At a series of events across COP28, Tony Elumelu delivered a single message to world leaders: Africa needs to be heard, Africa’s future is the world’s future, and the continent that is most impacted by and the least contributor to climate change, needs our attention.
With African youth set to make up one-third of the global population later this century, the future of Africa’s youth, entrepreneurial, ambitious, and resilient, needs to be given the highest priority.
Elumelu in conversation with Former United States Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton on “Taking Action Together for the Most Vulnerable On the Climate-Health Nexus”, at the ongoing COP28 conference in Dubai on Sunday.
Elumelu offered the infrastructure and experience of his own Foundation’s 10-year $100m entrepreneurship programme to partners, to catalyze a further generation of African entrepreneurs; entrepreneurs who can address climate change and drive the broader wealth creation that Africa requires. Reaching and funding young entrepreneurs in every African country, the Elumelu approach of sector-agnostic seed funding, mentoring, and networking has delivered a robust impact.
The annual COP UN Climate Change Conference unites the world to assess progress in combatting climate change. Elumelu is one of Africa’s leading advocates for an equitable agenda for climate action and through the Tony Elumelu Foundation has empowered thousands of green entrepreneurs, shaping a more sustainable future for Africa.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation, in partnership with the United Bank for Africa (UBA), hosted a high-level session, bringing together Africans, and key players in the Gulf, Europe, and the Americas, where UBA operates, underscoring the urgent need for innovative approaches to climate adaptation and mitigation, while fostering sustainable development, and bringing attention to Africa’s unique position.
Speakers included Dr. Okonjo Iweala, Director General, World Trade Organization; Ahunna Eziakonwa, Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa, UNDP, Kevin Frey, CEO, UNICEF Generation Unlimited; Sergio Pimenta, VP Africa, IFC; Wendy Teleki, Head of the Women Entrepreneurs Financial Initiative, World Bank; Adam Wang-Levine, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Climate; Joseph Nganga, Vice President, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, Rockefeller Foundation; Hassan Al Hashemi, VP International Relations, Dubai Chambers; Serge Ekué, Chairman, West African Development Bank (BOAD); Muyiwa Akinyemi, Deputy Group Managing Director, United Bank for Africa; and Mattias Frumerie, Swedish Climate Ambassador and Head of Delegation, UNFCCC.
Elumelu represented the African private sector at the 2023 New Global Financing Pact in Paris at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron, and the Climate Finance Mobilization Forum in London, at the invitation of King Charles III of the United Kingdom and U.S. President Biden.
At the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78) in New York, the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) launched a first-of-its-kind Green Entrepreneurship Programme, the #BeGreenAfrica Initiative, in partnership with the IKEA Foundation, Dutch Government, and UNICEF GenU, to support green entrepreneurship and youth development.
Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur from Madagascar in the green economy, Marie-Christiana Kola, shared a compelling impact story.
Tony O. Elumelu C.F.R. in conversation with Dr. Ngozi Okonji-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organisation, at the TEF-UBA high-level Roundtable, at the ongoing COP28 conference in Dubai.
Ahunna Eziakonwa, Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa, UNDP added, “The reason why UNDP associated itself with the Tony Elumelu Foundation years ago is because of the leadership and courage of the Foundation to trust and invest in young Africans. It was one of the first organizations to do so at that scale.”
The Foundation partnered with the UNDP to empower thousands in the Sahel, with an ambitious project to impact the lives of one million young Africans.
Sergio Pimenta, VP, of Africa at the IFC, also stated,
Kevin Frey, CEO of UNICEF Generation Unlimited added, “With TEF, we have moved in a concerted way into the entrepreneurial space. Generation Unlimited now has a flagship program with the Tony Elumelu Foundation called #BeGreenAfrica, launched in Kenya, and now with the support of the IKEA Foundation and the Dutch Government, we have scaled to Nigeria, Morocco, South Africa, and Senegal. We will train and seed 500 green entrepreneurs this year in the pilot project across those countries. So Tony, thank you so much, you are right it is all about partnerships.”
Wendy Teleki, Head of the Women Entrepreneurs Financial Initiative at the World Bank, announced, “Our women-focused initiative has been able to secure $3.6 billion to finance women entrepreneurs in 67 countries across the world, and is set to launch a new program focused on financing African women entrepreneurs to drive the continent’s green energy transition, and we are keen to work with the Tony Elumelu Foundation.”
Mattias Frumerie, Swedish Climate Ambassador and Head of UNFCCC Delegation stated, “My Government and I commend the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s incredible impact across Africa, and will facilitate connections between the Tony Elumelu Foundation, and the Swedish embassies across Africa to drive innovation, digitalization, and green-energy transition, which promises to bring about new jobs and growth.”
Adam Wang-Levine, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Climate, added” Before coming to the United States Treasury, I was working in venture capital, and I know first-hand that it is incredibly important what the Tony Elumelu Foundation is doing. I have seen two pillars of their work – financing and mentorship – just as I have seen with Silicon Valley, which helps to drive innovation and job creation. We are excited to begin partnership conversations.”
Muyiwa Akinyemi, Deputy GMD, United Bank for Africa, announced, “For us, UBA, we give market access into 20 geographies in Africa. Everything that we do is around Africa, and that is why we have partnered with the Afrexim Bank to launch the $ 6 billion fund for SMEs with a focus on import substitution, working in four key areas including climate emission reduction.”
Earlier in the day, Tony Elumelu joined Ajay Banga, President of World Bank Group; Brian Moynihan, Chair of the Board and CEO of Bank of America; Ms. Ruth Porat, President, Alphabet, and Google; and Ms. Laurene Powell Jobs, Founder & President of Emerson Collective as a panelist in a session titled “Big, Audacious, and Green: A Convergence of Visionaries”, moderated by Børge Brende, President of World Economic Forum.
Tony O. Elumelu C.F.R. in conversation with Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton on “Taking Action Together for the Most Vulnerable on the Climate-Health Nexus”, at the ongoing COP28 conference in Dubai.
On Sunday, December 3 Mr. Tony Elumelu also participated in a fireside conversation with Ms. Teresa Ribera, Vice President of the Government of Spain and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Change, moderated by Sec. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and with closing remarks from Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation is the leading philanthropy empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, driving poverty eradication, catalyzing job creation in all 54 African countries, and ensuring inclusive economic empowerment.
Since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the Foundation has connected over 1.5 million young Africans on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed nearly USD$100 million in direct funding to 18,000 African women and men, who have collectively created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs.
The Foundation’s mission is rooted in Africapitalism, which positions the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the African continent.
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