MarketPlace

56 Kenyan start-ups picked for Tony Elumelu SME training

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Nigerian businessman and philanthropist Tony Elumelu. file photo | nmg

Fifty-six Kenyan start-ups are among 1,000 small and medium enterprises selected to participate in this year’s Tony Elumelu Entepreneurship Programme (TEF).

TEF chief executive Parminder Vir said a review of 600 businesses that had participated in the TEF programme had expanded their enterprises, created more jobs as well as their products’ offering.

“The programme’s impact has since attracted global companies and regional institutions like Microsoft, GE, Ecowas who are keen in sponsoring similar activities across Africa,” he said.

Other successful applicants were picked from Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and Cameroon.

Nigerian businessman-cum-philanthropist Tony Elumelu said in a statement many viable businesses existed in Africa but had stagnated at the growth stage for years due to a lack of capital and expertise to break even into full production of commercial products and provision of services.

Mr Elumelu spoke when he received 1,000 names of successful SMEs whose owners would be mentored and trained for the next nine months on modern business skills that enable them to scale up.

The 2017 Entrepreneurship and Mentorship Programme received 93,000 applications from 55 countries in Africa.

Businesses involved with agro-processing formed the bulk of applications at 29 per cent followed by information and communication technology at 11 per cen) and manufacturing at 9 per cent, reflecting the African start-ups’ interest in the sectors.