Mixed reactions have trailed the decision of Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) to postpone the 2020 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme and TEF forum to 2021.
According to the official statement, the decision is a response to the current global crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the obvious limitations it could cause to the programme.
It stated, “In response to the current crisis resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, the entrepreneurship-focused African philanthropy, the Tony Elumelu Foundation, has announced the difficult decision to postpone the 6th edition of its Entrepreneurship Programme and the TEF Forum until 2021.
“Given the paramount importance of public health and safety, this sadly is the only appropriate course of action.”
The foundation made the announcement on April 2, via its official twitter handle, just 24 hours after applications close on April 1.
To compensate for the postponement, the foundation announced that free training will be provided on TEFConnect for entrepreneurs and start-ups, while TEF works with policymakers and development finance institutions to galvanise additional support for entrepreneurs, after the pandemic.
“TEFConnect will also host critical information around the pandemic to safeguard the health and safety of all Africans, as well as curate impact stories from African entrepreneurs creating innovative solutions to tackle the coronavirus outbreak” the statement added.
Reactions
Some of the selected applicants and mentors who received the mail of the postponement took to their twitter handles to commend the foundation, particularly for sparing applicants the troubles of applying again in 2021.
Joe Afolayan took to his twitter handle to commend the decision which he described as an “excellent decision”
Source: Nairametrics
