The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
It appears your entrepreneurship programme supports already established businesses?
That is not true. We want people who have ideas. However, if you already have a business, we would like to make it grow further.
Can the Foundation design online training programmes for entrepreneurs?
The online training programme that we have now is for beneficiaries of Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme. But there has been conversation on social media on these matters. We are discussing this and we will let the public know.
Small businesses in Uganda have been suffocated by heavy taxes. What is your advice?
My advice is simple. One has to be compliant. However, last year, I took 30 entrepreneurs to meet President Museveni and this matter came up from one of the beneficiaries. The President said they would look into it.
What is the future of the programme given that Africa is rising?
We want to support entrepreneurs who will work towards expanding their businesses to support others so that we all work towards eliminating poverty. We will continue to fund more youth programmes. We are also looking at supporting large-scale projects in Uganda. We are happy that a lot of young African people are interested in becoming entrepreneurs. However, I feel sad that we cannot take all applicants. We have reached out to global institutions that have seen an additional of over 250 beneficiaries for our 2018 programme. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has also come in to support 40 people. With these partners, we are hopeful that we will hit our target of 10, 000 beneficiaries.
We are still super excited about our newly selected entrepreneurs. Yes, we have 1,250 entrepreneurs this year! Meet them all here https://t.co/Vd7zthdgiM pic.twitter.com/rbaDoJIlTn
— Tony Elumelu FDN (@TonyElumeluFDN) March 23, 2018
PICTORIAL: THE TONY ELUMELU FOUNDATION
