Inspiring a new generation of African entrepreneurs and leaders

For the second year running, the Tony Elumelu Foundation is selecting 1,000 Africa’s aspiring entrepreneurs as fellows of its entrepreneurship programme. Founded in 2010 by Tony Elumelu, Chairman of UBA Group and Heirs Holdings, the Tony Elumelu Foundation is a foremost African philanthropic organisation which believes that the private sector holds the key to unlocking Africa’s economic potential. 

With a mission to catalyse economic and social development in Africa through entrepreneurship, the foundation has three core focus areas. These include empowering entrepreneurs through capacity development, seed capital, mentoring and networking; promoting thought leadership on entrepreneurship through advocacy and evidence-based research as a guide for policymakers across African governments; and achieving the creation of an integrated entrepreneurial ecosystem that promotes African entrepreneurship.

Meanwhile, for those who may not know, the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s programmes and activities are structured around four cornerstones, the flagship of which is The Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) which is based on 7 Pillars, a 12-week start-up enterprise toolkit training programme, online mentoring, digital resource library, meet-ups, the Elumelu Entrepreneurship Forum, seed capital funding and the Tony Elumelu Alumni Network.

Now, bringing together 1,000 young African entrepreneurs from no less than 51 countries to Covenant University for a two-day boot-camp of intensive business-training, panel sessions on entrepreneurship, leadership lectures, networking opportunities and inspirational speeches from special guests and leaders like Vice President Yemi Osibajo and Bishop David Oyedepo, is by no standards a mean feat or achievement. In fact, it is unprecedented. Yet, this was what the Elumelu Foundation accomplished for Nigeria in July 2015 as part of activities for the first round of the programme.

As you’re reading this, another ‘lucky’ 1, 000 young African entrepreneurs are already getting set to take part in the second round of the programme. In an open letter he wrote to Africa’s aspiring entrepreneurs published in THISDAY on March 21, Elumelu recalled how as an entrepreneur himself, he yearned for a lifeline, hoped for a big break, and looked forward to enjoying some luck in business. He explained that he owes his success today to a mentor who believed in him and was ready to invest in his talents and bet on his future.

Hear him: “I am unashamed to share that I owe part of my success to someone that believed in me, and was prepared to invest in my talents and bet on my future. It is for this reason that the Tony Elumelu Foundation decided to institutionalise luck and democratise access to opportunity, to empower more entrepreneurs, to build sustainable businesses that eventually contribute to the economic transformation of our continent.”

Now, aside Elumelu’s foundation, there’s also the Ignite Africa Leadership Foundation founded by Kola Oyeyemi, a general manager in telecoms giant, MTN, and a former President of Advertisers’ Association of Nigeria (ADVAN); the umbrella body of advertisers in Nigeria. Meanwhile, Oyeyemi is also Senior Pastor of a young and vibrant Church in Lagos, the Chapel of Uncommon Grace, and author of ‘Kill or Get killed, The Marketing Killer Instinct,‘ a highly-regarded book on marketing.

Oyeyemi’s Ignite Africa Leadership Foundation, like the Tony Elumelu Foundation, is also passionate about the youth although its primary area of intervention is in education; specifically, reading. The foundation is intent on raising a new generation of ‘Can Do’ Nigerians empowered with knowledge, a high sense of responsibility, love for country and the fear of God, while teaching them the values and virtues of hard work.

In a country like ours where there have been successive final secondary school examination failures betraying a basic lack of reading skills and the love for reading, the implication of these is the embarrassing year-on-year failure rate amongst young school leavers that is sometimes as scandalously high as 80% in some instances. Unfortunately, despite the gravity of the situation, not much attention and devotion is paid to addressing this critical matter.

In spite of the clear national apathy, Ignite Africa is trying to do its own part by working to reverse this trend through establishing book clubs in schools, making free books available for members, and fostering the love of reading in youths by teaching them reading skills. It is also providing ‎guidance and mentoring via reading coordinators and has even established a first-of-its-kind online library facility, www.igniteafricalibrary.org. 

Currently, the foundation has over 60 book clubs across Lagos and Rivers states and hosts the annual ‘Readers R Leaders Destiny Walk’ through which Oyeyemi brings together a group of eminent Nigerians, celebrities and technocrats from different sectors like telecoms, banking, media and entertainment, to raise awareness and revive the reading culture among the populace. I’m aware that the foundation, earlier this month, opened a well-stocked physical library in Oregun-Ikeja area of Lagos as it works to keep the dream of wiping out illiteracy and reversing failure rates alive. Of course, the importance and urgency of an initiative like this cannot be over-emphasised.

Interestingly, although Oyeyemi is a man with a good sense of humour, he puts all jokes aside when discussing issues relating to Nigeria and especially the critical challenge of leadership which is also prevalent in other African countries. Try to engage Oyeyemi in a rigorous conversation about Nigeria and he will tell you that once upon a time in this country, “we were a nation where people come from outside to hire our own people, now we are the ones going outside to hire people to do the jobs that Nigerians are supposed to do.”

And he gives you instances. Verifiable instances! Hear him: “For middle management jobs, we go to hire Indians; for low level jobs, we go to Cotonou. So, what happens to the exploding population of Nigerians? We are growing at a fast rate and not developing. If we keep quiet and do nothing about this, we will soon be having a population of illiterates who will turn against government, turn against themselves and the whole country will be in flames.”

But such dangerous scenario, Oyeyemi insists, can be prevented if we do the right thing. “Let us revive this reading culture, get our young people to read again, not just read, but to read the right books that would expand their minds and horizon and build them up to be leaders that this nation deserves.”

Now, who will argue with such type of argument? Personally, I wholeheartedly believe initiatives as those of Elumelu and Oyeyemi not only help to advance nations but also help to inspire a whole continent and generations. Despite the good intentions of both the Tony Elumelu Foundation and the Ignite Africa Leadership Foundation, I think both foundations can achieve and make greater impact with more funding and support. And that is why I want to encourage individuals and corporate organisations with some extra cash to spare out of their profits or fortunes to embrace and support very sensible initiatives as these ones.  The youth are our future. No investment in them is too much.

And there is no doubt that the patriotic and selfless efforts of the leaders behind these two foundations highlighted in this piece deserve great commendation and emulation. However, while it is true that the private sector holds the key to unlocking Africa’s economic potential, the point must not be missed that African governments also have critical roles to play especially in the areas of enacting effective laws and policies that will advance education, support business, drive commerce, widen opportunities, create jobs, stimulate growth, engender development, and generate wealth.

Therefore, to all the African youth who are being given this opportunity to take part in the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP), my charge to you is to make the best of it. You are one of the lucky 1, 000 to have been selected out of about 45, 000 of you who applied. Don’t ever take the chance for granted. Maximise it. Be ready to learn and get better. Continue to believe in your vision and pursue it. All things are possible. You can be the next Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Tony Elumelu, Ibukun Awosika, Mark Zuckerberg, John Momoh, and others.

To you young entrepreneurs, whose applications didn’t sail through, don’t be discouraged. Never lose confidence in yourself and your ideas. Continue to push them and don’t ever lose hope or faith. Your country, Africa, and the world need you to win. You can’t afford to quit or let your generation down.

And finally, to Elumelu, Oyeyemi and all other successful leaders who are taking the bold steps of grooming and inspiring a new generation of African entrepreneurs and leaders even at great personal costs and expense, here’s wishing you more grace, more power, better clarity of vision, and greater future successes as you aim to replicate more success stories in the lives of the younger generation and leave your indelible footprints for posterity.