INTRODUCTION
There are growing concerns and frustration among a majority of the young aspiring African entrepreneurs who recently completed the renowned Tony Elumelu Foundationâs Entrepreneurship and Business Management Training Programme of 2023 (TEF2023). This unresolved situation is ongoing while the foundationâs portals are already open for applications for the 2024 cohort.
In recent weeks, loud complaints about unusual, irregular, and unfair treatment within the 2023 program have surfaced. One major issue revolves around a requirement for entrepreneurs who reached the verification phase to set up business bank accounts at specific banks (UBA). Additionally, they were all asked to download, sign, notarize, and submit the 2023 TONY ELUMELU FOUNDATION SEED CAPITAL DISBURSEMENT UNDERTAKING document, only to later find themselves ineligible for seed capital without clear explanations.
The outcry is particularly pronounced among non-Nigerian participants, who allege that TEF declared more than 80% (around 600 out of 700+) of them ineligible for seed capital, despite all participants being asked to comply and submit seed capital documents about a month ago.
As we delve deeper into the details, it becomes evident that a closer examination of the situation is necessary.
WHAT IS THE TONY ELUMELU FOUNDATION (TEF)?
The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) was established in 2010 by Nigerian business tycoon Tony O. Elumelu (who also is the Chairman of UBA Group), with a vision to harness Africa’s youth as drivers of its transformation. TEF is renowned for its commitment to sustainable development, focusing on job creation, poverty alleviation, and women’s economic empowerment.
TEF’s mission, rooted in Africapitalism, prioritizes the private sector and entrepreneurs as catalysts for Africa’s social and economic progress. In 2015, TEF consolidated its efforts, launching the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme. This 10-year, $100 million commitment aims to train, mentor, and fund 10,000 young African entrepreneurs across 54 countries.
Faibatek Enterprise is a proud Alumni/beneficiary of the programme, receiving $5,000 from 2021 (after 2020 applications were canceled and postponed to 2021 due to Covid-19) and this explains our special sensitivity to the current crisis.
So far, the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme is said to have trained over 1.5 million youths through TEF Connect, disbursed nearly $100 million to over 18,000 entrepreneurs, and generated over 400,000 jobs since inception. This initiative empowers African youths to create sustainable businesses, drive economic growth, and alleviate poverty.
These milestones the foundation has achieved over the years are mightily thanks to the support of TEFâs many renowned partners including; the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Sightsavers, The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), United States of Americaâs Department of State, Google, European Commission, United States African Development Foundation, African Foundation for Education, The Deutsche Gesellschaft fĂŒr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Seme City, etc.
TEF has always been transparent about most of the statistics from their Entrepreneurship program since inception and here are some of the numbers from past years below.
As shown in the image above, annual applications were already above 200,000 in 2019 and have trended upward since then, thus highlighting the increasingly competitive nature of the program. We can also observe that TEF partnerships continue to boost the number of selected entrepreneurs.
It has been common practice for TEF to announce entrepreneurs shortlisted for funding every year, with a publicly accessible list that breaks down the winners by Nationality, Gender, Sector, etc. The list and other numbers are usually available in December of the cohort year. Strangely, we are around February 2024 without the list for the 2023 cohort announced yet.
The year Faibatek was shortlisted (TEF2021), we were among 4,949 entrepreneurs selected for funding from over 400,000 applications. See the image below.
EXTRACT; https://www.tonyelumelufoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/2021-TEF-At-a-glance-report.pdf
CLICK HERE, for more details on the TEF2021 figures announced in a December 6, 2021 press conference with Mr. Tony O. Elumelu in attendance.
For the TEF2022 cohort, the list of 1,460 beneficiaries (entrepreneurs shortlisted for funding) was announced in early December (Dec 05, 2022) as was the case with the previous cohorts. CLICK HERE to check out the report from TEF on the TEF2022 application and selection numbers.
EXTRACT; https://www.tonyelumelufoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2023/01/2022-TEF-Entrepreneurship-Programme-at-a-Glance.pdf
At just a glance, youâll notice the massive drop in the number of beneficiaries from previous years. Another strange observation this year was the TEF2022 SELECTION LIST not breaking down shortlisted entrepreneurs by country at all. A potential red flag that didnât quite cause a stir although I remember hearing a few murmurs and complaints online from some applicants.
For the first time, in the programâs history, entrepreneurs who made it past the training of 2022 and into the Video Pitching and Business Plan Phase were required to submit Business registration documents/information together with the Pitch Video and Business Plan without any guarantees theyâll be funded. Many couldnât afford the costs and therefore didnât comply thus leading to their disqualification.
