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Tony Elumelu Foundation Partners EU for Economic Empowerment Transformation of African Women
The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Africa’s leading philanthropy committed to empowering young African entrepreneurs, has announced a partnership with the European Union to identify, train, mentor and fund 2,500 young African women entrepreneurs in 2021.
Tony Elumelu
The partnership will disburse €20 million in financial and technical support for women-owned businesses, across all 54 African countries, in addition to providing increased access to market linkages, supply chains and venture capital investments.
The joint initiative will significantly strengthen and deepen the EU-Africa partnership, builds on the platform and experience of the US$100m TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, and forms part of the EU External Investment Plan to support women economic empowerment within the EU Gender Action Plan (GAP III).
Commenting on the landmark partnership, Tony Elumelu, founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation said “We are delighted to partner with the European Union, sharing our unique ability to identify, train, mentor and fund young entrepreneurs across Africa. This joint effort will prioritise and provide economic opportunities for African women, whom for too long have endured systemic obstacles to starting, growing and sustaining their businesses. Our partnership will alleviate the funding, knowledge and market constraints threatening the livelihoods of women entrepreneurs on the continent, to create more income, jobs, growth and scale for women-owned businesses.”
Jutta Urpilainen, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, said “This partnership with the Tony Elumelu Foundation will help women participants in economic development, realise their full potential and accelerate economic inclusion. Empowering women entrepreneurs is a key driver for sustainable jobs and growth, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and in line with the objectives of our African Strategy. Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and they deserve equal opportunities.”
The Tony Elumelu Foundation, which marks ten years of impact this year, is empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, catalysing economic growth, driving poverty eradication and ensuring job creation across all 54 African countries.
The Foundation has trained, mentored and funded nearly 10,000 young African entrepreneurs from 54 African countries, and continues to provide capacity-building support, advisory and market linkages to over 1 million Africans through its digital networking platform, TEFConnect.
TEF’s female success stories include Joyce Awojoodu, from Nigeria, who launched a luxury botanically based product line and spa clinic in Lagos, in 2015.
The brand ORÍKÌ, caters to both men and women, and strictly uses raw materials and natural ingredients from Africa.
Awojoodu’s favourite element of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme was the mentorship, which she described as “phenomenal”’ and “invaluable” for ORÍKÌ.
In her own words, “each Tef Entrepreneur was assigned a mentor and I could not have asked for a better one. TEF connected us. Now the mentorship continues, and I know I will always have an ear to share my thoughts about the business with a person who can also offer advice”.
Mavis Mduchwa, an agribusiness entrepreneur from Botswana, founded Chabana Farms, a poultry farm providing training and work for unemployed young people. Even though agriculture accounts for 32% of Africa’s gross domestic product, landownership and access to land remains a significant challenge for many farmers, especially women.
According to Mduchwa, “in Botswana, about 80% of people survive on agriculture, and many of them are women. But, if as a women you want to turn it into a business, you have a challenge of finding land.” Mduchwa has used the seed capital and training from TEF to significantly expand her operations.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation and the European Commission are proud to partner to unlock the dynamic potential of African women entrepreneurs, directly catalysing African’s economic growth and contributing to Africa’s prosperity and social development.
The programme co-funded by the European Union, the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific State (OACPS), and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), will further scale the Foundation’s efforts in directly addressing some of the most endemic challenges to African start-ups – skills and capacity gaps, financial constraints and lack of access to mentoring, networks and market linkages.
Following completion of the programme, the entrepreneurs will stay connected to partners and to each other through their lifetime membership on TEFConnect.
TEF has set up Country Chapters in 54 African countries to support the entrepreneurs as they grow and expand their businesses.
Patience Okala, the National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office has urged African countries to stop exporting raw materials and instead focus on adding value to its natural resources if it is to fully harness the opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area.
She stated this on Thursday at the Streamsowers & Köhn 20th Anniversary Business Forum, where she stressed that value addition and beneficiation are essential to Africa’s industrialisation and long-term economic growth.
According to a statement issued on Friday by the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, she said the AfCFTA goes beyond the elimination of tariffs, serving as a framework for industrialisation, value addition, and job creation across the continent.
“AfCFTA is not only about tariffs; it is also about value addition. Africa has to stop exporting raw materials. We need to add value and ensure that beneficiation is done on the continent,” she said.
Okala also said Africa’s economic transformation would depend on the effective implementation of the AfCFTA rather than on the signing of trade agreements alone.
“We have moved beyond negotiations. The success of AfCFTA will be measured by the extent to which businesses can access new markets, trade seamlessly across borders, and benefit from the opportunities created by the agreement,” she said.
She noted that Nigeria had intensified efforts to implement the agreement under the leadership of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, including the development of simplified AfCFTA guides in six languages to help businesses understand and take advantage of opportunities under the trade pact.
