The European Union (EU), Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) have announced the launch of the second cohort of the Investing in Young Businesses in Africa – Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (IYBA-WE4A) Programme.

Successful applicants will receive USD $5,000 seed capital, tailored business management training, a customised green curriculum, mentorship, and lifetime access to TEFConnect for sustained growth and investment readiness. Target sectors include sustainable agriculture, blue economy, renewable energy, circular economy, eco-tourism, construction, and logistics.

• USD$5,000 non-refundable seed capital to scale their businesses;
• Comprehensive business management training within the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, including a customised green curriculum;
• Mentorship and lifetime access to the TEFConnect digital platform, enabling sustained growth, investment-readiness and follow-up funding; and
• Specialised Masterclasses led by industry experts on finance, resilience, digital growth, leadership, and expansion led by experts and entrepreneurs.

In Douala, about 500 female entrepreneurs have been schooled on the procedure to get access to the seed funding. Grace Matthews, the Digital Manager of the Tony Elumelu Fondation took out time to edify the public about the IYBA WEBA Programme. Asked on why the programme is anchored on Green Economy projects , she told reporters that “Africa and Africans are championing the fight against climate change. Everyday they are creating environmental friendly solutions.”

She used the occasion to praise Cameroonian entrepreneurs for their commitment and resilience. So far 300 female entrepreneurs have been trained under the IYBA-WEBA programme while 100 of them have recieved the seed capital. A move which has scaled their businesses tremendouly.

The session was also marked by testimonies from pioneer beneficiaries of the programmme. One of them Rosette Fien who is into the Agrifood Business lamented that female entrepreneurs in Cameroon face challenges in terms of financial trust and supplies. But after 10 years as an Entrepreneur she has been able to scale her business thanks to the IYBA-WEBA funding. Currently she is building her factory on the outskirts of the economic capital while her products are in all key shopping centres in the country.

” If you have an idea in the agrifood business , please bring it to light. The sector is still untapped and the supply chain can only get better. We need to have products made with raw materials from Cameroon. I want to thank the Tony Elumelu Foundation for changing my life.” Fien revealed

The Douala forum ended with practical sessions on how female entrepreneurs can create their TEF Connect accounts and intensed networking among participants.

Following the successful implementation of the first cohort, which empowered 751 African women-led green businesses with USD$3.99 million in funding, the partners are scaling up their impact to support more than 1,000 African women entrepreneurs pioneering innovative solutions across critical green sectors.

Through this initiative, the EU, OACPS, BMZ, GIZ, and TEF reaffirm their shared commitment to gender-focused economic empowerment and sustainable development, reducing Africa’s environmental impact and advancing the EU Gender Action Plan (GAP III).

“At the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we have seen first-hand the transformative power of supporting women entrepreneurs. Having successfully implemented the first cohort, we are excited to scale up our impact to empower even more African women-led businesses,” said Somachi Chris-Asoluka, CEO, Tony Elumelu Foundation. “This partnership continues to accelerate Africa’s inclusive, green economy and demonstrates the limitless potential of African women when given the right support.

“The private sector plays a key role in bringing about change to poverty, equality and driving forward social change,” added Romina Kochius, Director of Programme, WE4D. “With a project of this dimension, we are expected to drive this change.”

Apply now on www.TEFConnect.com before the deadline of 25 January, 2026

About the European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 European countries. It is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. It acts globally to promote sustainable development of societies, environment and economies, so that everyone can benefit.

About the Tony Elumelu Foundation
The Tony Elumelu Foundation is the leading philanthropy empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, driving poverty eradication, catalysing job creation across all 54 African countries, and increasing women economic empowerment. Since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, the Foundation has pulled over 2 million Africans out of poverty, provided over 2.5 million young Africans with access to trainings on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed over USD$100 million in direct funding to 24,000 African women and men, who have collectively created over 1,500,000 direct and indirect jobs, and generated over USD$4.2 billion in revenue. 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.

About GIZ

As a provider of international cooperation services for sustainable development and international education work, GIZ is dedicated to building a future worth living around the world. GIZ has over 50 years of experience in a wide variety of areas, including economic development and employment, energy and the environment, and peace and security.

The diverse expertise of our federal enterprise is in demand around the globe, with the German Government, European Union institutions, the United Nations, the private sector and governments of other countries all benefiting from our services. We work with businesses, civil society actors and research institutions, fostering successful interaction between development policy and other policy fields and areas of activity. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is our main commissioning party.

About IYBA WE4A 

The Multi-Donor Action Team Europe Initiative Investing in Young Businesses in Africa – Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (TEI IYBA WE4A) is jointly co-financed by the European Union (EU), the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific State (OACPS) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) through the BMZ-funded multi-donor project Employment Promotion for Women for the Green Transformation in Africa (WE4D).

The IYBA WE4A programme directly contributes to increasing the economic participation of women and gender equality. The overall objective (impact) of the IYBA WE4A programme is to create sustainable, inclusive, green growth in selected African countries (Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda). The specific objective (outcome) of the programme is: The economic empowerment and financial inclusion of women entrepreneurs in sectors contributing to the green transformation in selected Sub-Saharan countries is increased. Furthermore, the programme aims at creating and securing existing jobs in the supported women-led businesses, enhancing their capacities and promoting their growth path

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For further information on the IYBA WE4A programme and to apply, please visit TEFconnect.com.