As indicated by the application stats from every year since the TEF ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMME was launched, a vast majority of the applicants are usually young struggling Africans still in the IDEA phase of their various innovative businesses. This takes us into the controversial TEF2023.
TEF2023 COHORT CONTROVERSY
Summarily, the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme usually runs (from January to December) with more or less An Application phase, a 7-week Training Phase, a Pitch Video and Business Plan Phase, a Due Diligence/Verification Phase, and a Seed Capital Phase.
Applications for the TEF2023 cohort opened between January â April 2023 with the foundationâs annual promise of $5,000 and Business training for entrepreneurs from 54 African countries through an even more effective process. Click here to see the call for applications for aspiring entrepreneurs for TEF2024.
In addition to the normal application process used over the years, a new 2nd level Application Assessment was introduced with more than 60 questions. The difficulty of this new survey challenge cut the applicants eligible for training from hundreds of thousands to just over 17,000 right at the door.
See the image below.
Screenshot of 2nd Level Assessment survey statistics after completion a few minutes before the deadline.
ONLY 17,000+ ENTREPRENEURS SUCCEEDED TO COMPLETE THE SECOND LEVEL ASSESSMENT SURVEY (8,000+ NIGERIANS AND 9,000+ NON-NIGERIANS)
Among the 17,000+ who made it to the 7-week training of 2023, a massive 36% (about 6,089) were entrepreneurs still in the Business idea phase i.e. little or no business operations yet most likely due to lack of funds and/or non-investor readiness. This is a keynote in this article because the foundation takes pride in being one of the biggest drivers of innovation and job creation on the African continent through young aspiring entrepreneurs from across 54 African countries.
According to these TEF2023 cohort participants, attendance was compulsory for all their Masterclasses as strict provisions were made through Google Forms to conduct roll calls. It was a key component to their qualification for the next phase (Business Plan, Video Pitch, and Financial Document Phase).
TEF2023 Email screenshot with congratulatory message after qualifying for the Business Plan, Video Pitch, and Financial Document Phase; Aug 24th, 2023.
The submission period for the business plan, financials, and 2-3 min pitch video was set for September 4 â September 17, 2023.
Below are two screenshots of an important update the foundation sent to all participants who made it this far on August 29, 2023. The foundation advised all of them to start preparing verification and seed capital phase documents. You may want to pay attention to the second last paragraph clarifying that âonly those selected, following the programâs pitching round will have access to upload the files aboveâŠâ    Â
Important update screenshots from TEF2023; Aug 29, 2023
At this point, there was an all-new mandatory mobile number authentication via WhatsApp which earned each of the entrepreneurs a unique TEF ID used to submit their business plans, financial documents, and pitch videos. One week after the deadline passed, then came a WhatsApp Video Call Verification process that ran from September 25th to October 12th, 2023. Upon its conclusion, the TEF2023 entrepreneurs who participated in the verification process received the email shown in the screenshot below.
TEF2023 Screenshot of Email marking the end of the Video Verification Exercise; Oct 14, 2023
The second paragraph of the email above is something of note because itâs at the center of the confusion that ensues from this point onwards.
On Oct 26, 2023 (12 days after the Video Verification exercise) another email came through informing eligible entrepreneurs about the next phase (the business plan and review phase) while thanking and apologizing to those deemed ineligible as that was the end of the road for them. As confusing as it was (especially because there had been a similarly named phase earlier in the program) this email also contained the statement; âIt is important to note that your participation in the business plan review does not automatically guarantee your eligibility to move to the next phase of the Programme.â
The multiple extra selections and disqualifications introduced in TEF2023 reduced the remaining number of entrepreneurs at this point to just a few thousand at most. However, the complexity of this yearâs programme wasnât over just yet.
Anxiously awaiting updates on what the next step was, the entrepreneurs got an email from the foundation 2 weeks later (on November 11, 2023) to inform them about an upcoming physical verification exercise for all eligible applicants in the second week of January 2024. SEE SCREENSHOT BELOW
TEF2023 physical verification email screenshot; Nov 11, 2023
Most importantly,all entrepreneurs who got the email above were kindly requiredto join one of two TEF Administered WhatsApp groups. One for Nigerian entrepreneurs (approximately 900 members) and the other for Non-Nigerian Entrepreneurs (approximately 740 members). These WhatsApp groups named 2023 TEF Verification Phase helped the entrepreneurs to interact with the program administrators who were flooded with questions on how to prepare for the physical verification exercise and why it was to begin as far as the second week of January. Most of what they got was âmake sure you are available when the time comes,â and âyouâll be contacted before youâre visitedâ. Remember previous cohorts had their selection lists announced in early December.
