The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Africa’s leading philanthropy empowering entrepreneurs, has announced 3,200 young African entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries for the 2026 cycle of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programmes; driving poverty alleviation, catalysing job creation, and ensuring inclusive economic empowerment.
With this latest announcement, TEF has now funded, trained and mentored over 27,000 African entrepreneurs, reinforcing its position as the largest private-sector driver of entrepreneurship in Africa. This underpins TEF’s stance on Africapitalism; Tony Elumelu’s economic belief that African entrepreneurs are the key drivers of the continent’s socio-economic transformation.
The 2026 cohort reflects the diversity, ambition, and resilience of Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, with 51% women, 75% aged 18–35, reinforcing youth-driven economic transformation, 30% from rural communities, expanding access beyond urban centres, and 13 selected entrepreneurs reported to be thriving with disabilities. The 2026 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs’ businesses span sectors including agriculture, AI, green economy, healthcare, and Fintech. Crucially, 91% of selected entrepreneurs are at idea or early-stage, underscoring TEF’s role as a true last-mile enabler of opportunity.
In 2026, the Tony Elumelu Foundation will empower:
1,751 entrepreneurs via Heirs Holdings Group companies – Heirs Energies, Transcorp Power, Transcorp Hotels, and United Capital.
1,049 entrepreneurs in partnership with the European Commission, OACPS, BMZ and GIZ.
100 entrepreneurs in partnership with Sèmè City Development Agency.
100 entrepreneurs in partnership with DEG, the German Development Agency.
100 entrepreneurs in partnership with the IKEA Foundation, UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited and the Dutch Government.
100 entrepreneurs in partnership with UNDP and the Rwandan Ministry of Youth and Arts
The announcement, held at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja and broadcast globally, marks the 2026 cycle of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, with entrepreneurs selected from over 265,000 applications, one of the largest entrepreneurial selections on the continent.
l-r: Somachi Chris-Asoluka, CEO, Tony Elumelu Foundation; Tony O. Elumelu, CFR, Founder, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Dr Awele V. Elumelu, OFR, Co-Founder, Tony Elumelu Foundation
The 2026 applications successfully submitted on TEFConnect, TEF’s proprietary digital platform, were subject to TEF’s rigorous and highly competitive selection process, where applicants were assessed on their demonstrated financial understanding and entrepreneurial mindset, as well as the feasibility, demand and scalability of their business ideas. This year’s cohort reflects the depth of entrepreneurial talent across the continent, with strong representation across key sectors including agriculture, artificial intelligence, healthcare, and the green economy.
The selection process was conducted by Ernst & Young, to ensure independent assessment.
Each selected Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur will receive $5,000 non-refundable seed capital, a world-class business training on TEFConnect, one-on-one mentorship, and access to global networks and investment opportunities.
