World leaders, entrepreneurs celebrate Tony Elumelu at 60

You have changed the narrative for us about who an African entrepreneur is and you have proven that a single individual through philanthropic efforts can effect change. For those doubters out there from all the success story you have heard from my fellow alumni before me is proof that Africapitalism works

Emmanuel Ukudolo l Thursday, March 23, 2023

LAGOS, Nigeria – Born exactly 60 years ago, Mr. Tony Elumelu is today a household name in the global community. Besides, employing thousands and impacting businesses globally through the United Bank for Africa Plc and Heirs Holdings, his latest baby, he has been able to touch lives, especially the downtrodden, who are hardly given the chance even when they have the best ideas to drive productivity and economic development, through the Tony Elumelu Foundation, TEF.

It is no wonder that world leaders, including former President of the United States, Mr. Bill Clinton and President Muhammadu Buhari joined entrepreneurs to celebrate Tony Onyemaechi Elumelu (TOE), who made the Time magazine 100 most influential people around the globe in 2020.

Till date, TEF, which was founded in 2010 has invested nearly $100 million in empowering Africans, through the concept of Africapitalism, predicated on the belief that Africa’s private sector can and must play a leading role in the continent’s development.

“Africapitalism is a call-to-action for businesses to make decisions that will increase economic and social wealth and promote development in the communities and nations in which they operate” Such a decision, TOE believes will ultimately help businesses become more profitable as the communities they serve become healthy, with better-educated employees, and even entrepreneurs who go on to become suppliers and service providers.

“Africapitalism means we cannot leave the business of development up to our governments, donor countries, and philanthropic organizations alone. The private sector must be involved in the business of development”, TEF said online.

TEF is today a leading philanthropy empowering young Africans in 54 African countries, through its entrepreneurship programme launched in 2015.

Today is your birthday, sir, some of us have come here out of curiosity to see the man that would invest about $100 million of his hard earned money in us without anything in return not even votes, we have  also come to thank you for believing in us, we say this that as we leave here to our various home, as alumni pioneer, we leave with renewed commitment to think Africapitalism, live Africapitalism and act Africapitalism because only in that way that  we will we be giving you a present that will last long beyond you life time. Be rest assured your dream is alive

The foundation has funded over 18,000 entrepreneurs across 54 African countries, in the process empowering millions with means of livelihood.  In 2021, 400,000 entrepreneurs applied, over 200,000 were shortlisted for training, 89,000 successfully made it to the business plan stage, 24,000 were shortlisted for the pitching competition, and finally 5,000 entrepreneurs were selected for seed capital funding of $5000 each.

Each year the foundation, opens application, now running on the TEF website  https://tefconnect.net encouraging African entrepreneurs to apply and get empowered.

Selected applicants receive a non-returnable seed capital of $5,000 each. The impact of this programme has resonated far beyond the African continent.

For beneficiaries of the TEF entrepreneurship programme, there couldn’t have been a better way to show appreciation than to come together to tell their stories in Lagos and to personally meet and celebrate the man, they never knew but who has done so much for them and to celebrate him at 60.

The event was held at the state of the arts UBA headquarters in Lagos. There were testimonies of success from across the African continent –  from Nigeria to Kenya, Mali to Ghana and even Francophone countries, it was good news all the way.

The event kicked off with musical rendition anchored by a flutist, who deployed his skill rending popular songs dedicated to a day like this to put the celebrant in the best of mood. It was followed by Deji Ige, a poet,  who in very deep poetic invocation captured the journey of the celebrant and titan, he called ‘Lion Heart’. It was a moment of deep reflection for Tony Elumelu as he relishes this beautiful creative works.

For the poet, TOE is the Araba, the Iroko that offers hopes to many. He said TOE’s razor sharp vision has guided men across Africa into a journey of success, calling him one of a kind, putting meals on the table of strangers.

He ended his poetic invocation, by describing TOE as a shining light in a dark tunnel. “Men are born, men are made but a few are molded in furnace of greatness. For your sake, Africa can beat her chest and say I have raised a legendary son of the soil, a fortune maker, who dedicates his life to raising fortune makers as the pedestal on which the Africa of our dreams can stand.

“On its wings, daughters and sons of Africa can rise beyond limitations, so their heads will touch the sky and their feet will go places…. Fear not where the road may lead, rest assured, your exploit is written in the sand of time and your honour ceaseless forever”.  He went on and on as he received his well deserved standing ovation and applause from all in attendance.

Then entered, the delectable CEO of TEF, Somachi Chris Asoluka who requested alumni from across African region to step out and tell their success stories.

