OUR PAST PROGRAMMES

2012-2015

The Tony & Awele Elumelu Prize (formerly the Elumelu Legacy Prize) was an award established by Tony O. Elumelu, CON and Dr. Awele Elumelu to recognise, reward, and inspire academic excellence, in tertiary institutions across Africa. After a successful three years, the prize was discontinued from November 2015.

The Tony & Awele Elumelu Prize Programme was started in 2012 to inspire and reward academic excellence and so far, we have given out this award to 130 students from 16 universities across Nigeria and 3 West African Universities.

The following institutions have alumni who are recipients of the Tony & Awele Elumelu Prize: Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma; Bayero University, Kano; Benue State University, Makurdi; Delta State University, Abraka; Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; University of Abuja; University of Ibadan; University of Jos; University of Lagos; University of Nigeria, Nsukka; University of Port Harcourt;Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto; Ahmadu Bello University; University of Benin and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.

Outside of Nigeria:  Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana; Kofi Annan University, Guinea; and University of Ghana, Accra are all recipients of the Tony & Awele Elumelu Prize.

The prize money distributed at undergraduate level ($1400) and doubled for those at graduate level ($2800).

While this was a successful initiative, the Tony Elumelu Foundation has since inception placed entrepreneurship at the center of all its efforts, because of its belief that entrepreneurship is the primary vehicle to achieving economic empowerment in Africa.   In line with this, in January 2015, the Tony Elumelu Foundation launched a philanthropic programme to further drive entrepreneurship across the continent, called the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme. The purpose of the programme is to achieve the following:

• i. Identify 1,000 African startups and entrepreneurs every year over the next 10 years, who have ideas with the potential to address social and economic challenges in Africa.
• ii. Grow the capacity of the entrepreneurs through training, mentoring, access to relevant information and a strong alumni network; and
• iiiProvide initial seed capital of $10,000 each, to catalyze these businesses and position them for growth and profitability.

We have achieved significant success from the Tony & Awele Elumelu Prize, however, the scale and operation of this pan-African entrepreneurship programme has priority for the Foundation’s resources.   Consequently, the Foundation has therefore streamlined its processes and efforts and is focusing resources on the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme.

All recipients of the Tony & Awele Elumelu Prize will continue to be part of the Tony Elumelu Foundation network and have access to advice, resources and events held by the Foundation. We hope to inspire a new generation of students who view entrepreneurship as a viable path and a means of creating economic and social wealth.

2012-2012

Launched in 2012 in collaboration with the AllWorld Network, The Tony Elumelu Foundation presented The Nigeria Fast Growth 50, representing some of the fastest growing, most dynamic fast-growth unlisted private companies in Nigeria.

The Nigeria50 were selected as having demonstrated Nigeria’s potential for Entrepreneurship. Between them, these companies recorded an astounding average annual growth rate of 100 percent and created over 6000 jobs over the three-year recorded term.

The Nigeria50 were published nationally and globally, giving visibility to emerging company stars. The listed companies gained global recognition, a network of growth entrepreneurs and an invitation to the AllWorld Summit at Harvard University.

AllWorld rankings exist throughout the Middle East, North Africa, India, Pakistan, South Africa and Turkey. Winners in these countries have credited their participation with positively impacting their businesses in the form of new contacts, global visibility and credibility, and attracting new sources of capital from investors.

The Nigeria50 application process opened to private companies in Nigeria with revenues of 100% or more in 3 years (as at 2011).

Eligibility criteria for the Nigeria50 ranking were as follows:

• Minimum 3-year audited operating history with revenues/turnover of at least N80 million/$500,000 as at 2011
• Be an independent, private, non-listed, for-profit corporation or partnership or proprietorship. The company can be an independently incorporated subsidiary of a wider group, with a defined stand-alone business line
• Cannot be a non-profit, holding company, franchise, bank or utility
• Must have its primary location in Nigeria
• The company must not be 51% or more owned by a publicly traded company or from the public sector
• Smaller and younger companies can qualify as “Start-Ups to Watch” using the same application

This programme was discontinued in 2012.

2011-2014

The Elumelu Professionals Programme (formerly known as the African Market Internship Programme, AMIP), was an initiative established as part of the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s commitment to the development and celebration of African business leadership.

EPP was an MBA internship program designed to improve the competitiveness of innovative small and growing African businesses, while introducing some of the world’s brightest new business management talent to the growth opportunity that African markets represent.

The programme placed students from Africa’s top business schools and students from top-tier business schools in Europe and the United States into highly structured 10-week internship programs at African companies. During their assignments, the interns built actionable knowledge and helped to facilitate high-level decision-making to contribute to the host firms’ success.

EPP matched the unique skills of each intern with the particular needs of each participating host business, to tackle the most pressing business issues identified by the management teams. This ranged from forging business strategies, marketing new products, to developing African growth strategies and more. The program was unique in bringing both African and international businesses students together, building bridges and opening horizons, for all involved. It was just one example of the Foundation’s core mission of equipping the next generation of African private sector champions for success.

This programme was active from 2011 to 2014.

