TEFatUNGA DAY 3: TEF ATTENDS THE 77TH UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Good food, good music, great company!
On Wednesday, September 21, 2022, The Tony Elumelu Foundation brought the best of Africa to New York at the #UBAAfricaFoodfest. It was a celebration of African tastes, sounds, and people. The room was filled with peals of laughter and the aroma of unique African cuisine.
All young Africans and guests of the #UNGA77 were invited, and TEF Founder, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu naturally played the part of gracious host, as he attentively mingled and interacted with every single guest at the food fest.
After the festival, he was interviewed by a journalist from the Voice of America, where he touched on Africa’s contribution to climate change, global unity, and TEF’s catalytic approach to empowering young African entrepreneurs to transform the African continent.
“We live in Africa; we see poverty and how our people are suffering. We see the energy of our young ones – their ambition and aspiration to make a difference – but access to capital is a problem for these young ones and for us at the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we are trying to catalyse luck, we are trying to catalyse entrepreneurship across the continent, but we understand that we cannot do it alone. I am an exemplar of success in Africa. I come from a modest background, but I realise that we need more Tony Elumelus in Africa.
We have seen the world swing from multilateralism to going alone, and we have seen that we live in a global world, we cannot do it alone. The advanced countries need the corporation of the developing countries and vice versa. We need to work together as members of the global community.
Africa’s contribution to global climate change is insignificant, compared to the rest of the world. It is less than 2%. However, we disproportionately suffer the brunt of climate change and that is a major concern that we need to do something about.”
The day ended with Mr. Elumelu and the TEF delegate hosting bilateral meetings with business leaders and policymakers to further advance the interest of African youth.
