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Tony Elumelu Foundation Offers $15m To 3,000 Entrepreneurs From 52 African Countries

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Tony Elumelu Foundation

Tony Elumelu Foundation Offers $15m To 3,000 Entrepreneurs From 52 African Countries

Tony Elumelu Foundation offers $15m to 3,000 entrepreneurs from 52 African countries. Mr Elumelu noted that capital alone was not enough, highlighting the importance of business education, mentorship, and training in building successful entrepreneurs.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation has announced a $15 million grant to support 3,000 budding entrepreneurs from 52 African countries.

The TEF Founder, Tony Elumelu, made this known on Sunday in Abuja during the unveiling of the 2025 cohort of the foundation’s Entrepreneurship Programme.

He stated that each beneficiary would receive a $5,000 seed grant to kick-start their businesses.
Mr Elumelu, who is also the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Transcorp, and United Bank for Africa (UBA), reaffirmed his commitment to empowering African entrepreneurs and transforming the continent’s economic landscape.

According to Mr Elumelu, the foundation aims to democratise opportunity across the continent, fostering economic growth and providing young Africans with access to funding and mentorship.

He said, “We had a vision that started in 2010; one that envisions a self-sustaining Africa, driven by the energy, vision, and resilience of young entrepreneurs. We understand the challenges they face in contributing to Africa’s economic transformation. If empowered and encouraged, these young Africans can drive meaningful change.’’

He noted that capital alone was not enough, highlighting the importance of business education, mentorship, and training in building successful entrepreneurs.
The entrepreneurship programme, which began in 2015, originally set out to economically empower 10,000 young Africans over 10 years, each receiving $5,000 in seed capital.

“This year marks the 15th anniversary of the foundation, and we have made a considerable impact across all 54 African countries. In the 21st century, Africa does not need aid; what it needs is investment in its youths,” Mr Elumelu said.

The TEF Chief Executive Officer, Somachi Chris-Asoluka, noted that since the programme’s launch in 2015, the foundation had disbursed over $100 million to more than 21,000 young entrepreneurs across Africa.

According to Ms Chris-Asoluka, the businesses have collectively created 1.5 million enterprises, and generated $4.5 billion in revenue.
“Our entrepreneurs have demonstrated that ideas are the lifeblood of the African continent.

Tony Elumelu Foundation

Tony Elumelu Foundation

“For the 2025 cohort, we received over 200,000 applications, and from this pool, 3,000 entrepreneurs from 52 African countries will receive $15 million in funding.

“Each entrepreneur will receive a $5,000 non-refundable seed grant; this is neither a loan nor equity,” she stated.

She further assured that the foundation had a monitoring and evaluation platform in place to track progress after disbursement, ensuring that beneficiaries adhered to their approved business plans.

Economy

UNIPORT Promotes 46 Senior Lecturers To Professor, Associate Professor Ranks

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UNIPORT

UNIPORT Promotes 46 Senior Lecturers To Professor, Associate Professor Ranks

UNIPORT promotes 46 senior lecturers to professor, associate professor ranks. The University of Port Harcourt (UNIPOĺRT) has promoted 30 senior lecturers to the rank of professor and 16 others to associate professor.

Vice Chancellor Prof. Owunari Georgewill announced the promotions in a statement on Tuesday, noting that the academics underwent a rigorous assessment process.

The promotions were approved during the university’s 187th Governing Council meeting, chaired by Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Sen. Mao Ohuabunwa.

A breakdown of the promotions shows that the Faculty of Science has seven new professors, followed by the Faculties of Social Sciences and Management Sciences with five each.

The College of Health Sciences also had five, while the Faculties of Humanities, Engineering, and Pharmaceuticals had four, three, and one, respectively.

UNIPORT

UNIPORT

Among the 16 newly promoted associate professors, the Faculty of Engineering produced four, the Faculty of Science three, and the Faculties of Education and Humanities two each.

Other faculties, including Agriculture, Social Sciences, Management Sciences, the College of Health Sciences, and the School of Science Laboratory Technology, each had one.