Okala called for stronger collaboration among governments, regulators, and the private sector to eliminate barriers to trade and investment and build a truly integrated African market.
“As we move from policy to implementation, our collective responsibility is to ensure that the opportunities created by AfCFTA become practical realities for businesses, particularly MSMEs, women-owned enterprises, and young entrepreneurs across the continent,” she said.
Cisco is exploring artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions to support smallholder farmers in Nigeria, as part of efforts to expand digital inclusion and technology adoption.
The initiative focuses on improving agricultural productivity through accessible, data-driven tools.
The move aligns with growing collaboration between Nigeria and the United States under the Commercial and Investment Partnership, which prioritises the digital economy, agriculture and infrastructure.
Speaking at the 2026 World Business Chicago, Brian Tippens, chief social impact and inclusion Officer at Cisco, said the company is assessing practical AI applications to help farmers combine local knowledge with data insights.
He said Cisco is exploring tools such as AI-enabled WhatsApp communities, geospatial mapping and weather intelligence to support day-to-day farming decisions.
The approach reflects a shift towards low-cost, mobile-first solutions suited to rural environments.
Tippens added that the Cisco Foundation is investing in early-stage startups developing technologies for local agricultural challenges.
Industry analysts note that AI adoption in emerging markets depends on locally relevant solutions, rather than large-scale enterprise deployments alone.
Beyond agriculture, Cisco plans to expand digital skills development in Nigeria through programmes such as the Cisco Networking Academy’s One Million Learners initiative.
Tippens said the programme also supports partnerships with organisations working with persons with disabilities, including those developing tools for people with visual impairments.
He added that Cisco’s social impact strategy aims to improve access to technology and promote inclusion, including in conflict-affected regions such as Borno State.
Cisco’s initiatives form part of broader efforts to link digital skills, connectivity and AI adoption to economic development in Nigeria.
Federal Government has launched a nationwide Artificial Intelligence (AI) capacity-building programme for teachers in Federal Unity Colleges, with about 11,700 educators set to acquire digital skills aimed at improving classroom instruction and preparing students for a technology-driven future.
The initiative advanced with the signing of the Terms of Reference (ToR) between the Federal Ministry of Education and ICEDT Consult Limited, paving the way for the nationwide implementation of the AI Teacher Capacity Development Programme.
The programme, to be implemented through the ministry’s Education Support Services Department, is part of the Federal Government’s efforts to modernise Nigeria’s education sector, strengthen teacher professionalism and equip students with skills required in the digital economy under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Speaking during the signing ceremony in Abuja, the Director of the Education Support Services Department, Gabriel Amudipe, described the initiative as a strategic investment in Nigeria’s teaching workforce and the future of education.
He said the nationwide rollout followed the successful completion of a pilot phase conducted in selected Federal Unity Colleges.
According to him, the implementation model developed by ICEDT Consult Limited will ensure effective coordination and quality delivery of the programme across the country’s six geopolitical zones.
Amudipe urged officials responsible for monitoring the project to ensure strict compliance with the implementation guidelines and maintain the standards achieved during the pilot phase.
“The ministry remains committed to supporting innovative initiatives that strengthen teacher professionalism, improve learning outcomes and promote the responsible integration of emerging technologies into education,” he said.
Earlier, the Deputy Director of the Education Support Services Department, Oladele Fapohunda, described the programme as a strategic intervention designed to deepen digital innovation across Federal Unity Colleges.
He stressed that collaboration among all stakeholders would be essential to achieving the objectives of the initiative nationwide.
Also speaking, the Head of Strategic Partnerships and Learning Scientist at ICEDT Consult Limited, Dr Abdulrahman Orosanya, said the Federal Government approved the national rollout after the successful pilot implementation in six Federal Unity Colleges representing Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
According to Orosanya, the pilot demonstrated the potential of Artificial Intelligence to improve lesson planning, classroom delivery, assessment methods and teachers’ productivity.
He said the nationwide implementation would strengthen teachers’ digital competencies, improve instructional delivery and support the government’s vision of building a technology-driven education system capable of producing globally competitive graduates equipped with 21st-century skills.
The ceremony ended with the formal signing of the Terms of Reference by officials of the Federal Ministry of Education and ICEDT Consult Limited, signalling the commencement of preparations for full implementation across all Federal Unity Colleges.
The ministry said the programme would directly train about 11,700 teachers, while thousands of students across the country’s Federal Unity Colleges are expected to benefit through improved classroom instruction, increased digital innovation and the responsible application of Artificial Intelligence in teaching and learning.
It reaffirmed its commitment to working with relevant stakeholders to modernise Nigeria’s education system, improve teacher quality and deliver inclusive, equitable and future-ready education nationwide.
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