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<p>Google.org which is the philanthropic arm of the American technology company has pledged to support the Tony Elumelu Foundation with a $3 million grant, which will provide entrepreneurship training, mentor-ship and coaching to five thousand African female entrepreneurs.  Goole.org’s Lead for Europe Middle East and Africa Liza Belozerova and Somachi Chris-Asoluka,  Director for Partnerships and Communication at the Tony Elumelu Foundation join CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Google.org grants TEF $3mn for African female entrepreneurs

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<p>The World Bank says the highest rates of entrepreneurship in the world are in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Tony Elumelu Foundation has been tapping into the potential of Africa&#8217;s young entrepreneurs for over a decade and the CEO, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu joins CNBC Africa to discuss how the pandemic and the continental trade pact can spur new entrepreneurs in Africa.</p>


How COVID-19 & AfCFTA can spur new African entrepreneurs

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<p>The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown many business models into a tailspin, but some entrepreneurs are building resilience through creativity and innovation. The CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu joins CNBC Africa to discuss how young entrepreneurs can sail through these turbulent times.</p>


Tony Elumelu Foundation CEO: How young entrepreneurs can navigate COVID-19 shocks


<p>In a roundtable discussion on Wednesday made up of several African leaders, organised by the New York Forum Institute, Chairman of the <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/coronavirus/2020/03/28/tony-elumelus-united-bank-for-africa-donates-14mn-to-covid-19-relief-across-africa-this-is-how-it-will-be-used/">United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc</a> Tony Elumelu stated that the global <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/covid-19/">COVID-19</a> pandemic presents an opportunity to ‘reset’ the African continent.</p>



<p>The statement below provides a full summary of the meeting:</p>



<p><strong>Elumelu says Covid-19 Presents Opportunity to Reset Africa&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Advocates Martial Plan to Boost Electricity And Ease Debt Burden</p>



<p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Wants Youths Prioritised as SMEs are Empowered</p>



<p>The Chairman of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Tony Elumelu, has stated that the Coronavirus Pandemic currently ravaging the world presents an opportunity to reset the African continent so that Africans can be empowered to become more productive and self reliant. He said this today at the high-level Roundtable discussions made up of African leaders including Dr. Ngozi Okonjo &#8211; Iweala, the Special Envoy of the African Union on Covid-19 and Tidjane Thiam who is also a Covid-19 Special Envoy responsible for mobilising international economic support for Africa.</p>



<p>During the session titled ‘Resilient World: An African call for a new world order’, Elumelu stated&nbsp;“I see this pandemic as an opportunity to reset Africa.’&nbsp;Whilst pointing out that&nbsp;Africa as a continent has all it takes to emerge into a strong digital economy, the UBA Group Chairman advocated a martial plan that will galvanise the entire continent and make Africa less dependent on the ‘circularity of debt’ from developed nations, which according to him, has been a major setback for decades.</p>



<p>He said, “I feel that as we engage the rest of the world in providing relief, we need to look for a more fundamental solution to Africa’s challenges. I have often argued for a martial plan overtime. We need to mobilise everyone. If we have a martial plan that mobilises resources to address particular issues, then we can mitigate against this constant begging for assistance.”</p>



<p>Explaining further, Elumelu pointedly said, “The truth is that we have resources to help mobilise people. As the founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we committed to endow $100m to support young African entrepreneurs and we have been seeing the positive results this has yielded so far. It is evident that if we can fix access to electricity, ensure stability of the macro-economic environment, ensure prioritisation of the youth, empower our small and medium scale enterprises and fix youth migration, then we are in for a better and more resilient economy’.&nbsp;“There is the urgent need to prioritise our youths and empower our SMEs. The people who work hard need to be encouraged,” Elumelu noted passionately.</p>



<p>Tidjane Thiam&nbsp;who supported what Elumelu had proposed, said that rather than depend on international assistance at every point, there is the need for governments and institutions to invest in activities that will prioritise the youths and create a better enabling environment.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“I totally agree with Tony Elumelu. The major challenge is that we do not see enough entrepreneurs. Similar to what obtains in Asia and Europe, there is the need to promote a class of Entrepreneurs to drive the African economy. &nbsp;we need to groom more Tony Elumelus’ from Africa’ he said. Tidjane continued, ‘We know what needs to be done. We need government and multinational institutions to bring in capital so that there will be investment in health, infrastructure and the like. We do need to get rid of this debt cycle because constant rescheduling and begging for relief for debts is not good for us as a continent,” Thiam said.</p>



