MTN Foundation Trains Over 2,000 Young Nigerians in Digital, Business Skills
The MTN Foundation has trained over 2,000 young Nigerians in digital and business skills through its ICT Skills and Training Programme, equipping young entrepreneurs and SMEs with practical tools to boost productivity and long-term growth.
Agropreneurs, Others Win N10m Grant In Unity Bank’s Corpreneurship Challenge
Retail lender, Unity Bank Plc has extended N10 million business grant to 30 members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, who took part in the 10th edition of the Bank’s flagship Entrepreneurship Development Initiative, known as Corpreneurship Challenge. The winners, including upcoming entrepreneurs developing innovative solutions in several business value chains such as Honey production, Rice, and Snail farming, among others, claimed top positions after participating in a business pitch that took place across 10 state NYSC Orientation Camps – Katsina, Kano, Kwara, Imo, Rivers, Delta, Sokoto, Edo, Akwa-Ibom, and Osun recently. At the NYSC Orientation camp at Ikot Itie Udung, Nsit Atai, Akwa Ibom State, Azegba Chimuanya Perpetual, who pitched business on honey production emerged as the overall winner to clinch the N500,000 grand prize; while Iyorwa Kater Israel, a budding commercial rice farmer won N300,000 grant. Similarly, Egelonu Emmanuel Friday walked away with a N200,000 grant to support his Snail farming business. In the remaining nine states, no fewer than twenty-seven other winners also emerged, after pitching business plans across various economic segments including Fish production, Poultry farming, Fashion, Soap and Cake making, Printing, Piggery, Beverage making, etc. The Unity Bank Corpreneurship Challenge, which has proved its invaluable social benefit as an entrepreneurship development and job creation platform since its inception receives applications from thousands of serving NYSC Corp members. These business plans are then evaluated based on their originality, marketability, future employability potential of the product, and knowledge of the business. Speaking during the grand finale in Akwa Ibom State, Unity Bank’s Head of Retail and SME Banking Group, Dr. Opeyemi Ojesina said the Unity Bank Corpreneurship Challenge has earned its pride of place in Nigeria as one of the country’s foremost business incubation platform and entrepreneurship development. He said, “Unity Bank has sustained this Corpreneurship Challenge for the past five years, and throughout the period we have witnessed the tremendous impact it has had on youth empowerment and job creation in the country. And I believe that the innovative approach to entrepreneurship which the programme has adopted has enabled us to seamlessly integrate financial support, mentorship, and skill development to foster the growth of aspiring entrepreneurs.” He added, “At its core, the initiative addresses the unique challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises, as they recognize the sector as the backbone of economic development. And Unity Bank’s commitment to financial inclusion is exemplified through tailored financial solutions that empower corp members to actualize their business dreams.” Ojesina further explained that “the mentorship provided to participants adds unparalleled value, as it connects corp members with seasoned professionals who provide insights, guidance, and a roadmap for success,” emphasizing how Unity Bank recognizes that true empowerment extends beyond financial assistance to honing entrepreneurial skills”. The Corpreneurship Challenge has earned the Bank national recognition for its impact on youth empowerment and job creation, just as the scheme continues to elicit growing interest among the corps members, attracting over 2000 applicants and participation in every edition. In partnership with the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development, SAED, the initiative prominently features a business pitch presentation that provides the participants with the opportunity to present their business plans and stand a chance to win up to N500,000 cash in the business grant. So far, Unity Bank has invested over N100 million in the initiative which has now produced 148 winners since it was launched.
New SMEDAN DG Pledges Improved Service Using Technology
The new Director General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Mr. Charles Odu has said that the agency leverages technology to drive its service to small businesses. The Director General made the pledge during the handing over ceremony by the outgoing DG, Dr Olawale Fasanya Monday in Abuja. Mr. Odu noted that while SMEDAN’s goal remains unchanged the method and approach must be improved upon stressing that the agency will work private and public institutions at all levels to eliminate barriers, whether in policy or infrastructure, that limit the growth of SMEs and threaten their survival. “We will leverage useful tools and technology to achieve our core objective, beginning with the rapid formalization of small and medium-sized businesses to improve the quality of our data and the services we provide. “We will explore local and international funding opportunities and democratize access to capital for entrepreneurs with valuable ideas and the right motivation no matter where they live in the country. “Nigerians should be able to conceive of an idea and register a business seamlessly. They must be given a fighting chance with readily available access to funding and a business environment conducive to growth,” he said. While thanking President Bola Tinubu for the opportunity to serve, he insisted that the agency will continue to fulfill its role as the main driver of economic growth, the source of innovation and the engine of job creation. “We have the duty to ensure they receive the support and resources they need to thrive,” he added. “SMEs will receive the training and skills they need to grow sustainably, meet local demand and become global players by exporting value. We will build production hubs where businesses can gain affordable access to the facilities they need, and we will showcase their products to the nation and the rest of the world through masterful storytelling and exhibitions and fairs staged in partnership with relevant stakeholders. “We will achieve this together as a team united by a common purpose. I am eager to collaborate with all of you to make a difference. Together, we can shape a future where our small and medium enterprises are not only surviving but thriving, and in doing so, contribute significantly to the prosperity of our nation. Earlier, SMEDAN outgoing DG, Dr. Fasanya, said there was a need to support SMEs to grow as they contribute about 80 per cent to employment in Nigeria. “The population of this sector is enormous. Like the last survey, we have not less than 39.6million people and largely most of them are informal. You cannot move from one house to the other without seeing one man’s business. It is important to segregate nano from micro in giving the right attention. “We really need to support them because they are not usually affected by the economic shocks. We are on this journey together. I will keep offering my advice and I believe that very soon, people will begin to feel the sector is changing,” he said.
