APPLY TO #BEGREENAFRICA, WE'RE LOOKING FOR AFRICAN GREEN ENTREPRENEURS: Tony Elumelu Foundation

In collaboration with UNICEF Generation Unlimited (GenU) and the IKEA Foundation, the Tony Elumelu Foundation introduces a groundbreaking Green Entrepreneurship Program to combat youth unemployment in Africa.

On TEFConnect, the Tony Elumelu Foundation's digital platform, all waste management start-ups in Kenya as well as green start-ups in Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa can now submit applications for BeGreen Africa.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation, UNICEF Generation Unlimited (GenU), IKEA Foundation, and young green entrepreneurs jointly developed the green entrepreneurship pilot program known as BeGreen Africa.

This mission-aligned partnership's primary goal is to establish a comprehensive, long-lasting, and youth-led green entrepreneurship initiative in the waste sector (in Kenya) and the green sector (in Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal, and South Africa), in order to advance marginalized youth's social and economic prosperity and address the triple planetary crisis by reducing inequalities and establishing sustainable livelihoods for themselves and their peers.

The founding members of BeGreen Africa will make use of their combined knowledge, strong ties to the public and business sectors, youth networks, and wide-ranging field presence throughout Africa and in Kenya to:To empower the identified entrepreneurs to launch, grow, and scale their green businesses, it is important to: a) develop a green-focused curriculum that addresses the gaps and capacity needs of the identified target youth; b) engage expert trainers to deliver the trainings via www.TEFConnect.com; c) facilitate mentor and alumni network connections.

                                             Apply for the BEGREEN AFRICA Here

In this pilot program, #BeGreenAfrica hopes to teach 1,000 Kenyan youth in the field of waste management and give 120 of them access to the economy, as well as give 25 green sector entrepreneurs in Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa, all of whom are under 35, the opportunity to start or expand green firms in their respective countries. The program will explore how young entrepreneurs may contribute to circular economies and a growing body of research about youth entrepreneurship in high-impact green areas.

From August 10 through August 31, 2023, the multilingual application portal is accessible at www.TEFConnect.com.

When it comes to the Tony Elumelu Foundation:

The Tony Elumelu Foundation is a prominent philanthropy that supports the development of a new generation of African entrepreneurs, the eradication of poverty, the creation of jobs in all 54 African nations, and the economic empowerment of women. Since the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme was introduced in 2015, the Foundation has given over 1.5 million young Africans access to training through its digital hub, TEFConnect, and distributed nearly $100 million in direct funding to 18,000 women and men in Africa, who have collectively generated over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs. The Foundation's goal is based on Africapitalism, which sees the private sector—and especially entrepreneurs—as the engine driving social change and economic development of the African continent.

Concerning UNICEF GEN-U

Generation Unlimited is a leading global Public-Private-Youth Partnership that was established by the UN Secretary-General at the 2018 UN General Assembly and is based at UNICEF. It brings together world organizations and leaders, including Heads of State, CEOs, Heads of UN agencies, and civil society champions with young people to co-create and deliver innovative solutions on a global scale.

The goal of Generation Unlimited is to equip the 1.8 billion young people around the world with the skills they need to succeed in the workforce, in business, and in society.

IKEA Foundation information

The IKEA Foundation is a well-planned charitable organization that concentrates its grant-making efforts on combating the two main dangers to the futures of children: poverty and climate change. Currently, it distributes more than €200 million annually to assist raise family incomes and improve quality of life while preventing climate change. More than €1.8 billion in grants have been made by the IKEA Foundation since 2009 to improve the lives of children and their families.

The IKEA Foundation Board resolved in 2021 to allocate an additional €1 billion over the following five years to hasten the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. More than € 31 Million in emergency support has already been donated by the IKEA Foundation in 2023.