This year, the 5th edition, themed: “Empowering African Entrepreneurs” took place at the iconic Transcorp Hilton, in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. The forum featured master-classes, a dynamic pitching competition, electrifying panel debates, and the Presidential Dialogue. It engaged an audience of 5,000 comprising of startup entrepreneurs, development institutions and policymakers.
Representing Sierra Leone at this year’s Tony Elumelu Foundation conference were Semion Saffa-Turay of Cardinal Agro-business Enterprise, Phebean Swill an entrepreneur in Media and Entertainment, Dr. Darlinda Jiba an entrepreneur in Healthcare, Isatu Bundu an entrepreneur and proprietor of Tesmananeh Group and Dr. Fatmata Munu an entrepreneur in Agriculture produce. Also present at the ceremony was the 2017 TEF Sierra Leone candidate Brigetta Amoateng proprietor of Lambano Sierra Leone Ltd.
Congratulating the TEF candidates at a ceremony held at the bank’s boardroom, Charlotte Street in Freetown, the UBA Managing Director Chinedu Obeta said among other things that the UBA is proud to associate itself with Sierra Leonean entrepreneurs who go the extra mile to demonstrate efficiency and resilience as entrepreneurs. He lamented however that the number of Sierra Leoneans attending this year’s TEF was rather small and that he is looking forward to getting more young Sierra Leonean entrepreneurs interested in TEF and its benefits.
Established in 2010, MD Obeta informed his audience which included a cross-section of the print and electronic media that, the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) is the leading philanthropy in Africa championing entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs across the Africa continent. He added that the Foundation’s long-term investment in empowering African entrepreneurs is emblematic of Tony Elumelu’s philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions Africa’s private sector and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the Africa continent.
He called on the young entrepreneurs to use the experience gained to bring onboard more Sierra Leoneans interested in entrepreneurship. He added that he is looking forward to working more closely with TEF candidates and hoped that next year’s TEF would see more Sierra Leoneans attending.
Frank and open discussions about their trip, their experiences, what they plan to do now and what they are expecting of the UBA, formed the high point of the ceremony.