<p>Okonjo-Iweala, on her part, called for a system where youths and women will be empowered to create and produce more to boost the African economy.</p>



<p>Whilst calling on private and government parastatals to engage in meaningful partnerships that will help to galvanise job creation and entrepreneurship among youths in Africa, she said, “As Tony pointed out, we can see this pandemic as an opportunity for the continent. We have the African Free Trade Agreement, and we have to make it real.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“We have to specialise our countries to manufacture the things we need so we can trade with others. We need to produce good jobs for our young people. We need to empower our women and youths and put them at the centre. It is said that Africa would have the largest number of youths in the world by 2050, so we need to fix this,” she noted.</p>



<p>The roundtable which was organised by the New York Forum Institute, also had in attendance African Heads of States including President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger; President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya; President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire; President Macky Sall of Senegal and President Julius Bio of Sierra Leone;</p>



<p>For more coverage on COVID-19 visit: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/covid-19/">https://www.cnbcafrica.com/covid-19/</a></p>


COVID-19 is the perfect opportunity to ‘reset’ Africa - UBA Chairman Tony Elumelu

COVID-19 is the perfect opportunity to ‘reset’ Africa – UBA Chairman Tony Elumelu

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<p>Ralph El Hage, Country Manager for Donor Relations and Private sector partnerships at the International Committee of the Red Cross says the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is working to support entrepreneurs from crisis areas in Nigeria. To discuss ICRC’s collaboration with the Tony Elumelu Foundation, he joins CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor for more.</p>


ICRC’s Ralph El Hage on supporting Nigerian entrepreneurs in conflict zones

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<p>Noomane Fehri, co-Founder and CEO of B@labs, and Former Minister of Communication, Technology and Digital Economy for Tunisia says the Tony Elumelu Foundation is one of the main tools to help develop a single African market. He joins CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor for more.</p>


B@labs CEO Noomane Fehri on how entrepreneurs can help develop a single African market

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<p>Ifeyinwa Ogochukwu, CEO of Tony Elumelu Foundation says the fifth edition of the foundation’s entrepreneurship forum was an opportunity for African entrepreneurs to meet with government officials and stakeholders to discuss ways to create enabling environment for businesses. She joins CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor for more.</p>


Tony Elumelu Foundation CEO: Why Africa should be excited about its young entrepreneurs

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<p>The Tony Elumelu Foundation has unveiled the African entrepreneurs for the fifth cycle of its 100 million-dollar entrepreneurship programme. Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, incoming CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation joins CNBC Africa to discuss the plans for this year&#8217;s programme.</p>


Tony Elumelu Foundation unveil finalists for its 2019 programme

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<p>The Tony Elumelu Foundation has championed and made real investment in African entrepreneurs across the continent. Speaking to CNBC Africa at Intra-African Trade Fair in Cairo, founder Tony Elumelu, highlighted the importance of cross-continental collaboration.</p>


Tony Elumelu speaks on the importance of cross-continental collaboration

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<p>The Tony Elumelu Foundation has championed and made real investment in African entrepreneurs across the continent. Speaking to CNBC Africa at today&#8217;s Intra-African Trade Fair in Cairo, founder Tony Elumelu highlighted the importance of cross-continental collaboration.</p>


Tony Elumelu urges strong support for Africa’s entrepreneurs

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<p>The Tony Elumelu Foundation saw a total of 1,060 trainees from 54 African countries graduate at the 2018 Entrepreneurship Forum. During the event, Ghanaian president quoted that &#8220;It is time leaders made proper and careful policy-making towards investing in young men and women trying to change the narrative of the continent&#8221;. Sean Drake, of The Wealth Project joins CNBC Africa from Madrid, Spain for more on this.</p>


