Post a comment 
Three young Sierra Leonean entrepreneurs have been selected for the 2026 Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Programme, earning access to seed funding, mentorship and pan African networks designed to accelerate business growth.
Karim Kamara, Mattu Kaillie and Theophilipa Bangura were among 1,951 entrepreneurs chosen from a pool of 265,529 applicants across Africa.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation unveiled its 2026 cohort on Sunday, March 22, 2026, following a multi stage selection process. Each selected entrepreneur will receive $15,000 in seed funding, intensive business training, mentorship and access to investors and business leaders across the continent.
The selection process included an initial eligibility screening that reduced the applicant pool to 112,202 candidates, a business assessment that narrowed the field to 60,530, an expert review producing a shortlist of 26,600, and a due diligence and quality assurance phase that produced a final shortlist of 5,000. From that group, the final 1,951 entrepreneurs were chosen based on business viability, scalability, innovation and founder capability.
The Foundation reported that 85 percent of selected entrepreneurs were rated as excellent. The cohort is 51 percent women and 75 percent aged 18 to 35, with representation from rural communities and persons living with disabilities.
Two of the three beneficiaries are women, underscoring the growing leadership and participation of women in Sierra Leone’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Their selection signals Sierra Leone’s expanding footprint in Africa’s innovation and enterprise ecosystem. The combination of funding, training and mentorship is intended to transform promising ideas into scalable enterprises that create jobs and contribute to inclusive economic growth.
For a country rebuilding its private sector and seeking new drivers of employment, the success of these entrepreneurs offers a tangible example of youth led innovation translating into national development outcomes.
Tony O. Elumelu, Founder and Chairman of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, addressed the selected entrepreneurs and emphasized the role of Africans in driving the continent’s development. He said, “I believe that no one but Africans will develop Africa. The future of our continent lies in the hands of young men and women like you. It’s time to act, innovate, and lead.”
Since its inception, the Tony Elumelu Foundation has disbursed more than $100 million in seed capital to over 24,000 entrepreneurs across Africa. The Foundation’s Africapitalism philosophy promotes private sector led development as a pathway to sustainable transformation.