On November 21, 2023 (10 days after the physical verification email) all the remaining entrepreneurs bizarrely received an email titled â2023 TEF ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMME â SEED CAPITAL REQUIRED DOCUMENTS!â
See screenshots below;
TEF2023 Seed Capital Requirements Email Screenshot; Nov 21, 2023.
This was no âcongratulations, you have been selected for fundingâŠâ and Point 6 of the email still highlighted that âsubmitting these documents does not guarantee automatic selection for seed capitalâŠâ. However, everything historic and legal from the TEF email quite clearly indicated they were beneficiaries required to comply to enable them to receive $5,000 as has always been the case in previous years.
Never before had any TEF cohort been subjected to incurring costs for signing, notarizing, and submitting the TEF-provided 2023 TEF Seed Capital Disbursement Undertaking without qualifying for funding. Click Here to see the full templates of the 2023 Tony Elumelu Foundation Seed Capital Disbursement Undertaking and Bank Reference Letter. Or see the screenshot below;
Extract; Page 1 of 2023 TEF Seed Capital Disbursement Undertaking for signing and notarization)
Point 1 of the legally binding document recognizes the undersigned as a beneficiary of the 2023 Tony Elumelu Foundation.
Moreover, business bank account information has always been required only from entrepreneurs eligible for funding.
Our research shows that it was such an uphill battle for many of these entrepreneurs who are still in the idea phase of their businesses to get these Seed Capital Requirements ready. Plus, the email only gave them 9 days to provide everything leaving many with no choice but to seek loans. Business and tax registration in many African countries can cost up to $600, notarizing the seed capital disbursement undertaking reportedly cost some over $200, and creating a UBA Business Bank Account could require as much as a $200 minimum deposit.
With approximately 1,600 entrepreneurs remaining in the programme from the 2 WhatsApp groups, some failed to meet up with the deadline which was later extended by almost a couple of weeks. The extensions came about after the submission link was changed more than once due to TEF system errors.
See the TEF resubmission request email screenshot below;
Extract; TEF resubmission request email screenshot and seed capital requirements deadline extension; Dec 15, 2023.
At this point, they were already past the usual time of the year when TEF publicly announced their shortlisted entrepreneurs receiving funding. But the drama of the TEF2023 cohort was far from over.
During the submission period for Seed capital requirements, TEF once again requested all the entrepreneurs to submit their business plans, and pitch videos while selecting the languages used. This created even more confusion among the entrepreneurs as the admins didnât quite provide plausible explanations as to why the foundation was asking for documents already submitted more than a month earlier (September 4 â September 17, 2023).
Bits of info from the WhatsApp group Admins calmed the waters though and a majority of the entrepreneurs kept doing their best to comply with the demands of TEF. A small number of entrepreneurs talking in the groups about being contacted for physical verification already by December 17th even though the preannounced date for that phase was the second week of January 2024 added to the chaos. Not to leave out the fact that some received mail carrying a deadline period that had passed already.
A weird 3-week period of almost total silence ensued during which a call for applications for the 2024 cohort was published by the foundation (January 1 to March 1, 2024). This raised many brows in the WhatsApp groups since the 2023 participants were still in the dark about when and how their programme concludes. On January 8, 2024, the foundation sent emails to the 2023 entrepreneurs apologizing for the delay in communication, announced the close of the Business Plan & Pitch video review phase, and promised a selection conclusion by the third week of January.
The apology email was accompanied by a 3rd party assessment message for the business plans and pitch videos. Many of the entrepreneurs recount their messages as being broad and critical of the absence of financial projections (which were in the financial document earlier submitted to TEF) which the foundation didnât include as one of the required submissions the second time around.
We couldnât get a screenshot of the business plan and video pitch assessment email because all the entrepreneurs we reached out to stated that particular mail came in as spam and have been automatically deleted.
On January 23, 2024, TEF dropped a bombshell email on the TEF2023 cohort entrepreneurs informing those eligible to move to the Seed Funding phase and disqualifying others deemed ineligible.
This immediately turned the WhatsApp groups chaotic as what was going on made very little sense. The chaos exploded even further in the non-Nigerian entrepreneurâs group as more messages and screenshots poured in, indicating a vast majority of them got the âYOU ARE INELIGIBLE TO PROCEED EMAILâ (See screenshot below), contrary to the general temperature in the Nigeriansâ WhatsApp group.
