The Chief Executive Officer, Tony Elumelu Foundation Lagos, Mr Tony Elumelu, said on Tuesday that the organisation would create over one million jobs across Africa in the next 10 years through its entrepreneurship Programme.

The foundation floats the over N3 trillion entrepreneurship.

Elumelu, a former Managing Director of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, said this through a tele-conference coordinated at the Business Branch of UBA, Bank Road, Bauchi.

He said that the foundation, established in 2014, had already trained and mentored 3,000 entrepreneurs in Africa in the last three segments of the programme.

According to him, the foundation which commenced operations in 2015 targets the training and mentoring of over 10,000 African entrepreneurs by 2024.

He said that only 200 Nigerians had so far benefited from the programme out of the 3,000 African entrepreneurs that have keyed into the programme in the last three years.

“The North-East sub-region of Nigeria has the least beneficiaries because only four people from Azare town in Bauchi State have so far benefited from such gesture.

“The region is backward in terms of entrepreneurship and the least beneficiaries of the foundation and I urge the people within the region to avail themselves of this opportunity,” said Elumelu.

He added that the beneficiaries were trained and mentored in agriculture, education, manufacturing, health care, tourism, media and entertainment, commercial retail, telecommunications, ICT, Fashion and design and other professional services.

He said that apart from the three-week free training programme the beneficiaries attended, they were also assisted with N1.57 million each to either startup new businesses or boost existing enterprises.

Elumelu explained that 180,000 applicants were expected to benefit from the programme designed to equip entrepreneurs with the skills needed to build strong and sustainable businesses from within and outside the African Continent in 2018.

He said that it was expected that the 10-year programme would identify, grow and create 10,000 start-up businesses across Africa that developed ingenious solutions to pressing economic challenges in their communities and countries as well as improve lives, generate employment and wealth.

The chief executive officer said that the 10-year plan would also create one million new jobs and contribute N3.15 trillion additional revenues across Africa.

He urged prospective applicants to apply to enable them to benefit from the Programme. (NAN)

•Tony Elumelu

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