General News
Elumelu@ GEN-U Sahel, Says TEF Funded 10, 898 Entrepreneurs across Africa
Tony Elumelu, founder and chairman of Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), has said that the foundation has funded 10, 898 entrepreneurs across Africa, who have gone on to create further 400, 000 direct and indirect jobs across the continent.
Tony Elumelu, founder and chairman of Tony Elumelu Foundation
Elumelu, also chairman of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group and HEIRS Holding, who made the disclosure when he joined other world leaders to launch an initiative tagged, ‘Generation Unlimited (GEN-U) Sahel: A Leap For Sahel Youth,’ aimed at connecting Sahel’s young people to opportunities, noted that giving economic power to young Africans remained the only solution to the continent’s developmental challenges.
Elumelu explained that 65 per cent of people living in the Sahel region are less than 25 years of age and remain adversely affected by the pandemic, among other challenges, which has forced more than two million people to flee their homes with millions losing their major sources of livelihoods as resources are scarce and opportunities are limited leading to more tensions and conflicts in the region.
He said, “Empowering and investing in our people, especially our young ones in the Sahel to give them economic hope and opportunities is the only solution. This is what we believe in at the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) and we are happy that global partners also buy into this vision. As I have always said, poverty anywhere is a threat to all of us.”
Elumelu said TEF has provided over $5000 non-refundable seed capital per beneficiary, business training and mentoring for young entrepreneurs to scale their enterprises.
“We have funded 10, 898 entrepreneurs across Africa, these young Africans entrepreneurs have gone on to create further 400, 000 direct and indirect jobs across the continent,” he said.
“In 2019, we partnered with the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) to identify , train, mentor and fund 2100 young entrepreneurs in the Sahel region and these includes Northern Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad, Cameroun and Mauritania.
“Again in 2020 in the heat of the pandemic we partnered with UNDP to train 1860 young Malians which face a triple threats of conflicts , insecurity and poverty as well as loss of means of livelihood from climate change, through our interventions we are well able to create small businesses and generate economic pool in the youth; channeling their creativity and skills to transform the Sahel region.”
In his own remarks at the launch which held virtually, Alexander De Croo, Prime Minister of Belgium, said the young people from the Sahel would bring improvement and change needed in the region if given the opportunity.
He explained that among the many challenges facing young people two were more important and pledged to work with Nigeria in the field of digital space.
“First strengthening education systems from basic education to vocational training to supporting young people finding employment and addressing the lack of governance and political representation from young people,” he said.
Referred to as “Gen-U,” the Generation Unlimited initiative is aimed at maximising opportunities in the Sahel, towards equipping 100 million young people with the skills needed to thrive by 2030.
The Sahel region includes Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, The Gambia, Guinea Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal.
The initiative, which involves a huge partnership between the government, multilateral organisations, civil societies and private sectors from all over the world, was launched on Monday.
Mrs Amina Mohammed, UN official, who officially launched the initiative, said “the GenU Sahel is an especially important and urgent initiative as millions of people living in the Sahel face insecurity and serious challenges to sustainable development complicated by the devastating pandemic”.
She noted that “the Sahel is young with over 64 per cent of people under 25 and more than half are women and girls”.
“The United Nations stands with young people, the ongoing conversation between the United Nations and Young people of the Sahel launched under our integrated strategy for the Sahel are helping us to understand your priorities and hopes, so that we can integrate them into our support for the region.
“Young people’s few points and approaches are essential to making the Sahel peaceful, resilient and prosperous today and tomorrow. The security council resolution creating the UN integrated strategy for the development of the Sahel is focused on Women and Young people but it remains challenging to make tangible progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” she said.
Also speaking, Mr Moussa Faki said the African Union and UNICEF had made a commitment to intensify the initiative beyond this year, adding that the partnership is important in order to “federate synergy around the issues surrounding the young people”.
Jayathma Wickramanayake, UN secretary general’s Envoy on Youth emphasised on the need for inclusion for the success of the program, not only in the Sahel but around the world.
The launch also featured a panel session with young leaders and other speakers, which include Emanuela Claudia Del Re, EU Special Representative for the Sahel; Sanda Ojiambo, CEO & Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact; Cynthia Samuel-Olanjuwon, Assistant Director General & Regional Director Africa; and Argentina Matavel Piccin, Regional Director UNFPA West & Central.
Gen U was first launched at the 73rd United Nations General Assembly, in September 2018, as a global multi-sector partnership to meet the urgent need for expanded education, training and employment opportunities for young people, aged 10 to 24, on an unprecedented scale.
Generation Unlimited has generated interest from government and leaders from industry and other key sectors committed to cohere efforts around young people for large-scale impact.
The GenU Sahel will focus on the provision of relevant skills, opportunities for employment, entrepreneurship, and social impact for people in the Sahel region.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery is reportedly nearing completion of a $2.5 billion private placement that values the company at about $40 billion ahead of its planned public listing.
Private placement is the direct sale of company shares or bonds to pre-selected investors instead of the general public and it is used to raise money quickly while avoiding strict public reporting rules.
