The chairman of Heirs Holdings and founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Tony Elumelu, has on Saturday, in his New Year message, tasked young Nigerians and Africans on commitment, excellence, discipline and professionalism.
He made this known through a note in his website entitled ‘A personal note to African entrepreneurs’.
He started by expressing joy on how Africans made it through 2021, another year of the global pandemic, uncertainty, challenge, but also opportunity.
“As we enter 2022, I wanted to write personally, as we plan for the future and create new goals,” he started. “I want to share a little of my own story and what I call the #TOEWAY and the core values that guide me.”
He stated that ‘execution’ and ‘excellence’ are the values that have helped him personally and professionally, and that these values are incredibly important for every young African entrepreneur to imbibe, learn, thrive, and grow from.
He dealt extensively on enterprise and entrepreneurship. He commended enterprising young people who are applying their academic knowledge along with digital savvy to solve endemic social and economic issues.
He stressed that he was born in Africa, raised in Africa, studied in Africa, worked in Africa, and have achieved success in Africa. He added that beyond business success, one must always look for ways not only to give back, but also to empower the generation coming behind so that they can go even further.
“That is how we can enact this social and economic change that we are all seeking in our continent and in our world today,” he wrote. “As a parent, one’s desire is for your children to do better and so we strive to provide the resources and materials that they need to ensure that they go far in life.”
While elaborating on the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), he noted that, this year, TEF received 406,257 applications from all 54 African countries and provided training to 206,550 – more than 50 percent of applicants.
“This year alone, we disbursed USD$24.75m to 5,000 African entrepreneurs, demonstrating our mission to catalyse economic growth, drive poverty eradication and ensure job creation on the continent,” he wrote.
Elumelu seized the opportunity to announce the 2022 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme application, and encouraged entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries to apply for the opportunity of a lifetime to receive $5,000 non-refundable seed capital, world-class business management training, mentorship, and access to key networks and markets.
He stated that he is a product of luck and hard work and know first-hand that these factors are inextricable if one wants to succeed. He admonished young people to be disciplined, to nurture the mindset of longevity in all areas of their thinking, to embrace challenges, and to set goals and commit to them.
“For many young people, beginnings can be scary and uncertain, charged with many decisions to make and ambitions to fulfil,” he wrote. “You know that you are increasingly ambitious. Take advantage of this opportunity of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme to drive change in your life, in that of your family, your local community!”
He enjoined Africans not to lose hope as they usher into the 3rd year of living through a pandemic. He added that entrepreneurship is years of hard work and unquantifiable sacrifices.
“Your capacity to thrive and remain committed despite temporary setbacks, will have significant impact in realising your dreams,” he concluded. “Let us all look forward to a productive year ahead of achieving all of our goals.”
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