{"id":409394,"date":"2026-01-15T19:55:45","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T19:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/409394\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T19:55:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T19:55:45","slug":"tef-opens-2026-entrepreneurship-programme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/409394\/","title":{"rendered":"TEF Opens 2026 Entrepreneurship Programme"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has opened applications for the 2026 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, calling ambitious young founders from all 54 African countries to apply now on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tefconnect.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TEFConnect<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Successful applicants receive US$5,000 in non-refundable seed capital, intensive business training, mentorship, and direct access to Africa\u2019s largest entrepreneurship network.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2015, the Programme has funded over 24,000 entrepreneurs, trained 2.5 million Africans, created more than 1.5 million jobs, and generated over US$4.2 billion in revenue, proving that African entrepreneurs can transform the continent.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kingdombankltd.co.ke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kingdom-bank.jpg\" alt=\"Trade Smarter, Grow Faster with Kingdom Bank Trade Finance\"\/><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Programme is also driving inclusive growth, with women now making up 46% of TEF entrepreneurs \u2013 the highest female participation rate recorded by a programme of this scale.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on the 2026 launch, TEF Founder and Heirs Holdings Group Chairman, Tony O. Elumelu, CFR, said: \u201cAfrica\u2019s greatest asset is our people\u2026 Africa does not need aid; Africa needs investment, in infrastructure, in institutions, but most critically in our young.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Through the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we show that when entrepreneurs are empowered, they create jobs, drive growth, and transform communities.<\/p>\n<p>Applications for the 2026 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme are open from 1 January to 1 March 2026 on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.TEFConnect.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">www.TEFConnect.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-126414 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Flyer-nw-QRcode-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"730\" height=\"1035\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>TEF Impact<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/downloads\/2025-file-sheet\/?tmstv=1751640493\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Click here<\/a> for country-level data on young entrepreneurs supported through TEF\u2019s funding, training, and mentorship in each African country. To explore TEF\u2019s transformative impact across the continent, visit the Foundation\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/tef-impact-reports\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Impact Page<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/tef-annual-reports\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Annual Reports<\/a>. To hear directly from the entrepreneurs themselves, visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/success-stories\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TEF Success Stories<\/a> page.<\/p>\n<p>Read Also: <a href=\"https:\/\/sokodirectory.com\/2025\/11\/tony-elumelus-visit-to-kenya-and-what-it-means-for-africa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Tony Elumelu\u2019s Visit To Kenya Signals a New Era for Africa\u2019s Infrastructure Financing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has opened applications for the 2026 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, calling ambitious young founders&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[28,158],"class_list":["post-409394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entrepreneurship","tag-business","tag-entrepreneurship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}