The Tony Elumelu Foundation has empowered 8,000 women in 54 African countries in 10 years, the co-founder of the Foundation, Dr Awele Elumelu, has said.
Speaking at the 2024 Women Directors Conference of the Chartered Institute of Directors of Nigeria in Lagos, Dr Elumelu said that the figure represented 46 per cent of the total number of entrepreneurs empowered by the foundation so far.
She added that as a co-founder of the foundation, she had seen the impacts of equipping women.
“I am glad to say that 10 years later, we have funded over 8,000 women-owned businesses in 54 African countries. That is an impressive 46 per cent of the total number of entrepreneurs we have funded on our continent.
“We have seen that truly when you empower a woman, you empower the nation,” local media reports on Monday quoted Dr. Elumelu as saying.
According to her, the foundation is committed to empowering and uplifting young African entrepreneurs across all African countries, both men and women.
“When we first commenced with the first round of applications, we had very few women. Less than a fraction of one-third were women.
“What we do in the foundation is identify these young Africans with business ideas, train them, mentor them, and give them a non-refundable $5,000 for their businesses,” Dr. Elumelu said, adding that the foundation understands the importance of women’s empowerment and inclusion and made efforts to ensure women benefitted from its funding.
GIK/APA