Nigerian billionaire Tony Elumelu backs African entrepreneurs with $100 million over 15 years

Nigerian billionaire businessman and philanthropist Tony Elumelu says Africa’s future depends on its young people, and he is putting money behind that belief. Over the past 15 years, he has put money behind that belief, committing more than $100 million in seed capital to support entrepreneurs across the continent.

Through the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Elumelu, the chairman of United Bank for Africa, Transcorp Group and Heirs Holdings has helped fund more than 24,000 startups across Africa. Elumelu, who also recently joined the board of Seplat Energy, has made the program one of the continent’s most visible private-sector efforts aimed at supporting young business founders.

Tony Elumelu meets Emmanuel Macron on youth jobs

Elumelu reiterated that commitment during a meeting in Paris with Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace, where he joined members of the Africa France Impact Coalition to discuss cooperation between African entrepreneurs and international partners. In a LinkedIn post following the meeting, Elumelu said the discussion returned repeatedly to the same point: Africa’s young population represents a powerful opportunity if given the right support.

“Africa’s greatest asset is her youth,” he wrote. “But potential without opportunity is a promise broken. To me, joblessness is the betrayal of a generation.” Elumelu said young Africans are ambitious and eager to build businesses but often lack access to funding, training and markets. Expanding partnerships between Africa’s private sector and global institutions, he said, could help close that gap.

TEF program lifts millions from poverty

His foundation’s work reflects that approach. Since its launch in 2010, TEF has provided business training to more than 2.5 million Africans through its digital platform, TEFConnect. It has supported founders whose businesses have generated more than $4.2 billion in revenue, helped create over 1.5 million direct and indirect jobs and lifted more than 2 million people out of poverty across the continent. Women account for 46 percent of the entrepreneurs supported.

The next phase of that effort will unfold later this month. On March 22, 2026, the Tony Elumelu Foundation will announce 3,199 entrepreneurs selected for its latest entrepreneurship program. Each will receive $5,000 in non-refundable seed funding after completing business training and submitting an approved business plan. The grants will total nearly $16 million in 2026 alone. The rollout follows a similar effort in 2025, when 3,000 entrepreneurs received the same $5,000 seed funding, representing about $15 million in grants.

Heirs Holdings backs 1,750 entrepreneurs

Funding for the 2026 cohort comes from several partners. About 1,750 entrepreneurs are supported by companies within the Heirs Holdings group, including Heirs Energies, Transcorp Power, Transcorp Hotels and United Capital Plc. Another 1,049 entrepreneurs are funded through partnerships with the European Commission, the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit.

Additional groups of 100 entrepreneurs each are supported through collaborations with the Sèmè City Development Agency, DEG – German Development Finance Institution, the IKEA Foundation, UNICEF Generation Unlimited, the Government of the Netherlands and the United Nations Development Programme working with Rwanda’s Ministry of Youth and Arts. Taken together, the 2025 and 2026 programs will channel nearly $31 million in seed capital to African entrepreneurs. The total funding distributed through the Tony Elumelu Foundation now exceeds $100 million, reaching founders in all 54 African countries.