Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Africa’s largest philanthropy focused on supporting entrepreneurship, on Thursday announced that the third annual TEF Entrepreneurship Forum – the most inclusive gathering of African SMEs – will take place on October 13-14 in Lagos.
This is the first year the invitation-only Forum is open to non-TEF entrepreneurs and will allow SMEs from across Africa to attend and form networks, share knowledge, connect with investors, link with corporate supply chains and influence policy makers and business leaders in attendance.
“Since launching the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme – and committing $100 million to empowering 10,000 African entrepreneurs in a decade – we have unleashed our continent’s most potent development force – its entrepreneurs,” said TEF Founder Tony O. Elumelu, CON. “In just three years, our 3,000 entrepreneurs have created tens of thousands of jobs and generated considerable wealth. On October 13 and 14, we invite the global entrepreneurship community to Lagos toward the realization of a New Africa, a thriving, self-reliant continent capable of replicating the results we have seen in our ground-breaking programme.”
The two-day event features plenary panels, masterclasses, and sector specific networking opportunities as well as policy-led talks focused on improving the enabling environment for African businesses.
TEF Chief Executive Officer, Parminder Vir said: “This is the first year we have opened the Forum up to include not just the 1,000 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs from the 2017 cycle of our programme, but the full pan-African entrepreneurship ecosystem. In doing so, we are allowing disparate SME communities to come together and expand the possibilities for intra-African partnerships. I urge policymakers and investors to join us at the Forum as we empower the next generation of African business titans.”
Speakers at the event will include Wale Ayeni, International Finance Corporation; Stephen Tio Kauma, Afrexim Bank; Andre Hue, African Development Bank; Stephen M. Haykin, USAID Nigeria; Heikke Reugger, European Investment Bank; and Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, United Nations Development Programme.
The Foundation’s long-term investment in empowering African entrepreneurs is emblematic of Elumelu’s philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions Africa’s private sector, and most importantly its entrepreneurs, as the catalysts for the social and economic development of the continent.