36 Tanzanians nominated for Tony Elumelu Foundation programme
By Mnaku Mbani
A total of 36
Tanzanian entrepreneurs have been nominated among 1,000 African
Entrepreneurs selected for the 2017 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme. They
join 2,000 alumni from the 2015 and 2016 rounds.
The selected
entrepreneurs wrote their business ideas on agriculture and agricultural
business, manufacturing, waste management, fashion, education and training,
consultancy and commercial/ retail activities.
According to a statement issued by TEF, all nominated people are a diverse
group of emerging business leaders -- over 93,000 entrepreneurs across 55
countries in Africa applied, more than doubling the number of applications
received in 2016 (45,000) and quadrupling the number received in 2015 (20,000).
32% of all applicants were women, up from 36% in 2016.
It says, in the next
nine months, the 2017 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs will be trained and mentored
and will use the skills acquired to develop a business plan; after which they
become eligible to receive up to $10,000 in seed capital to develop their
business concepts.
Agriculture is the sector young African entrepreneurs see as cool with 29% of applicants proposing agriculture ventures; followed by, ICT (11%) and manufacturing (9%). Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Cameroon produced the most applicants.
Tony O. Elumelu, the founder of the programme says “Standing here today to announce the successful applicants is bittersweet. There are 92,000 aspiring entrepreneurs who have been unsuccessful. These young African men and women have demonstrated passion, innovation and creativity in their applications and we should not relent until we help them ALL realize their aspirations. I call on other well-endowed Africans and friends of Africa, to support us to do more.”
Agriculture is the sector young African entrepreneurs see as cool with 29% of applicants proposing agriculture ventures; followed by, ICT (11%) and manufacturing (9%). Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Cameroon produced the most applicants.
Tony O. Elumelu, the founder of the programme says “Standing here today to announce the successful applicants is bittersweet. There are 92,000 aspiring entrepreneurs who have been unsuccessful. These young African men and women have demonstrated passion, innovation and creativity in their applications and we should not relent until we help them ALL realize their aspirations. I call on other well-endowed Africans and friends of Africa, to support us to do more.”
end
Maoni
Chapisha Maoni