Women applicants make 32 per cent of new 1,000 African entrepreneurs selected for the round two of the $100 million Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) for 2016.
Fifteen countries out of 53 which participated in the competition had a higher female-to male ration in the final 1,000 entries, Nigerian Tribune gathered.
The top 15 countries inclued Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Cape Verde, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Gabon, The Gambia, Madagascar, Morocco, Senegal, Sierra Leone and South Sudan.
Countries like Nigeria, Gnana, Cote D’ivoire, Cameroon, Kenya, and Uganda, among others had a higher male-to female ration, while women in South Africa achieved almost parity with their male counterparts.
Data showed that there was 12 per cent of female applicants to 36.14 per cent, compared to 2015’s figures.
Keeping up with the surprises in this year’s applications, over 45,000 entrepreneurs from 54 African countries applied, more than doubling the number of applications received in 2015.
This year, applicants from Libya and joined the race this year, and Ethiopia made an impressive turn out, tripling the previous applications this year.
Elumelu, who announced the selection of the second round of the programme was which occurred on Monday, said: “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.”
As was done with the 2015 batch, in the next nine months, the 2016 cohort will receive the intensive online training, networking and mentoring, that provide a tool kit for success and sustainability.
Speaking, Parminder Vir OBE, CEO of The Tony Elumelu Foundation, said: “We saw phenomenal success with the first cycle of TEEP –the success stories of the TEEP 2015alumni are a testamentto the transformative power of the programme we have built.T hrough TEEP, we are proving to the next generation of entrepreneurs that their ideas can change their communities, their countries and their continent.”
Source: Tribune Newspaper
