This was revealed in a brochure celebrating the 60th birthday of TEF founder Tony Elumelu, who turned 60 on Wednesday.

According to a report in the brochure, 1.5 million entrepreneurs have been trained and supported by the foundation so far—an Africa-wide outlook has helped with this initiative.

In speaking about his interest in the economic prosperity of Africa, Elumelu said, “I engage public and private sector players across my world. My message is always simple; let us partner on poverty alleviation, job creation and women’s economic empowerment in Africa.”

"So far, over 18,000 entrepreneurs across the African continent have benefitted from the over $100m seed capital disbursed by the foundation, while about 25 per cent of the beneficiaries have been able to get additional investments in their businesses...

The foundation said it had increased the rate of women’s employment from 24 per cent to 52 per cent since 2015, empowering over 7,000 women—85 percent of whom lead their own businesses.

The foundation said that 83 per cent of its beneficiaries were contributing to minimizing carbon footprint, and 91 per cent were helping with waste minimization and the use of natural products—among other environmental sustainability efforts.

The foundation said, “The robust ability of the foundation to reach entrepreneurs across geographies and sectors has enabled it to conduct innovative partnerships with the European Union, United Nations Development Programme, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United States Government via the United States African Development Fund and others with bespoke programmes including targeting female empowerment and growth in fragile states.”

TEF revealed that Elumelu, believes in Africapitalism, which is predicated on the belief that the private sector can and must play a leading role in the continent’s development and also encourage private sector businesses to get involved in the business of developing the continent, rather than leaving it to governments, donor countries and philanthropic organisations.