The hidden entrepreneurship opportunity for Africa’s youth

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<p>The Tony Elumelu Foundation held its fourth forum in Lagos, where the foundation launched its digital platform for African entrepreneurs. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Kenneth Igbomor caught up with Tony Elumelu, Founder of the foundation to discuss this and more.</p>


Tony Elumelu Foundation unveils digital platform for African entrepreneurs

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<p>CNBC Africa caught up with Tony Elumelu, Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation and discussed the importance of digital skills for African entrepreneurs.</p>


Why digital skills are important for Africa’s entrepreneurs – Tony Elumelu

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<p>Tony Elumelu, founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation joins CNBC Africa to discuss his expectations for the World Economic Forum meetings in Davos and to proffer his solution to Africa&#8217;s unemployment problem.</p>


How to fix Africa’s unemployment problem – Tony Elumelu

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<p>As an organization we are meant to support people in conflict areas, our partnership with Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) is focused on the North-East and Niger Delta areas of Nigeria says Eloi Fillion, Head of delegation and mission at ICRC.</p>


ICRC’s Eloi Fillion speaks on partnering with Tony Elumelu Foundation

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<p>CNBC Africa’s Christycole Popoola caught with Tony Elumelu and discussed the foundation’s new partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross.</p>


Tony Elumelu Foundation, Red Cross partner to empower Nigerian entrepreneurs

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<p>Hundreds of African entrepreneurs converged at the third Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship programme, held in Lagos,According to the participants, memories and lessons from the event will empower them to succeed in business.</p>


Tony Elumelu Foundation

Google.org grants TEF $3mn for African female entrepreneurs

How COVID-19 & AfCFTA can spur new African entrepreneurs

Tony Elumelu Foundation CEO: How young entrepreneurs can navigate COVID-19 shocks

COVID-19 is the perfect opportunity to ‘reset’ Africa – UBA Chairman Tony Elumelu

ICRC’s Ralph El Hage on supporting Nigerian entrepreneurs in conflict zones

B@labs CEO Noomane Fehri on how entrepreneurs can help develop a single African market

Tony Elumelu Foundation CEO: Why Africa should be excited about its young entrepreneurs

Tony Elumelu Foundation unveil finalists for its 2019 programme

Tony Elumelu speaks on the importance of cross-continental collaboration

Tony Elumelu urges strong support for Africa’s entrepreneurs

The hidden entrepreneurship opportunity for Africa’s youth

Tony Elumelu Foundation unveils digital platform for African entrepreneurs

Why digital skills are important for Africa’s entrepreneurs – Tony Elumelu

How to fix Africa’s unemployment problem – Tony Elumelu

ICRC’s Eloi Fillion speaks on partnering with Tony Elumelu Foundation

Tony Elumelu Foundation, Red Cross partner to empower Nigerian entrepreneurs

The Tony Elumelu Foundation participants speak out

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Tony Elumelu Foundation

Google.org grants TEF $3mn for African female entrepreneurs

How COVID-19 & AfCFTA can spur new African entrepreneurs

Tony Elumelu Foundation CEO: How young entrepreneurs can navigate COVID-19 shocks

COVID-19 is the perfect opportunity to ‘reset’ Africa – UBA Chairman Tony Elumelu

ICRC’s Ralph El Hage on supporting Nigerian entrepreneurs in conflict zones

B@labs CEO Noomane Fehri on how entrepreneurs can help develop a single African market

Tony Elumelu Foundation CEO: Why Africa should be excited about its young entrepreneurs

Tony Elumelu Foundation unveil finalists for its 2019 programme

Tony Elumelu speaks on the importance of cross-continental collaboration

Tony Elumelu urges strong support for Africa’s entrepreneurs

The hidden entrepreneurship opportunity for Africa’s youth

Tony Elumelu Foundation unveils digital platform for African entrepreneurs

Why digital skills are important for Africa’s entrepreneurs – Tony Elumelu

How to fix Africa’s unemployment problem – Tony Elumelu

ICRC’s Eloi Fillion speaks on partnering with Tony Elumelu Foundation

Tony Elumelu Foundation, Red Cross partner to empower Nigerian entrepreneurs

The Tony Elumelu Foundation participants speak out

News Tips

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