The Plight of Frustrated Tef2023 Beneficiaries
With no answers coming from the admins, the entrepreneurs decided to run a poll in the groups to get an overview of the percentage of those selected as eligible for seed capital and the results were shocking. After running for about 48 hours (before the admins restricted the groups, allowing only admins to send messages), the poll results showed a staggering figure of less than 10% of non-Nigerians eligible for funding. Although these numbers havenât been confirmed by the foundation yet to publicly announce the list of the beneficiaries of 2023, weâve gathered disturbing statistics that support the sad theory.
For example, just 1 out of 24 Botswanan entrepreneurs evidently got the âYOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR SEED CAPITALâ email, meanwhile only 2 out of 50+ Cameroonians weâve reached out to are eligible.
In addition to these low numbers from the non-Nigerian group, what worsens the pain for some is reports showing almost an 80% selection rate among the â900 Nigerian entrepreneurs.
See the non-Nigerian entrepreneursâ poll screenshot below and other comments from affected entrepreneurs.
Tef2023 fallout screenshots and testimonies
Here are just a few screenshots from the thousands of messages and videos weâve found from the hundreds of TEF2023 entrepreneurs feeling beaten, battered, and even scammed.
Their frustration which theyâve tried to communicate to the foundation and Mr. Tony O. Elumelu without success so far has been misunderstood as simple disappointment for not being selected. Whereas, they deserve answers and explanations to the following valid questions;
- Why were all â700 of the non-Nigerian entrepreneurs suddenly compelled to submit Seed Capital Requirements only for more than 80% to be strangely kicked out a month later with no explanations?
- Why (for the first time ever) did TEF compel all the eligible and ineligible 2023 cohort finalists to download, sign, notarize, and submit the 2023 Tony Elumelu Foundation Seed Capital Disbursement Undertaking? (could cost over $200).
- Why did TEF suddenly compel â700 aspiring entrepreneurs to create and submit Business Bank Account details from UBA bank (incurring costs some couldnât afford) if â80% were not to be funded?
- Why has TEF ignored complaints so far and not publicly released the 2023 list of shortlisted entrepreneurs eligible for Seed Capital more than a week after sending out emails (about 2 months after the usual shortlisting period)?
- Why are TEF admins deleting comments from TEF2023 entrepreneurs asking for fairness and accountability about their situation on their social media posts instead of responding to them or addressing the situation?
These WHY? questions and many others have inspired a few hashtags on social media this past week including #TEFWHY and #ISTEFASCAM used by the TEF2023 aggrieved entrepreneurs.
Boineelo Thamuku (Botswana) told us, âWhat started as a beacon of hope for many young aspiring African entrepreneurs, is turning out to be a well thought out scam for non-Nigerian applicants. Our respect for Sir. Tony Elumelu remains unwavering. We uphold him as a hero who cultivated the culture of entrepreneurship on the African continent thus creating a strong economic drive among his fellow country youths and beyond. However, what has become of TEF recently needs to be brought to his attention since he may not be aware of the scams, incompetence, and fraudulent behavior that started in 2022 and is blowing all out in the TEF 2023 cycle.â
As you can see from the screenshots below, some of the UBA Business bank accounts created just 2 short months ago have already accumulated charges in the region of 35,000+ XAF ($60) and this is not only unfair but unbearable.
UBA Gabon bank alert screenshot; TEF2023 Fallout.
Click Here to see more examples of the distressing experiences some of the victims had to go through.
SEEKING SOLUTIONS
If our research is anything solid to go by, the earlier the crisis is properly addressed and sorted, the better for these young Africans and all related stakeholders (TEF and partners, future applicants of the TEF programme, the general public, etc.)
Weâre trying via email and social media to reach TEF and Mr. Tony O. Elumelu and weâre yet to get any response worth noting. This is pushing many of the aggrieved entrepreneurs into depression while some are doing their best to get the story out to media people, blogs, and influencers who give voices to the voiceless so their cries can be heard. Others are even looking towards reaching out to TEF Partners, Legal Assistance, Rights Defense Groups, and anyone who can stand for them.
Here is a link to a petition launched by a group of TEF2023 entrepreneurs when they were met with silence from the foundation after sending out controversial rejection emails. Please, click here to add your voice to their petition.