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Economy

Goodluck Jonathan Wins 2025 Sunhak Peace Prize

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Goodluck Jonathan Wins 2025 Sunhak Peace Prize

Goodluck Jonathan wins 2025 Sunhak Peace Prize. According to him, Mr Jonathan becomes the third person and the first African leader to win this category of the award.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has been nominated as the winner of the 2025 Founders Sunhak Peace Award.

Ikechukwu Eze, special adviser to Mr Jonathan disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.
Mr Eze said that the award would be presented to the former president by Sunhak Peace Prize Foundation in Seoul, South Korea on April 11.

According to him, Mr Jonathan becomes the third person and the first African leader to win this category of the award, after former United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon and Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen.
Mr Eze said that this year’s award ceremony, the sixth in the series, would take place in Seoul on April 11, where Mr Jonathan and other laureates would be decorated.

He quoted the Sunhak Peace Prize Committee as stating that the honour was in recognition of Jonathan’s consistent mediations and pro-democracy activities to bring peace to the African continent.

This, according to him, is especially through the instrumentality of the various associations he chairs, including Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF), West African Elders’ Forum (WAEF) and International Summit Council for Peace (ISCP).

The Sunhak Peace Award and the Sunhak Peace Prize are two categories of awards presented biennially by the committee to individuals and organisations acknowledged as worthy contributors to world peace and human development.

Prominent past winners of the second category, which is the Sunhak Peace Prize, included former Senegalese President Macky Sall and President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina.

Others were Dame Sarah Gilbert, Co-developer of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine as well as GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance.

Mr Eze said that Mr Jonathan would be receiving his award alongside three individuals who were recently announced by José Barroso, the Sunhak Peace Prize Committee Chair and former President of the European Commission, as winners in the other category.

Goodluck Jonathan

Goodluck Jonathan

They include Patrick Awuah Jr., founder and president of Ashesi University in Ghana, Hugh Evans, co-founder and chief executive officer of Global Citizen and Wanjira Mathai, Regional Director for Africa at the World Resources Institute.

Mr Eze also quoted the founder of the prize, Dr Hak Ja Han Moon, as stating in her pre-event address that the lives of the laureates had been an inspiring testament to how peace could be realised through concrete actions and cultural transformation.

“Over the past decade, the Sunhak Peace Prize has identified and honoured individuals.

“Individuals who have dedicated themselves to addressing urgent global challenges based on its three core values: respect for human rights, reconciliation of conflicts and ecological conservation,’’ Ms Moon said.

Established in 2015, the biennial Sunhak Peace Prize honours individuals and organisations that have shown extraordinary services to global peace and well-being in any of the three areas.

The areas are sustainable human development, conflict resolution or ecological conservation.

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Economy

Government To Train, Empower Youths For Agricultural Revolution In Kwara

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AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq

Government To Train, Empower Youths For Agricultural Revolution In Kwara

Government to train, empower youths for agricultural revolution In Kwara. He also said that the collaboration would help to create employment opportunities for the youths.

The Kwara ministry of youth development has said that it will train the youths and also empower them financially to drive the planned revolution in agriculture.

The commissioner, Shehu Ndanusa, said this on Monday when he paid a courtesy visit to the management of the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI) in Ilorin.

Mr Ndanusa said that the ministry needed to build the capacity of the youths in agribusiness, rural development, and entrepreneurship to create more job opportunities for young people in the state.
He further said that the state needs the support of the institute for agripreneurs through skill acquisition and business management training.

According to him, ARMTI is known for expertise in agricultural training and rural development, hence collaborating with the state government will help equip youths with practical skills for self-reliance.

Responding, the executive director of ARMTI, Dr Olufemi Oladunni, said that the youths remain the major focus of ARMTI.

Mr Oladunni also said that the agency trains youths, gives them starter packs and follows them up to ascertain participants are well established.

Empower Youths

Empower Youths

He said that the institute was prepared to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the ministry, in order to formalise the collaboration.

He emphasised that the partnership would aim at providing young Nigerians with essential training, technical support, and entrepreneurship opportunities in the agricultural sector.

He also said that the collaboration would help to create employment opportunities for the youths, boost food security and drive rural economic growth.

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