Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme
Tony Elumelu Foundation · Seed capital grant
$5K$5,000 non-returnable seed capital, plus training and mentorship
Africa's largest philanthropic entrepreneurship program. Selected African founders get training, mentorship and $5,000 in non-returnable seed capital.
Key terms
- Applicants must be Africans aged 18 or over, living in Africa, with a business in Africa
- Business idea, or a business no older than 5 years
- Must not have benefited from a previous TEF programme
- A government ID and headshot are required, and a business assessment test is scored
- Seed capital is paid after the training and investment-readiness phases
Eligibility
- Where
- Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, DR Congo, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
- Stages
- idea, pre-seed, seed
- Max company age
- 5 years
- Needs VC/accelerator backing
- No
- Needs partner referral code
- No
- Must be incorporated
- No
- AI focus required
- No
- Students / researchers
- Not eligible
- Nonprofits
- Not eligible
Also required
- African nationals aged 18+ living in Africa
How to apply
Register on TEFConnect and apply between 1 January and 1 March each year.
- Benefit
- cash
- Equity-free
- Yes
- Decision time
- —
- Credit validity
- —
- Deadline
- Annual (next window expected 1 Jan – 1 Mar 2027 on TEFConnect)
- Status
- Paused — next round TBA
Verified 2026-10-22 · source