AFRICA’S POWER COUPLE WHOSE DEDICATION TO PHILANTHROPY IS HELPING A NEW GENERATION OF BIG IDEAS

Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day, teach that person how to fish and you feed them for a lifetime!

True philanthropy is where the ROI is hopefully a better world and this is what Africa’s power couple seeks to do; to make the world a better place.

Recently, Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation and Chairman UBA Group; Tony Elumelu and his wife Dr. Awele V. Elumelu; CEO Avon Medical services were featured on CNN’s Marketplace Africa.

Speaking to Marketplace Africa host, Eleni Giokos, the power couple whose TEF has become one of the largest philanthropic initiatives in Africa, said helping businesses has a significant impact on the economy of a country, a commitment they are prepared to follow through.

When asked why the focus is specifically on entrepreneurs, Awele responds; “We believe that we have to encourage these businesses. We have to make provisions for these businesses to grow in order to grow the economy, in order to provide even other jobs for other people. There’s that ripple effect. One person is providing jobs for a hundred other people, and each of them in return providing jobs for another set of hundred people, and that way, we are developing the economy.

Along with his wife Awele Elumelu, Tony Elumelu aims to create a million jobs within the next decade through his foundation.

He tells CNN: “We’re hoping to create a million jobs through the intervention of these 10,000 young African entrepreneurs. You need to understand that big corporations, per se, don’t really create more jobs. He adds, “What’s important is to have great ideas and we evaluate your ideas. If we think your ideas can be scaleable, your ideas can succeed, you’re going to address some of the issues that we face as humanity, your community issues etc., then we support those entrepreneurs”.

Tony Elumelu, told CNN’s Marketplace Africa that his foundation plans to create one million jobs across Africa over the next 10 years and to also create opportunities especially with the recently launched TEF Connect; a digital platform that brings all African entrepreneurs creating a meeting point for investors and entrepreneurs. together.

Great philanthropists are the ones who spend real time in the communities they wish to serve, understanding the external pressures and changing environments that they are operating in, creating opportunities that will bring real change to the communities around them and beyond.

This is the path the amazing duo of Tony and Awele Elumelu are on and this is why they are Africa’s power couple