Lagos, Nigeria – Nigerian philanthropist, Tony Elumelu has, through his foundation, launched a $3.5 million green entrepreneurship program to tackle climate crisis.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation is working to strengthen climate resilience starting with East Africa and scaling to the rest of Africa, to mitigate the effects of climate crisis.
He said the Foundation has partnered with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Generation Unlimited, and IKEA Foundation to establish the program.
According to Elumelu, the initial sum of $3.5 million is to empower, train, fund, mentor, and coach 120 young African entrepreneurs, with businesses in Kenya’s high impact green sectors. He also said 50% of the entrepreneurs will be women.
He wrote, “We know the critical role that green entrepreneurship and agri-preneurship play in driving innovative solutions to environmental issues and are keen to empower our young ones across Africa, starting with Kenya, to deploy innovative solutions to the climate crisis.
“This initiative will empower young Africans with entrepreneurial skills that are needed to accelerate the shift towards toward green economy. Working with great partners: IKEA Foundation, UNICEF and Generation Unlimited, we will create new jobs, generate employment, improve livelihoods, help eradicate poverty and address climate issues in Africa.”
Elumelu stated further that the collective goal of all partners involved in the program is to see young entrepreneurs in Africa build sustainable businesses for themselves and generate viable green jobs, so that Africa’s young ones are not left behind in the inevitable green economy that the world will be transitioning to.
