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At the recent 5th edition of the Tony Elumelu Foundation's Business Spirit Forum (TEF), five African presidents and thousands of young African entrepreneurs converged on the world's most influential rally of ecosystem 39, African entrepreneurship. The creation of jobs and the empowerment of young people were the main topics discussed at the forum.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation, which has been at the forefront of advocating for entrepreneurship as a catalyst for Africa's economic transformation, organized the two-day Forum on 26th and 27th July at the Transcorp Hilton hotel in Abuja, Nigeria's government headquarters. The event brought together more than 5,000 participants from 54 African countries, including representatives of the 7,521 beneficiaries of the Tony Elumelu Foundation's Entrepreneurship Program.
More than 60 global public and private sector stakeholders from 3 continents participated in master clbades, plenary sessions and interactive debates focused on generating ideas and defining concrete steps that Africa needs to take to empower youth and accelerate His development. The guests exchanged directly with aspiring young entrepreneurs from 20 African UBA countries present, who presented their innovative products and solutions on the UBA market, led by the World Bank for Africa, United Bank for Africa ( UBA).
Hosted by the US journalist and host of the CNN program, Fareed Zakaria GPS, the presidential debate, which was the highlight of the two-day event, aimed to chart the way forward to eradicate poverty in Africa through job creation. H.E. is one of the leaders in the public sector. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda; HE. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal; HE. Félix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); HE. (Prof.) Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; and Hon (Dr.) Ruhakana Rugunda, Prime Minister of the Republic of Uganda, representing the President of Uganda, HE Yoweri Museveni.
Health care played a prominent role in the discussions when public and private sector health leaders addressed this theme in the plenary session entitled "The Role of Health Care in Economic Transformation". Dr. Awele Elumelu, Trustee, Tony Elumelu Foundation and Founder / CEO of Avon Medical Practice; H.E (Mrs.) Aisha Buhari, First Lady, Federal Republic of Nigeria, H.E (Mrs.) Djena Kaba Condé, First Lady of Guinea; HE. (Ms.) Keïta Aminata Maiga, First Lady, Mali; Gilles Carbonnier, vice-president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); Oulimata Sarr, Acting Regional Director of UN Women for West and Central Africa; and Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization.
At the Forum, Tony O. Elumelu (CON), founder of Tony Elumelu, reiterated the urgency of creating jobs on the continent to catalyze Africa's development.
He said: "Extremism is a product of poverty and unemployment. Poverty, wherever it is, is a threat to everyone, everywhere in the world, "he said. "If our leaders understand the reason and the reason for the success of our young people, they will do everything in their power to support them."
Elumelu also reiterated the role of technology as a key instrument in accelerating development, citing TEFConnect, the digital networking platform for African entrepreneurs launched by the Tony Elumelu Foundation in 2018. With more than 500,000 Registered users, the hub provides a platform for entrepreneurs to form business partnerships regardless of their location.
Addressing the keynote address, Vice President of Nigeria HE Yemi Osinbajo (Prof.) commented on the impact of the Tony Elumelu Foundation: "In eliciting this intervention, Tony Elumelu forced us to focus on what counts really, our youth and their dreams. The message to emerging business giants in Africa is clear: how and how can you, like Tony Elumelu, help empower the next generation and help them realize their own dreams? "
The forum ended with a visit to the UBA market, where entrepreneurs from across the continent exhibited their products. A pitch contest saw the winner win a $ 5,000 grant from United Bank for Africa (UBA).
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