The Board of Trustees of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, the leading philanthropy empowering young African entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries, has announced the appointment of Somachi Chris-Asoluka as Chief Executive Officer(CEO), following the retirement of current CEO, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu. The appointment takes effect from March 01, 2023.
Since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the Foundation has trained over 1.5 million young Africans on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed nearly USD$100 million in direct funding to 18,000 African women and men, who have collectively created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs.
The Foundation’s mission is rooted in Africapitalism.
The Foundation’s ability to fund, train, mentor, and network young African entrepreneurs, has created a unique platform for catalysing growth across the African continent.
Somachi, who joined the Foundation in 2014, has served as the Foundation’s Head of Research, Head of Policy and External Relations, and most recently as the Director of Partnerships and Communications. In her new role as CEO, Somachi will leverage her expertise, experience and network to provide strategic leadership in consolidating and deepening the Foundation’s work of transforming Africa through entrepreneurship.
Speaking on the appointment, Tony O. Elumelu, stated: “This is an important time for the Foundation and Africa. Our work is ever more important, and our platform is demonstrating our ability to truly catalyse change. We are increasingly working with partners, to magnify our impact. Somachi’s experience in partnership development will be particularly relevant.
In response, Ifeyinwa said: “Over the last five years, the Tony Elumelu Foundation has significantly expanded its mission to empower African Entrepreneurs across all 54 African Countries. In particular, the Foundation has grown its partnership capability, opening its platform and process to third parties, who share in our commitment to growing the African entrepreneurial ecosystem, and transforming Africa by empowering entrepreneurs.”
Accepting her appointment, Somachi said: “I am honoured to be appointed to lead the Foundation, particularly at a time when we will be launching a new Coalition for African Entrepreneurship.”
