Abuja, Nigeria’s seat of power, was agog recently with the fifth edition of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Forum.

More than 5,000 participants and 60 speakers across three continents converged for the largest gathering of African entrepreneurs, many of them visiting the FCT for the first time.

by Collins Nweze

For The Nation
African Presidents and global leaders promoted job creation and youth empowerment at the 2019 Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Forum held in Abuja. The forum was an opportunity for the TEF founder, Tony Elumelu, and other speakers to reinforce the gains of entrepreneurship on the continent. It was also an opportunity for over 150 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) owners across 20 African countries to exhibit their products and services at the UBA Marketplace, writes COLLINS NWEZE.
At the meeting were also 150 SME owners from 20 African countries, who exhibited their products and services at the UBAMarketplace.

Five African presidents and thousands of young entrepreneurs were there at the most influential gathering in the African entrepreneurship ecosystem. Job creation and youth empowerment dominated discussions at the two-day forum held on July 26 and 27, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

TEF has been at the forefront of advocating for entrepreneurship as the catalyst for the economic transformation of Africa. The group sees entrepreneurship development as a sure route to wealth creation and economic growth. Besides reducing poverty, it remains the fastest avenue to create jobs and promote Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

The event attracted representatives of the 7,521 beneficiaries of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 54 African countries.

More than 60 speakers from the public and private sectors across three continents participated in the interactive masterclasses, plenary sessions and debates geared towards generating ideas and defining concrete steps Africa must take to empower its youth and accelerate the continent’s development.

Speaking at the forum, founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation  Tony Elumelu reiterated the urgency to create jobs on the continent to catalyse Africa’s development.

He said: “Extremism is a product of poverty and joblessness. Poverty anywhere is a threat to everyone everywhere. If our leaders understand the reason and rationale for our youths to succeed, they will do everything they can to support them.”

Elumelu also reiterated the role of technology as a key enabler in accelerating development, citing TEFConnect, the digital networking platform for African entrepreneurs launched by the Tony Elumelu Foundation in 2018. With over 500,000 registered users, the hub provides a platform for entrepreneurs to network and forge business partnerships regardless of their location.

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