Last night in Paris, I sat with President Emmanuel Macron and fellow leaders of the Africa France Impact Coalition, and our conversation kept returning to the same truth: Africa’s greatest asset is her youth.
But potential without opportunity is a promise broken. To me, joblessness is the betrayal of a generation.
Africa’s young people are talented, entrepreneurial, and ambitious. What they need is access to opportunity, capital, mentorship, and markets.
That is why I called for deeper collaboration, a partnership between Africa’s private sector and global leaders that meets the scale of the opportunity before us.
When President Macron visited Nigeria in 2018 and addressed over 2,000 young African entrepreneurs, the impact reverberated for years.
We must recreate that momentum, and go even further.
On March 22, the Tony Elumelu Foundation will empower an additional 3,200 young African entrepreneurs, continuing our mission to catalyse Africa’s private sector.
Since launching the Tony Elumelu Foundation in 2010, we have:
* Disbursed over $100 million in seed capital to more than 24,000 entrepreneurs
* Provided business training to 2.5 million young Africans through our digital platform, TEFConnect
* Enabled the creation of over 1.5 million direct and indirect jobs across the continent
* Helped lift over 2 million Africans out of poverty
* Supported entrepreneurs who have generated over $4.2 billion in revenue
* Achieved 46% women participation, reinforcing our commitment to inclusive growth
And yet, we are only scratching the surface.
This is why strategic partnerships between African institutions and global partners — including France — is key in accelerating entrepreneurship, innovation, and job creation across Africa.
Our work continues…
