Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Africa’s leading champion of entrepreneurship, has announced the opening of applications for its 2025 Entrepreneurship Programmes.

It asked both aspiring and existing entrepreneurs from across Africa to apply for a chance to receive world-class training, expert mentoring, and non-refundable seed capital funding to scale their businesses.

Programmes open for application are: Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Programme: the flagship TEF Entrepreneurship Programme which is open to all entrepreneurs across Africa with innovative business ideas or existing businesses not older than five years.

This year, there is a special emphasis on businesses leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and green initiatives. Applicants must be at least 18 years old.

Secondly, the IYBA-WE4A Entrepreneurship Programme: Launched by the Tony Elumelu Foundation in partnership with the European Union (EU) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), IYBA-WE4A stands for Investing in Young Businesses in Africa – Women Entrepreneurship for Africa and is exclusively for women entrepreneurs with green business ideas or existing green businesses in Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Cameroon, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, and Togo.

Applicants must be at least 18 years old, with businesses not exceeding five years in operation.

Thirdly, Aguka Ideation Programme: The Aguka Ideation Entrepreneurship Programme is a partnership with the Tony Elumelu Foundation, UNDP Rwanda and the Rwandan Ministry of Youths and Arts to support young Rwandan entrepreneurs between 18 -30 with business ideas with a seed capital of $3000, with the aim of nurturing and developing innovative concepts into viable enterprises.

Application Details: Platform: Applications are to be submitted through TEF’s proprietary digital hub, TEFConnect. Application Period: January 1, 2025 – March 1, 2025. TEF urged interested applicants to complete and submit their applications well ahead of the deadline.

On eligibility, it said the programme is open to African entrepreneurs with scalable business ideas or existing businesses not older than five years while applicants must be at least 18 years old.

For more information about the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s transformative work and the success of our African entrepreneurs, it advised applicants to view “our Impact Report, which highlights the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s achievements and contributions to Africa’s economic growth; African Entrepreneurs’ Success Stories, showcasing the inspiring journeys of Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs and Annual Reports, offering insights into the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s strategies and outcomes.

Recall that 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.

Founded in 2010, the Tony Elumelu Foundation is committed to empowering African entrepreneurs as a catalyst for the continent’s economic transformation.

Besides, since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the Foundation has provided up to 2.5 million young Africans with access to training on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed over USD$100 million in direct funding to over 21,000 African women and men, who have collectively created over 800,000 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.

The integration of modern technologies has introduced both challenges and opportunities for the data center workforce. Over the past 15 years, the evolution from finance-focused IT applications to edge computing on the cloud has transformed the industry, steering data centers toward a more distributed IT model.

Today, the emphasis is on sustainability, and selecting the right certifications is pivotal for career development in various roles, ranging from data center design to networking and security.

Ben Selier, Vice President of Secure Power for Anglophone Africa at Schneider Electric, emphasizes the need for strategic skills development, noting that, “Training and certifications in data centers have traditionally focused on IT-related and non-IT-related roles. With the industry shifting towards sustainability and smart technologies, the need for relevant certifications has never been greater.”

The shift to the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and smart applications has fueled the digital economy but has not been matched by the growth of a skilled workforce. Specialized IT professionals, previously experts in fields like finance software, face the challenge of rapidly outdated skills.

“The adoption rate of technologies like AI—reaching 1,000 million users in just two months compared to the World Wide Web’s seven years—highlights the pressing skills gap in areas such as cooling and power specialization,” Selier explains. Companies are struggling to train or hire fast enough to meet the demand, exacerbating operational issues within data centers.

Modern technologies offer significant competitive advantages, but Selier warns of the challenges: “Attracting and recruiting skilled technicians, engineers, and operators has become a critical priority for the industry. Without proper investment in training, the shortage of qualified staff could hinder growth and innovation.”

Certifications remain a cornerstone for building expertise in the rapidly changing data center landscape. Schneider Electric has been proactive in addressing this need through its Schneider Electric University and comprehensive training services. “Our programs are designed to bridge the knowledge gap, enabling professionals to gain the latest competencies quickly,” Selier notes.

Flexible training plans have also been introduced to meet immediate demands, allowing companies to collaborate with data center partners for temporary solutions while their teams undergo certification. The EcoXpert™ Partner Program, which initially focused on IT solutions, has been expanded to include sustainability certifications for roles such as cooling specialists and systems integrators.

“The program reflects the growing need for sustainability-specific training, empowering partners to adopt innovative technologies in data center design and operations,” Selier explains. The initiative is designed to educate and create opportunities for collaboration across industry.

The rise of AI, cloud, edge computing, and IoT has disrupted traditional data center operations, making advanced certifications essential for career growth. Certified EcoXpert partners gain expertise in areas such as power distribution, grid management, and new energy landscapes.