2012

As part of the Foundation’s initiative to encourage innovative ideas that have the capacity to transform the social technology space in Nigeria, Tony Elumelu Foundation partnered Co-Creation Hub (CcHub) to provide seed funding for 20 technological ideas/ventures targeted at typical social challenges faced by the average Nigerian.

The fund supported the novel use of technology in several key areas of the economy including healthcare, education, agriculture, governance, inclusive technology, small business development, and finance.

The seed funding provided for this initiative was used to support experimentation and prototype development to accelerate the adoption of the solutions. Each technology venture was equipped to develop the potential to become a self-sustaining profitable social enterprise.

The beneficiaries of the initiative were identified and selected by the foundation from a pool of social technology ventures being incubated by CcHub.

Successful companies such as BudgIt, Wecyclers, Trupper, amongst others were created and expanded as beneficiaries of this partnership.

2011

At the launch of the Foundation in 2010, Nigeria’s philanthropy ecosystem lacked the appropriate legislation that regulated the activities of charity organisations. This consequently meant that the sector lacked a strategic means of holding these organisations accountable to ensure that they operate efficiently and based on their stipulated missions.

The Foundation quickly filled this gap as it drafted Nigeria’s first Charity Act. This is a philanthropy legislation intended to create a stronger, more transparent, and impactful social sector, reviewed by Attorney General of the Federation at the time.

Drafted for the Nigerian environment, the Charities Act calls for certification of all non-profit organisations; for public, electronic charities to register to enhance transparency; tax incentives for all donor corporations and individuals; incentives to increase investment in social enterprises; and appropriate penalties for defaults and processes for appeals.

2011

In 2011, the Foundation partnered with World Bank to host a collaborative event with business and policy leaders, to discuss the role of philanthropy in Africa. This first of its kind event sparked the first of several conversations that enabled the philanthropists to see themselves as part of a larger ecosystem, one that could combine efforts strategically to transform the sector, as well as the communities in which they operate.

This event convened philanthropic organisations from Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, and other African countries in Lagos, at the Ikoyi Initiative.

Following the success of the event, the Foundation co-founded the African Philanthropy Forum and co-convened the Nigerian Philanthropy Summit gathering peers and potential partners to inspire and instigate innovative ways of conducting philanthropic activities.

The Summit was convened in partnership with the Minister of Economy at the time, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. It served as a platform of engagement through which high net-worth individuals, corporate philanthropy professionals and representatives of government institutions could network and collaborate in the field of philanthropy.

2013

Following one of its primary objectives to foster competitiveness to drive economic development, the Foundation funded the National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria (NCCN) through its public-private Nigerian partnership with the Federal Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The NCCN was created to boost Nigeria’s competitiveness and improve its ability to attract local and international investment, as assessed by two: World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index and on the WEF Global Competitiveness Index (GCI).

The NCCN continues to work towards its objective to boost Nigeria’s collective prosperity and collaborated with leading index designers to develop Nigeria’s first Sub-National Competitive Report, an evaluation of the competitiveness of Nigeria’s 36 states in 2017.

2012

As part of its policy and capacity building efforts, the foundation partnered with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to provide strategic human resources in business-critical government agencies in Sierra Leone and Liberia through the Blair-Elumelu Fellowship Programme.

The programme supported the Sierra Leonean Ministry of Trade and Industry, setting up its Public Private Partnership Unit, which is now up and running, and Liberia’s National Investment Commission.

2014

The Foundation launched the Africapitalism Institute in 2014 at the World Economic Forum in Africa. It is a pan-African, independent, non-profit think tank with a mission to accelerate and broaden economic prosperity and social progress throughout the continent by unlocking the private sector’s capacity to create and multiply local value.

The institute evolved to become the research and advocacy arm of the Foundation, through which we complete academically rigorous, practically applicable research; widely communicate new ideas; directly engage key stakeholders; and advocate for public policies and business practices that will unlock opportunities for all Africans.
The institute published an 86-page report which identifies and analyses the factors inhibiting the potential of entrepreneurs across Africa, titled ‘Unleashing Africa’s Entrepreneurs: Improving the Enabling Environment for Startups’. The insights from the study were based off a survey conducted with 20,000 emerging entrepreneurs from 54 African countries and territories in the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme. The resulting set of data is the world’s largest and most diverse assessment of entrepreneurship from the perspective of emerging African entrepreneurs themselves.

Several case studies, articles and white papers have also been published over the years. Our first white paper published in 2013 provides more detailed explanation on the theory – Africapitalism – Path to Economic Prosperity and Social Wealth, provides greater detail on the philosophy espoused by our founder. In addition, since 2011, we have collaborated with the Oppenheimer family’s Brenthurst Foundation to research, write and launch Africans Investing in Africa, an important 338-page book covering a range of topics critical to Africa’s development.

2011

Following the Foundation’s belief in impact investing as an effective tool for supporting African start-up companies, as well as Africa’s small and growing business sector, we partnered with the Calvert Foundation, Heirs Holdings and Lion’s Head Global Partners, to make an impact investment in Tanzania’s Mtanga Farms.

