The Tony Elumelu Foundation and the International Committee of the Red Cross have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to empower 200 entrepreneurs from Nigeria’s North-East and Niger Delta regions.
The partnership is aimed at holistically addressing, through innovative interventions, the economic plight of communities affected by armed conflicts or violence.
It will support startups with innovative ideas in the area of agriculture, health care, microfinance, construction, commerce and fashion.Speaking at the signing of the MoU, the Founder, TEF, Mr. Tony Elumelu, said selected entrepreneurs from the two regions would each receive up to $5,000 from a separate endowment of $1m.
This, he noted, would be in form of non-returnable seed capital to implement their business ideas, after undergoing business training and mentoring.
Elumelu said the beneficiaries would be notified alongside the announcement of the successful 1,000 entrepreneurs in the fourth cycle of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme on March 22 this year.
He stated, “This initiative is complementary to the existing $100m TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, a tried and tested approach to creating sustainable impact that has seeded, mentored and trained 3,000 African entrepreneurs, generated revenue and creates jobs across all 54 African countries.
“Out of this number, 1,593 entrepreneurs, representing over 50 per cent, are Nigerian citizens.”
The ICRC Deputy Director for Africa, Patrick Youssef, said the partnership was based on the common principle of accountability and proximity to the people.
He noted that the move would help to restore livelihoods affected by conflicts and the desire to see a positive change in Africa.