7 November, 2022 – The EU on Monday 7 November 2022, hosted the high-level launch in Nigeria of the Team Europe initiative’s ‘Investing in Young Businesses in Africa’ (TEI IYBA). The launch, which took place at the Lagos Marriott Hotel Ikeja, featured a discussion by a distinguished panel on ‘Supporting Young Entrepreneurs: Nigeria and Team Europe working for the future’.

It was followed in the afternoon by a session in which successful women entrepreneurs from across the Sub-Saharan Africa pitched their business cases to potential investors. The session was held within the framework of the Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (WE4A)  programme, a component of the TEI IYBA.

About the TEI IYBA

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the TEI IYBA at the Financing for African Economies Summit in Paris in May 2021. The initiative seeks to facilitate the conditions in which early-stage businesses and entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa can thrive – especially women and young people - and thereby help create decent jobs.

It aims to extend financial and technical support at the early stages of those businesses’ development. It also seeks to strengthen the ecosystem of organisations that support them, such as incubators and accelerators.

One example of a programme in Nigeria which falls within the initiative is a new, €15 million programme to improve the digital innovation ecosystem in Nigeria. It is financed by the EU and Germany and will be implemented by GIZ, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH. Its signature is imminent. The programme will support policy-makers and institutions such as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in promoting digital transformation. It will also strengthen business support organisations, and enable more women and young people to develop their digital and entrepreneurial skills.

Another example is Ventures, a regional programme which FMO, the Dutch development bank, is implementing. In Nigeria, it is targeting the 50% of Nigeria’s adult population that is financially unserved or underserved with digital banking and payment services.

The launch of the TEI IYBA in Nigeria will enable the EU and 11 EU Member States to work with the Nigerian government and private sector in a more effective and coordinated way, in their support for young businesses and entrepreneurs, especially women. It will also allow them to coordinate more closely as Team Europe to deliver more effective programmes that target the specific challenges that young Nigerian businesses and entrepreneurs face.

About the Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (WE4A) programme

In the afternoon of Monday 7 November, a further event will showcase a leading example of TEI IYBA programme - called ‘Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (WE4A)’ - which empowers women entrepreneurs across Sub-Saharan Africa. The event will provide a selected group of women entrepreneurs with a unique opportunity to pitch their business cases to potential investors.

The WE4A programme seeks to strengthen African women entrepreneurs’ business skills, improve their access to formal financial services and markets, and help narrow the gender gaps that currently exist in labour markets.

WE4A is a partnership jointly funded by the European Union (EU), the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific State (OACPS), and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The programme is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit  (GIZ) GmbH, the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), and the Swiss Association for Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets (SAFEEM).

About Team Europe and Global Gateway

As a Team Europe initiative, ‘Investing in Young Businesses in Africa’ brings together the EU, 11 EU Member States and their development policy implementing organisations and development finance institutions. By adopting a Team Europe approach, the EU and EU Member States bring their resources together and coordinate better to deliver greater impact.

The 11 EU Member States are: Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the Association of European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI) are also part of the initiative.

The TEI IYBA is also part of Global Gateway. This is a new European strategy of smart investments to develop quality infrastructure and connect people, goods and services in Africa and around the world.

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For media enquiries, please contact:

 Modestus Chukwulaka, Press Officer, EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS.

Tel: +234 9 4617800/7 ext. 204; Email: Modestus.Chukwulaka@eeas.europa.eu

For more information online, please visit:

Women Entrepreneurship for Africa programme

Global Gateway