The Mtanga operation is at the heart of Tanzania’s national initiative to combat food insecurity. Mtanga demonstrates the Foundation’s commitment to an emerging class of impact investors to deploy capital into the African agriculture sector with an aim to improve the livelihoods of local residents.

In March 2012, Tanzanian authorities approved the release of four new potato varieties, the first in over 30 years, positioning Mtanga to serve over 150,000 farmers with certified clean seed potatoes, which kick-started the development of the potato sector in Tanzania.

The Elumelu Professionals Programme (formerly known as the African Market Internship Programme, AMIP), was an initiative established as part of the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s commitment to the development and celebration of African business leadership.

EPP was an MBA internship program designed to improve the competitiveness of innovative small and growing African businesses, while introducing some of the world’s brightest new business management talent to the growth opportunity that African markets represent.

The programme placed students from Africa’s top business schools and students from top-tier business schools in Europe and the United States into highly structured 10-week internship programs at African companies. During their assignments, the interns built actionable knowledge and helped to facilitate high-level decision-making to contribute to the host firms’ success.

EPP matched the unique skills of each intern with the particular needs of each participating host business, to tackle the most pressing business issues identified by the management teams. This ranged from forging business strategies, marketing new products, to developing African growth strategies and more. The program was unique in bringing both African and international businesses students together, building bridges and opening horizons, for all involved. It was just one example of the Foundation’s core mission of equipping the next generation of African private sector champions for success.

This programme was active from 2011 to 2014.

2012

As part of the Foundation’s impact investing efforts as means of capitalisation, we were part of an international consortium with Heirs Holdings, Berggruen Holdings and 50 Ventures Inc, when we incorporated African Exchange Holdings Ltd (AFEX), a network of commodities and derivatives exchanges.

These AFEX exchanges, located in East Africa and Nigeria, aimed at incentivising smallholders to produce more as they are guaranteed a ready market price point and warehousing facilities, greatly reducing post-harvest losses and quick sale pressure in the long term.

Some achievements include:

• – Over 40,000 farmers engaged and trained on grain management and reducing post-harvest loses, potentially leading to additional 100 per cent increased income.
• – Over 25,000 farmers registered to trade on the exchange.
• – Traded and stored over 20,000MT in the first year, and generated up to $5 million in trade of agricultural commodities.
• -Direct and indirect employment for over 300 youth across northern Nigeria.
• – 2,000 farmers access microcredits for input, leading to US$600,000 in increased income.

2013

In 2013, the Foundation supported the creation of the Impact Economy Innovations Fund (IEIF), a joint, US$650,000 initiative with the Rockefeller Foundation – to identify and fund seven individual investments.

Launched during the African Impact Investing Forum, held in 2013 in Cape Town, South Africa, these investment enable earlier stage capital solutions, foster entrepreneurial ecosystems and impact incubation platforms, establish industry infrastructure/market ecosystems by sector and foster angel investing networks.

Funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Tony Elumelu Foundation, the winners were selected from a highly competitive pool of hundreds of applicants from across Africa, and represented several sectors across the continent including Finance, Agriculture, Policy & Research and Information Technology.

Administered by the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), the rigorous selection process was undertaken by a committee which included Malik Fal, Managing Director of Omidyar Network Africa; Emmanuel N. Nnorom who was at the time, CEO of UBA Africa and currently the President of Heirs Holdings Group; Amit Bouri, Managing Director of the Global Impact Investing Network; Eme Essien Lore, Senior Associate Director at the Rockefeller Foundation Africa Regional Office,; and Dr. Wiebe Boer, CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation.

Eme Essien Lore, Senior Associate Director at the Rockefeller Foundation, Africa Regional Office expressed enthusiasm for IEIF’s contributions to the global network of global investors.  “The business ideas we received through the IEIF reflect the extensive entrepreneurial potential that exists in Africa.  Our Foundation continues to believe that impact investing can transform the development landscape across the continent and we welcome opportunities such as the IEIF to prove that.”

The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) will play an administrative role to manage the IEIF on behalf of the Tony Elumelu Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Some of the grantees include:

• 1. M5R5G&\\L
  Country: Ethiopia
  Sector: SME consulting services
  Intervention: Alternative method for due diligence on SMEs for banks and interested banks.
• 2. Investisseurs & Partenaires
  Country: Côte d’Ivoire
  Sector: Investment services
  Intervention: Resource publication on SME investments in Francophone countries.
• 3. Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA)
  Country: Ghana
  Sector: Research, policy, and advocacy
  Intervention: Create awareness on impact investing through nationwide educational seminars

• 4. Slicebiz
  Country: Ghana
  Sector: Finance. Mobile and web crowd sourcing investment for start-ups

• 5. m:lab East Africa
  Country: Kenya
  Sector: Mobile Technology
  Intervention: Support for mobile phone ventures across East Africa

• 6. Doreo Partners
  Country: Nigeria
  Sector: Agriculture
  Intervention: Scale up the “Rise Out of Poverty” bond – the first publicly traded social bond in Nigeria

• 7. PERC Results and Solutions
  Country: Nigeria
  Sector: Agriculture
  Intervention: Scale up the “Rise Out of Poverty” bond – the first publicly traded social bond in Nigeria