About 1000 entrepreneurs have been selected across African continent to benefit in the second round of Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme, TEEP. The lucky winners were drawn from the over 45,000 entrepreneurs from 54 African countries that applied for the business empowerment programme.

The successful candidates were randomly selected from diverse industries including by agriculture, ICT and fashion. The highest numbers of applicants came from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Cameroon. All five regions – North, East, Southern, Central and West Africa are represented. “In TEEP’s first year we spent over $8 million of our $100 million commitment – with $5 million going directly to entrepreneurs as seed capital — and the results have far exceeded our expectations. We have funded entrepreneurs, established networks and helped extraordinary people take control of their destinies. The 2016 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs will become a generation of newly empowered African business owners, who are the clearest evidence yet, that indigenous business growth will drive Africa’s economic and social transformation,” Tony Elumelu, founder of the programme, said while announcing the new winners.

The entrepreneurship programme, which was launched in 2015, represents a 10-year, $100 million commitment earmarked to identify and empower 10,000 African entrepreneurs, create a million jobs and add $10 billion in revenues to Africa’s economy.