SMEDAN Empowers 40 Entrepreneurs With Laptops, ICT Skills
The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has trained and empowered 40 entrepreneurs with Information Communication Technology (ICT) and digital skills in Ebonyi. The Director-General of SMEDAN, Dr Olawale Fasanya, said this during the closing ceremony of a three-day training and empowerment programme held in Abakaliki on Friday. The programme was targeted at young entrepreneurs to improve micro small and medium enterprises. Fasanya, who was represented by Mr Chigozie Asochukwu, SMEDAN Coordinator in Ebonyi, said that the importance of ICT in doing business cannot be over-emphasised. He said the empowerment programme, which was in collaboration with Dole International Company Ltd., was aimed at giving business owners e-commerce know-how to increase their contributions to the nation’s GDP. He reiterated the agency’s commitment to business growth, urging the beneficiaries to practice what they had learnt. “This will go a long way in enhancing productivity, customer engagement and give the entrepreneurs a competitive advantage in doing businesses. “It will help in digital knowledge and tools needed to grow businesses online as well as enable efficient communication, data management and analysis. “This is a three-day training and the participants were engaged in three module including Google digital skills, digital market fundamental and business formalisation,” Fasanya said. Mr Njoku Ozoemena, who spoke on behalf of “City Boys Movement”, said the training became necessary to enhance e-commerce in the country. Ozoemena hailed the Federal Government for putting up the programme and urged the trainees to utilise the knowledge. One of the beneficiaries, Kelechi Njoku, lauded SMEDAN for exposing them to modern skills for business and pledged to utilise what she had learnt. The agency later gave laptops to the trainees to enable them promote their businesses.
First Bank, ELOY Foundation empower over 1000 women MSMEs
First Bank Nigeria Limited in partnership with the ELOY Awards Foundation has launched the 2023 Edition of the “Eloy Business Shower” designed and dedicated to encouraging, promoting and empowering businesses owned by women across Nigeria. The focus and aim of the awards are to expose women in business to important business skills, networking, and the Eloy Foundation Business Toolkit, which is a collection of business survival information. This will further be executed through the First Bank’s FirstGem 9 percent Loan Scheme created for female owned MSMEs and the SME Connect Initiative. The Business Shower by the ELOY Awards Foundation was held in five states: Lagos, Delta, Anambra, Kano and Osun States from the 1st of July 2023 to the15th of July 2023. According to the Founder, ELOY Awards Foundation, Tewa Onasanya “the ELOY Business Shower was held to support business owners to build sustainable businesses. This year at the second edition of the program, the company hosted 1087 women across the 5 states visited in Nigeria. It was an avenue for these women to gain access to entrepreneurial trainings from experienced businessmen and women, who armed them with tools and information to help them grow their businesses successfully”. The over 2300 women who registered for the program will also be invited to join the ELOY Foundation Network, a network that will continue to give them access to resources to help their businesses grow. Expressing her delight on the recently concluded ELOY Foundation Business Shower, Folake Ani-Mumuney, First Bank’s Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, said, “we commend Eloy Foundation Awards for convening the second edition of its Eloy Business Shower which has impacted over 1000 female business entrepreneurs across the country.” “Female business owners that participated at the event in the 5 cities –Lagos, Delta, Anambra, Kano and Osun States – are encouraged to take advantage of the teachings from the facilitators as these are essential to boosting their contribution to the economic activities in their host state, geopolitical zones and nation at large, whilst sustaining their businesses,” she concluded. Following the huge success of the event, Phase two of the event will begin soon, where ELOY Awards Foundation will enrol 50 women who are small business owners onto the three month ELOY Foundation Sustainable Empowerment Program(SEP), these small business owners will be mentored for a period of three months and they will have access to entrepreneurial trainings every month, mentorship, access to information on affordable finance and 10 of these women considered for a grant to assist them on businesses.