The program is intended to help up to 10,000 budding African entrepreneurs to develop their ideas into sustainable businesses. The foundation plans to provide 1,000 entrepreneurs a year –starting this year– for the next 10 years with seed capital of $5,000 and additional returnable capital of up to $5,000. By making half of the money returnable, Elumelu hopes to encourage program participants to develop a sense of responsibility. While at the launch of entrepreneurship programme, the Foundation reaffirmed their excitement towards receiving the next big ideas in Africa. “The opportunity and challenge in Africa is scale – in our people, our resources and our horizons,” said Tony Elumelu at the launch of the programme. Applications can be submitted online, and are accepted in English, French or Portuguese. 1,000 startups will be selected, with the successful applicants to participate in a comprehensive training programme, which is designed to prepare the entrepreneurs to build successful businesses capable of adding value. Who is Tony Elumelu? He is also a renowned philanthropist; his Tony Elumelu Foundation sponsors several charity efforts in Nigeria and across the continent while his Africapitalism Institute studies the rise of capitalism in Africa. Image via cgi.org
