Tony Elumelu’s $30,000 fund to empower emerging African storytellers

Tony Elumelu, chairman of Heirs Holdings and Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation.

Africa No Filter, a donor working to transform stereotypical narratives of Africa, has launched the Tony Elumelu $30,000 Storytellers Fund, aimed at empowering emerging African creative talent.

Named after African business leader and philanthropist Tony O. Elumelu, the Fund will award grants to emerging artists and storytellers, whose work shines a light on entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in Africa.

The $30,000 fund is sponsored by Heirs Insurance and Heirs Life Assurance, the insurance subsidiaries of the pan-African investment group, Heirs Holdings.

Tony Elumelu, chairman of Heirs Holdings and Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, has led the championing of entrepreneurship in Africa and has empowered over 15,000 young African entrepreneurs across the continent through a $100 million commitment made by his Foundation.

The Tony Elumelu Storytellers Fund is a standalone initiative and an extension of his commitment to catalysing a redefined African success story, powered by Africa’s youth and their creative ideas.

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The Fund calls on journalists, filmmakers, content producers, and visual and performing artists to submit multimedia creative ideas, that tell the stories of inspiring entrepreneurs and showcase the true and positive spirit of entrepreneurship in Africa.

Applicants must be aged between 18 and 35 years, living on the continent or in the Diaspora. They must have a platform or portfolio of work that shines the light on entrepreneurship in Africa.

Speaking on the Fund, Tony Elumelu said: “I have always believed in the potential of young African entrepreneurs to transform Africa. This initiative aligns with our belief and extends the work that we do at the Tony Elumelu Foundation. Empowering young creative entrepreneurs and the creative sector provides a channel for us to project Africa’s positives globally. We need their voices to tell our often less-told stories of triumph, resilience, hard work and innovation.”

Moky Makura, executive director at Africa No Filter, said: “Our partnership Is significant because this is the first African funding we have received towards the fight for narrative change. We are also excited to be partnering with one of Africa’s leading entrepreneurs to celebrate entrepreneurship on the continent through storytelling. We need more success stories, more awareness and more celebrations around entrepreneurial ideas and the dynamic young people driving change here.”

Ifesinachi Okpagu, chief marketing officer, Heirs Insurance and Heirs Life, said: “We are pleased to support this initiative that directly impacts the lives of young African creatives. As frontrunners of digital innovation in the insurance space, Heirs Insurance and Heirs Life both recognise the important role the creative sector plays in transforming Africa’s narrative. We are on the same transformative path, and this initiative clearly demonstrates that the ideas that we need to boost Africa are right here on the continent.”

The Fund is open for applications on the Africa No Filter website with a closing date of July 29, 2022.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.