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The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has announced it will host the 5th edition of its annual TEF Entrepreneurship Forum on July 26-27, 2019 in Abuja. The forum, touted as the largest annual gathering of African entrepreneurs, will bring together political leaders and policymakers to meet a new generation of African business leaders who are transforming Africa’s economic trajectory.

According to a statement released by TEF, the event is the culmination of the annual entrepreneurship programme of the Foundation, which has trained over 3,000 young Africans this year. The Presidential Convening is one of the highlights of the Forum, whereby African entrepreneurs in attendance usually interact with the political leaders attending the event. This provides first-hand testimony of the important role governments can play in catalysing growth and encouraging business ambition.

Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, and his Senegalese counterpart, Macky Sall, will be the keynote speakers at this year’s Forum. They will also join Tony Elumelu, Founder of TEF and Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), in an intimate open-house discussion.

“The TEF Entrepreneurship Forum will not just convene the most important stakeholders in the African entrepreneurship ecosystem, it will also provide an opportunity for everyone to make a commitment to advance entrepreneurship and scale the impact of entrepreneurship on the continent,” said Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, TEF’s CEO.

The forum, which will hold in the nation’s capital for the first time, will take place at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. The fourth edition of the event was held in Lagos.

The Forum provides a unique opportunity for young women and men from all 54 African countries to learn and network with the broader African and global entrepreneurship ecosystem. The event will also feature masterclasses and panel discussions with leading speakers and sector experts from different parts of the world. A pitching event will also take place, where selected entrepreneurs will present the goods and services they provide to a panel of judges.

The highlight of the 4th edition of the Forum was the launch of the TEFConnect, a digital networking platform for African entrepreneurs. The platform serves as a digital hub for African entrepreneurship to facilitate networking, mentorship and business beyond borders.

In 2015, TEF committed $100 million to empower 10,000 entrepreneurs from across the continent over a 10-year period. Now in its 5th year, the Foundation has funded, mentored and provided business management training to over 7,500 startups and small businesses from 54 African countries.