Many of the TEF2023 entrepreneurs who clearly havenât lost their respect and admiration of Mr. Tony O. Elumelu just yet are only seeking solutions. Most of them believe this may have resulted from another system error or a few incompetent staff members. Although the silence of the Foundation so far is making some suspect malicious intent and are going as far as accusing TEF of wanting to use the signed and notarized undertakings to justify the disbursement of funds they donât want to disburse.
A TEF ambassador from Botswana (Ratidzo Murwisi) has tried to bring some calm among her fellow country entrepreneurs affected citing system errors and/or wrongly flagged submitted documents as possible causes of the problem. However, she admits it has never happened at such a scale.
Extract; TEF 2023 Botswana WhatsApp screenshot Ratidzo Murwisi trying to establish calm
No human endeavor can run without irregularities, errors, glitches, etc. However, the potential financial and mental health consequences of the current crisis on these young brilliant Africans are devastating. So, solutions should be considered as quickly as possible. Believing TEFâs mission is to empower and not destroy African youths, we call on TEF, their partners, social media influencers, and other well-wishers to listen to the cries of the TEF2023 cohort and come to their rescue.
PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
Calls for accountability and transparency will only get louder moving forward and thatâs where any proper solution should begin. And we propose the best solution would include all or some of the following;
- Disregarding the January Emails and the foundation moving forward to fund all â1500 entrepreneurs whocomplied and submitted valid seed capital requirements.
- TEF should publicly apologize for the chaos, identify the causes of the confusion, and fix them right away so that all those who signed the undertaking benefit from the grant as wished by the foundation (clearly stated in the notarized undertaking document).
- Announce details such as the number of expected beneficiaries (minimum or range) before or during the Entrepreneurship programme to enhance accountability.
- Continue making the beneficiaries list public (in early December) and breaking down the shortlisted entrepreneurs according to country, gender, sector, partners, etc. (Staying true to the promise of supporting entrepreneurs from 54 African countries)
- Maintain the process of the first 7 years, which required only entrepreneurs eligible for funding to sign the notarized seed capital disbursement undertaking and submit other seed capital requirements.
- Eliminate the shifting deadlines, double and triple submission requests, and many other irregularities that plagued the TEF2023 cohort.
- TEF going back to the trend of honoring their commitment of 10,000 entrepreneurs in 10 years (at least 1,000 beneficiaries every year) as shown in their first 5 years report.
We hope and pray TEF gives appropriate attention to this crisis so that a proper solution is found before it gets out of control potentially damaging an admirable reputation theyâve built for over a decade.
The hopes and dreams of these young brilliant minds are crushed and they are appealing to the following voices and changemakers; TEF, Tony Elumelu, All TEF PARTNERS, BBC Africa, Mimi Mefo Infos, Investir Au Pays, Rebecca Enonchong, etc. to hear them out and come to their rescue.
Weâll keep following and updating this story as we have reached out to many media houses, personalities, and others across the globe who are doing their own research and due diligence before getting involved. Feel free to reach out to us with any updates, inquiries, or anything related to the story or our Faibatek Services.
Please, follow us on Social Media @faibatek to stay updated on the story.
Compiled by Rodrigue Ndofor M., co-founder of Faibatek Enterprise!
The Tef this 2023 is a mess they make you create bank accounts and sign notarization that you have received the seed capital and end up deceiving you.
Mr Tony ELUMELU this tef is just for Nigerians just tell us you want people to create bank accounts in UBA. You say you care about Africa youths but you don’t.
You play on people’s emotions for a year, make them be on depts.đđđđ
Now the bank accounts you specified in UBA ( united bank for Africa), is sending us messages of depts.đđđđđđ.
waouh this is a great job! well done!!! thanks!!!
It is very sad what Tony Elumelu Foundation did last year 2023.Ive always heard people complaining about the programme.The programme was an error right from the beginning with master classes,postponing classes without notification and no apology no nothing.They didn’t even complete whatever things they told us to do
Was TEF OUT TO DESTROY NON NIGERIAN ENTREPRENEURS OR TO EMPOWER THEM IN 2023. WHY PUSH ME TO USE MY BUSINESS CAPITAL TO REGISTER COMPANIES, TAXATION, AND INITIAL DEPOSIT IN UBA ONLY TO BE DECLARED NOT ELIGIBLE AFTER SIGNING A NOTARIZE DOCUMENT AS A 2023 BENEFICIARY
This is very sad to think a reputable foundation such as TEF will do such to hundreds of applicants why not eliminate them instead of using them to sign documents that costs money all in the name of notarized documents