveys we conducted to ascertain the key challenges you faced as you doggedly pursue your entrepreneurial endeavours. The results are revealing – 87% of you shared that you had no access to seed capital; 80% still sought business mentors after years of searching; 90% desired additional training especially in business management and accounting to build capacity; and 93% longed to be part of a network of entrepreneurs for support, encouragement and prospective partnerships. Despite the restricted availability of the aforementioned support systems, you continue to strive to transform your idea to reality, to convert your dreams to flourishing enterprises.
As an entrepreneur like yourself, I know what it feels like to yearn for a lifeline, to hope for a ‘big break’, to look forward to enjoying some luck. I am unashamed to share that part of my success is owed to someone that believed in me, and was prepared to invest in my talents and take a bet on my future. It is for this reason that the Tony Elumelu Foundation decided to “institutionalize luck” and democratize access to opportunity, to empower more entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses that eventually contribute to the economic transformation of our continent.
On January 1st 2015 when the Tony Elumelu Foundation launched the application portal for the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) to identify, fund, train, mentor and provide networking opportunities to 1,000 African entrepreneurs, the media hailed TEEP as “unprecedented”, “first-of-a-kind”, and a little too “audacious”. A few critics labeled our intent as “unachievable” because we were attempting to roll out at such a gigantic scale! But little did they understand the potential of Africa’s new generation of entrepreneurs – your ingenuity, your hunger for excellence, your dedication to results and your boundless capacity to constantly innovate.
In our first year, 1000 entrepreneurs from 51 countries were selected covering all of Africa’s geopolitical regions – North, East, Southern, Central and West Africa – and major language blocs – Anglophone, Francophone, Lusophone, and Arabic Africa. As a result of this diversity, TEEP has fostered cross country partnership and networking amongst African entrepreneurs and potential business collaborations for success.
Last week on my Facebook page, I shared the story of a #TEEPWoman making great strides in business – Agboneni Isazoduwa – a female mechanic and founder of Neni’s Garage in Lagos, a one-stop shop for car care needs. Neni’s Auto Care Garage is the first automobile repair workshop to partner with the global taxi service, UBER, in Lagos. In this capacity, she will handle professional vehicle inspections for over 4000 cars in the UBER Lagos network. As the father of five daughters, it is inspiring to see women like Neni thrive in a business environment that often isolates women entrepreneurs.
The week before, Gabino Guerengomba, a #TEEP entrepreneur and CEO of Integrated Solar Technologies (IST) from the Central African Republic, signed a USD 80 Million MOU with the Benin Government to provide electricity to 10 rural areas across the country. In Gabino’s own words, “We are on pace to become the very first TEEP start up in Africa to generate USD $100 Million in revenue.” Tazania’s Elia Timotheo, CEO of East Africa Fruit Farm and Company, which trades and markets fresh fruit and vegetables in order to significantly reduce post-harvest losses, has just bagged the African Entrepreneurship Award for the best business idea in the Environment category.
These success stories I have outlined are by no means exclusive to only the three entrepreneurs listed above. They simply serve as living case studies to illustrate a much wider wave of accomplishment that encompasses the entire inaugural class of TEEP. In the most popular sector – agriculture – our just over 300 agricultural entrepreneurs have reported creating nearly 15,000 casual and part time jobs.
As I have travelled across Africa to meet with TEEP entrepreneurs in their countries including: Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, Zambia, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, Benin Republic, Congo, Gabon, Egypt and Zimbabwe as well with TEEP entrepreneurs in Nigerian cities – Lagos, Calabar, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Kaduna, I am both humbled by their stories and invigorated by their passion.
It has been twenty-five years since my mentor, Chief Ebitimi Banigo, and the board of AllStates Trust Bank appointed me as branch manager of the Port Harcourt city branch, though I was only 26 years old at the time. Chief Banigo trusted in me then just like I am trusting in you now. Are you up to the challenge?
If you are ready to join Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs to transform Africa, apply to TEEP now before applications close tomorrow (MARCH 1) midnight.
Yours,
TOE