Firing the first salvo is Aduba Sare, a very successful poultry farmer from Ghana. Ten years ago, she was considered a high risk having been trained as an artist, peering too deep into areas of human resources management.   In 2018, her father offered his backyard where she started her dream poultry business, raising about 300 chickens. Two years after, she applied for TEF and was selected.

“My poultry farm was producing 2000 eggs every week, after the training from TEF and receipt of seed capital of $5000 in 2021, we now produce about  12,000 eggs per week. We have employed 6 fulltime staff all paid regularly. We also have over 20 casual staff”, she told the very elated gathering.

Sammer Irene from Cameroon is the founder of Remmy Food Enterprises, providing semi-solid food for babies. She is excited having the chance to stand before TOE and appreciate him for changing the story of her life.

She was doing things locally and manually from home but after her selection by TEF, she went corporate, got production machines installed and her revenue moved up from almost nothing  monthly to thousands of dollars and hundred of thousands of dollars.

The training she received from TEF has provided needed exposure. For one, she was present at the Inter Africa Trade Fair conference in South Africa and was also selected for  the Women in Entrepreneurship programme in Africa. She is having good reason to thank TOE,  “you gave us hope”.

Young Clement, from Cameroon is founder CSS International , a consultancy outfit for environmental science. He set up the outfit when he lost his job and was working from home. But he found it difficult to get contracts on his areas of specialization since he was not licensed to work in his area of specialisation. He was selected by the foundation and was trained on negotiation skills. With the seed capital, he obtained his license  and secured a contract with the  Dangote group  and other multinationals, helping to manage the  impact of their waste on the environment. He currently has an office space with six permanent staff in addition to casual workers.

Michael Theo, who graced the celebration from Liberia  calls TOE the Lion of Africa. He is the CEO of Manila Farmers Incorporated, which started in 2015 without an office space and therefore not attractive to bank facilities.

He applied to the foundation and went through training. “The training made us attractive because we learned how to prepare business plans and manage human resources. With the seed capital, we have invested into milling rice and selling to World Food Programme, WFP.

“We sold 60 metric tons of rice to WFP in one year, we were also attracted to Solidarity Africa, and we established huge oil palm industry and supplying government of Liberia. We also won a grant from UNDP to produce cereals for  farmers. We also supplied 100 metric tons of rice to the ministry of agriculture in Liberia”, he said.

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Temitayo Johnson Olaleye is a 20 year old Nigerian and founder TJL Signature, an accessory brand. Before applying to TEF, she was  more or less a confused student who just wanted to make money. She applied but she was not selected in the first year.

 “But applying for the first and second time helped me to streamline my work, find my purpose by putting sustainability into my process. The second time, I was not selected until the third application”, she said, adding that not being selected for the first and second time helped her to be resilient.

She currently makes things from recycled products. “Today TJL Signature has changed over 2000 girls and women in underserved community. We taught them skills we used in producing our accessories. I have also received 25 under 25 CEO awards because of our contribution to youth empowerment”, adding that she has expanded service reach to Ghana, United Kingdom and the United States earning foreign exchange from abroad.

Gloria from Congo is into fashion and style. She was selling fabrics on Facebook. But in 2018, she received seed capital from TEF and was able to stock and provide professional tailoring services. She is thanking TEF for teaching alumni to be resilient.

 Monica Demigo is the CEO of Demitros  Zambia Ltd. She benefited in 2019 and now employs 21 young men and women taking care of their families as bread winners.

“We have gained confidence as a result of the training and we have been able to sign new contract”, she said.

Sadiq Badamosi is CEO Soaplink. He is into laundering services, which he started in 2019 with 50 CFA franc capital from his mother. He had no machine and could not afford any staff  until 2021  when he was selected.

That  same year, his brother was equally lucky and was also picked. With the seed capital from TEF, he has been able to buy more materials. He now has office space and recruited more workers. He is now able to defend business plans as a result of the training, adding that sales have tripled. “This would not have been possible without TEF. Thank you for all you are doing for Africa. Because we rise by lifting others, May God raise you up the more”, he prayed.

Linda Mili from Kenya is co-founder Dilapad.  She is working with her partners to ensure that girls get uninterrupted education in Kenya.  “We had a meeting to stop absenteeism in school girls but we had no money. In 2018, we applied and got the grant of $5000 seed capital, we have now moved from Idea stage to a registered company.

“We employed a mechanical engineer to help us with our product so that we could impact our girls and have data to back it up. Now we have impacted 35,000 girls to go to school without fail through dilapad dispensers.

“During COVID in 2020, we could not work we went back to the drawing board to bring in another revenue stream relying on the teaching from TEF. We got into Women Entrepreneurship for Africa programme, and we got selected into the accelerator and growth stage and we got funding to the tune of $40,000. At the end of this year we have impacted 105, 000 school girls who will go to school  and break that circle of poverty.