People familiar with the transaction said investors acquired as much as 6 per cent of the refinery, according to a BusinessDay report.
The reported terms would value the business at approximately $40 billion.
Neither Dangote Group nor the refinery has publicly announced the final amount raised, the identities of most subscribers or the precise percentage sold.
The figures should therefore be treated as transaction details supplied by unnamed sources rather than confirmed company disclosures.
The reported $2.5 billion total is nevertheless significant as it indicates strong demand for exposure to a privately controlled refinery that has rapidly become central to Nigeria’s fuel supply and an increasingly important exporter of petroleum products.
The placement was said to have attracted more demand than the available shares, allowing the company to secure substantially more than the amount initially associated with the fundraising exercise.
Femi Otedola, chairman, First HoldCo, is the only major participant publicly identified in the report.
He reportedly committed $100 million to the transaction and sold his investment in Geregu Power Plc to finance the acquisition.
Nigeria’s pension industry was also reportedly cleared to participate.
Access to more than $17 billion in retirement assets would broaden the refinery’s potential investor base beyond wealthy individuals and conventional institutional buyers.
Participation by Pension Fund Administrators would, however, require careful attention to valuation, liquidity and portfolio-concentration limits.
Retirement funds must balance the attraction of a large Nigerian industrial asset against their responsibility to protect contributors’ savings.
The implied $40 billion valuation represents investor expectations about the refinery’s future earnings rather than only the physical cost of constructing the facility.
Its ability to process 650,000 barrels of crude daily gives it a central role in supplying Nigeria and other markets, but its commercial performance remains connected to crude availability, product prices, exchange rates and regulation.
The refinery has struggled to obtain all the Nigerian crude it requires under the government’s naira-for-crude arrangement.
It has consequently purchased some feedstock internationally and recently moved local petroleum-product pricing into dollars to align sales revenue more closely with its foreign-currency expenses.
Those constraints will be important during any public offering.
Prospective shareholders will want greater clarity on crude-supply contracts, debt, operating margins, export revenue and the company’s relationship with Nigerian regulators.
It is also unclear whether the private placement involved newly issued shares, a sale by existing owners or a combination of both.
That distinction determines whether the reported $2.5 billion becomes fresh capital for the refinery or proceeds received by selling shareholders.
The transaction could provide a useful price reference for the planned initial public offering.
Federal government will next month launch Nigeria’s first national organized crime strategy to strengthen the country’s response to terrorism, cybercrime, human and drug trafficking, kidnapping, illicit financial flows, and other forms of organized crime.
Major General Adamu Laka, national coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre under the Office of the National Security Adviser, disclosed this in Abuja during the validation of the strategy document.
He said the strategy provides a coordinated national framework for tackling organized crime through improved intelligence sharing, stronger collaboration among security agencies, and closer cooperation with the criminal justice system, civil society organizations, and international partners.
Major General Laka explained that the document was developed through a partnership involving the Federal Government, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United States Government, and other stakeholders.
Speaking at the event, Cheikh Toure, UNODC representative, said the strategy would strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to combat transnational crimes, including drug trafficking, cybercrime, human trafficking, kidnapping, and illicit financial flows.
Also speaking, Douglas Grane, acting director of the United States Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, reaffirmed the U.S. government’s support for Nigeria’s efforts to tackle organized crime through stronger inter-agency and international cooperation.
Representatives of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, and the National Cyber Security Centre also endorsed the initiative, describing it as a major step towards improving Nigeria’s fight against organized crime.
FATE Foundation, with funding from the Citi Foundation, has launched the Youth Entrepreneurship Incubation Programme to equip young people in Nigeria with financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills.
Delivered through free, safe, and accessible platforms, the programme supports the incubation and scaling of youth-led enterprises, enabling income generation and job creation.
In October 2025, FATE Foundation was selected as a recipient of Citi Foundation’s 2025 Global Innovation Challenge to Accelerate Youth Employability. Joining the cohort of 50 organisations globally, the Foundation will receive $500,000 over two years to advance its youth employability initiative.
“We are excited to be selected for Citi Foundation’s 2025 Global Innovation Challenge,” said Ayomide Akindolie-Igwe, Executive Director of FATE Foundation.
“This support enables us to equip young entrepreneurs in Nigeria with the financial literacy and skills needed to build and scale sustainable businesses.”
The programme addresses youth employability by tackling Africa’s growing jobs crisis. By 2030, the African continent will be home to 40% of the world’s youth, and with one in three under 35 already unemployed, this initiative will support Nigerian youth with a two-phase approach. It begins with financial literacy training before progressing to entrepreneurship development, incubation support, and access to tools needed to build viable, job-creating businesses.
“Through this innovative initiative, FATE Foundation is supporting low-income Nigerian youth to develop essential financial and entrepreneurial skills using accessible platforms.
“This support is not just helping individuals to succeed; it is building a solid foundation for sustainable enterprises that will drive job creation and contribute significantly to our nation’s economic vitality. This initiative is empowering and investing in the future of Nigeria, one youth at a time,” said Nneka Enwereji, MD/CEO Citibank Nigeria Limited.
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