On 22nd March 2017, the Tony Elumelu Foundation announced the successful candidates for this year's entrepreneurship program. In its third year, the foundation notes the significant growth in applications since the Programme was launched in 2015.
The programme received close to 100,000 applications and out of these, 38,000 entrepreneurs were able to navigate and completely fill the application which they claim helped them understand some aspects they didn't know about entrepreneurship.
According to the Tony Elumelu Foundation, it is not only the number of applications that has increased - but the quality as well. This, of course, has presented another challenge. One that wasn't anticipated prior to launching the program.
The Foundation has a limited budget of $100 Million which is spread over a period of 10 years. This means that, in its budget, it can not take up more than 1,000 entrepreneurs per program. Yet, they feel more than 1000 entrepreneurs have ideas that can not only create jobs for Africans but also build the African economy.
They are therefore looking to circumvent this by allowing partners on board to help them sponsor additional numbers. Any organization willing to sponsor an entrepreneur shall part with $5000 per entrepreneur. The additional benefits like training, mentoring, networking and ongoing support shall be handled by the Tony Elumelu Foundation.
For the Companies, this will offer a huge opportunity to those looking to do Corporate Social Responsibility or for ideas that can improve their services or operations but don't have a budget to organize a program of the same caliber.
As for the entrepreneurs who didn't go through but believe there ideas were worth being part of the programme, this will be more than a second chance.
Read more about why the Tony Elumelu Foundation is looking for support here.