“Our message from Dilapad is that you have shown us what democratizing luck can do for wealth creation  in Africa and you have gone before us and we are going to trail-blaze you and democratize access for every school girl in Africa and for the thousands of girls who sent us here, we say thank you”, she said.

There were also messages from Francophone African countries all testifying to the goodness of the foundation in their life. Ama from Togo said  as a tailor she was able to sew for just few people due to lack of resources. But with the seed capital she has been able to  get an office, and now has three workers helping her to create international and afro-centric designs.

Judas from Burkina Faso is into Information Communication Technology, ICT.   In 2018, he took part in a digital event, won third prize but could not get the fund until he came in contact with TEF in 2020. He was selected and got the seed capital.

“The training helped us to fathom solution  for what we do today.  We were able to register our business. We were able to  employ five people and today we have been able to raise out capital to about $60,000. We have created solution that has been very useful to restaurants and other places of recreation. I want to say thank you to TOE. This is what we need in Africa”.

Ayodele Onye, from Benin Republic is an alumni of TEF 2019. He is into financial literacy and financial empowerment. “ We have trained more than 2000 entrepreneurs. Last year we raised $1.5 million dollars to finance 1800 business, today we are champions in five countries. Government has invited  us to share our business model and to raise more funds. In fact many banks now come to us because we have the champion in our portfolio.

Ama Harris, a  2021 TEF alumni arrived Nigeria as a Liberian refugee in 2020 but with the help of the foundation, she now provides learning programme for people with low income in underserved community.

“Before coming into contact with TEF,  there was no light were we were operating  in the rural community and it was difficult for teachers to understand our learning concept, but with the funding from TEF, we  were able to digitize our education services, we purchased projector, generator and TV  etc. to bring phonics programme to life. We have taught phonics to over 5000 students in our community; we  have employed 25 teachers and we have been open in the past five years. You have changed the narrative for us about who an African entrepreneur is and you have proven that a single individual through philanthropic efforts can effect change. For those doubters out there from all the success story you have heard from my fellow alumni before me is proof that Africapitalism works.

“Today is your birthday, sir, some of us have come here out of curiosity to see the man that would invest about $100 million of his hard earned money in us without anything in return not even votes, we have  also come to thank you for believing in us, we say this that as we leave here to our various home, as alumni pioneer, we leave with renewed commitment to think Africapitalism, live Africapitalism and act Africapitalism because only in that way that  we will we be giving you a present that will last long beyond you life time. Be rest assured your dream is alive”, she said.

Seun Adekunle is a Nigerian, who first heard of the concept of creating shared values made popular by Michael Potter  in 2011 at the Lagos  Business School.

“In 2011, the Tony Elumelu Foundation came to Lagos business school in search for MBA students willing to partner with local entrepreneurs. After a week of training, I walked into the hall and met Professor Michael Potter, a professor of Competitive Strategy at Harvard sitting with Tony Elumelu”, he said, adding that Tony Elumelu remains a man who puts money where his heart is. “Thank you for transforming yourself from a Nigerian CEO to a Global Icon”. He added,  “Not many will get a letter from world leaders on their  60^th birthday. He also thanked his wife, Dr. Awele Elumelu  for loaning TOE to the world.

In a video message, former President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton wished him the best on his 60^th birthday.

“I  wish you happy 60^th birthday”, he said, thanking him for the  amazing work he has accomplished through his foundation in the 6^th decade.

“You are raising generation of entrepreneurs across Africa, thank you for your friendship and unwavering belief for a better tomorrow”, Clinton said.

In his message, President Muhammadu Buhari  said Tony Elumelu has brought  honor and pride  to Nigeria, and Africa, with his achievements, lighting the way for many to grow through inspiration, mentorship and training, with focus on raising generation of entrepreneurs.

The president said Elumelu’s benevolence typifies his humble background and upbringing, starting out as a young banker, daring to dream of a modern and technologically friendly financial institution, Standard Trust Bank, and leading one of the biggest mergers with the UBA, which made history and strengthened the economy.

He commended the combination of  his youthfulness in style, broadness in networking, with both old and young, and the passion in pursuing and realizing dreams that the entrepreneur continually projects, graciously guiding others to nurture their business ideas to reality, especially in meeting societal needs and rendering value.

“As the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Transcorp and Tony Elumelu Foundation clocks 60, the President joins family members, particularly his wife, Dr Awele Elumelu, in thanksgiving to God for all the resourcefulness and impact, with brighter future ahead.

President Buhari prays for long life, good health and wisdom for the Humanitarian activities”, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina said in a statement, conveying the president messages.