“Acquiring skills in emerging technologies not only breaks traditional constraints but also propels the career trajectory of data center professionals,” Selier asserts. The expanded EcoXpert program is tailored to meet the evolving needs of individuals and organizations, fostering collaboration and innovation in critical infrastructure.

He concludes with the statement, “The future of the data center industry depends on our ability to develop talent, embrace sustainability, and invest in skills that meet the demands of a rapidly evolving landscape.”

Management of Zinox Technologies Limited, foremost African digital conglomerate, has demanded public apology from Mr. Femi Falana SAN, over alleged defamation and reputational injury inflicted on the company and its representatives by Falana and his client, Benjamin Joseph, the CEO of Citadel Oracle Concept Limited, an Ibadan-based computer firm.

In a statement on Sunday, Zinox referenced recent news items in the media relating to certain charges filed by  Falana, purporting to act on a fiat donated to him by Mr. Lateef Fagbemi SAN, attorney general and minister of Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, whom Zinox said may not have been properly briefed.

“We are sure that if the circumstances of this case were made available to the respected Honorable Attorney General, Lateef Fagbemi SAN, he would not have granted the purported fiat to Femi Falana,” Zinox said in the statement.

In the news reports, Falana was said to have filed a suit before Honorable Justice A. O. Ebong of the FCT High Court in charge no. FCT/HC/CR/985/24 in November 2024, a suit Zinox said was based on the same claims which various courts had in the past dismissed as falsehood and baseless.

“Our initial reaction was to ignore these publications as the usual campaigns of calumny that have been orchestrated against Zinox since 2014 by one Mr. Benjamin Joseph, the Managing Director of Citadel Oracle Concept Ltd, the client of Mr. Femi Falana SAN. However, we are persuaded to respond by the consideration that once falsehood is sustained over time, it tends to acquire the garb of truth.”

Zinox said the case arose from a contract between Citadel and Technology Distributions Limited over the supply of computers to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), stressing that the matter has no bearing whatsoever with Zinox and its promoter, Mr Leo Stan Ekeh.

“Firstly, we are shocked that Femi Falana would include Zinox in his purported fiat/charges, a company that has nothing to do with the transaction or allegations. For the records, we want to state as follows:

“Zinox has never been invited by any investigative agency, including the police and the EFCC, on these allegations. There is no report either by the police or the EFCC or any investigative agency where the name of Zinox was mentioned as a suspect. There is no judgment or ruling of any court where Zinox was mentioned as having anything to do, whatsoever, with the transaction or the allegations, the basis of the fiat/charges. Mr. Leo Stan Ekeh, the Chairman of Zinox, has never made any statement to the police in the course of any investigations and has never been mentioned in any court proceedings or judgment as part of any investigations relating to these allegations. Indeed, he has never met with Benjamin Joseph before,” the statement said.

Zinox cited instances in which Mr. Joseph lost the case and its adjunct suit. In a petition/case Mr. Joseph reported since 2013 and for which the Inspector General of Police charged him for false information in charge no.CR/216/16, he was unable to prove his allegations for more than 8 years .

In another case filed by the EFCC at his instance against his partner, Princess Kama, in charge no. FCT/HC/CR/244/2018,  Honorable Justice Danlami Z. Senchi of the FCT High Court (as he then was), dismissed as false all the allegations made by Benjamin Joseph, and imposed the sum of N20 million as damages against him for false petitioning in relation to these same allegations.

Zinox alleged that the current charges said to have been filed by Falana on the basis of a fiat from the Attorney General is the third in a row as he had earlier filed charge no.CR/469/2022, which was struck out by Honorable Justice C. O. Oba of the FCT High Court, by an order dated 8th November 2022.

In what appears to be forum shopping and abuse of court process, “he filed the same charges before Honorable Justice A. S. Adepoju of the FCT High Court, which charges were, once more, struck out by the Honorable Court on 19th March 2024, with Honorable Justice Adepoju holding that: “This matter was brought in dead, extinct and should be confined into the dustbin of history…I hold that the instant suit is an abuse of the process of court and it is hereby struck out accordingly,” the statement said.

Zinox said it was shocked that a “learned Senior Advocate in the person of Femi Falana, would, yet, proceed to file the same charges before Honorable Justice A. O. Ebong of the FCT High Court in charge no. FCT/HC/CR/985/24 in November 2024.”

The statement said: “It is, therefore, very clear that the deliberate intention for instituting this new charge by Femi Falana SAN, to include the name of Zinox and its Chairman and other persons who were never part of the investigations, is to embarrass them, harm their reputation, and thereby damage their businesses. In the circumstance, we hereby demand a public apology from Mr. Femi Falana SAN, if he is unable to produce the evidence demanded above.

“We, therefore, assure all our business partners, stakeholders, and friends, that we are not ruffled by these spurious allegations. While our lawyers are set to defend the present charges purportedly filed by Femi Falana SAN, we shall not fail to explore all legal remedies against persons associated with the orchestration of these false allegations and publications against us,” Zinox said.