The Nation Newspaper

Category: Online Special

  • How to support female entrepreneurs in Nigeria

    Women entrepreneurs are actually becoming more successful and ambitious in today’s business world. However, there are still a whole lot of efforts that still need to be invested in boosting and accelerating female entrepreneurship especially in an emerging nation like Nigeria. In line with this, we discuss ways to boost female entrepreneurship in Nigeria.

    Better access to capital

    There’s still much inequality in terms of providing women with loans and other financing that they need to start and grow businesses. When it comes to finance women face particular hurdles, from a lack of collateral to discriminatory regulations and gender bias. Small loans can make a big difference. When it comes to loans, Jumia does not discriminate. Everyone – whether male or female – has access to the Jumia loan as long as they meet the requirement. In fact, through this loan, Jumia has empowered thousands of female vendors on its platform.

    READ ALSO: Experts train female entrepreneurs

    Increased networking and collaboration

    Much more needs to be done to help women realise that the change begins with them. Collaborating with other women, being part of networks and communicating more with others is vital to helping women gain the confidence to start their own businesses. In Nigeria, networking and non-profit organisations like Women in Business (WinBiz) and Women in Management and Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) among others are playing a strategic role in supporting and boosting female entrepreneurs. Women should not hesitate to join these organisations.

    More education

    Entrepreneurship has to feel accessible to women. More training and education programmes geared towards women could help build confidence and reduce the fears that starting a business is a high-risk endeavour.

    New mentorship opportunities

    Providing role models and guidance to women to show the economic, social and lifestyle benefits of business ownership could greatly enhance female entrepreneurship. Financial support, while crucial, is only one part of the equation. Having access to the advice and guidance of business mentors is invaluable for those women who are just starting out.

  • How to turn your hobby into a full-time Job

    A hobby is an activity that you do just for fun and at your own leisure time. It may be singing, dancing, drawing, speaking or any other creative activity that you perform with little or no efforts.

    While there are folks out there that have leveraged on their hobby or talent to earn a living and become popular, others see their hobby as just a hobby which is not supposed to be. It is very possible that you can earn a leaving and become an entrepreneur from your hobby. Here are some helpful tips on how to do this.

    Determine if your hobby can earn you a living

    You do not simply abandon every other activity and turn to your hobby for sustenance. The first thing you must do is to determine if your hobby can actually take you to the promised land. If it does not, it is better you do your hobby as a side business while continuing your 9 to 5 job or do something entirely different from your hobby.

    Do not stop innovating

    After you have confirmed whether you can earn a living from your hobby, the next thing to do is to innovate. Innovation means introducing new ways to perform tasks or duties. It makes your job exciting and interesting. It also nips boredom in the bud especially when you have been doing the same thing for years. Importantly, innovation makes your product unique because there is nothing new under the sun.

    Never give up

    If you are confident about your hobby, then giving up should be dumped in the trash can. Be persistent and know that you will hit the jackpot one day. Network, innovate and be positive. There will be setbacks but keep trying. When the bomb of your time explodes, you will be amazed at the number of offers you will receive. You will have no choice than to eventually quit your full-time job and make your hobby your full-time job.

    READ ALSO: ‘How I turned my hobby into business’

    Do not be opposed to feedback

    Feedback helps you know your areas of improvement. Do not be opposed to it and you will be better for it. Welcome it, implement it and without a doubt, you will stand out from the crowd. Feedback can come in any form, always be patient to listen and do not argue because it is futile. Consequently, you can screen the feedbacks and sincerely pick the ones that are most relevant to you.

    Package your hobby

    There is a difference between a roadside barbing salon and a barbing salon located in a mall. Both are doing the same thing but the packaging and branding are miles apart. You should do the same with your hobby. Package and brand it in such a way that it will appeal to your target audience or the social strata that are interested in your product or service.

  • Ethical bags from recycled plastic

    A pioneering recycling project in Morocco combines contemporary fashion design, environmental protection, sustainable development and women’s empowerment.

    Plastic bags have proliferated for a long time in the peri-urban areas of Morocco, becoming an unavoidable symbol of pollution.

    When I was a teenager, the landscape of plastic bags surrounding my village, as far as the eye could see, had a major impact on me,” says Faïza Hajji, a Télécom Bretagne graduate in France and president of Morocco’s Docteur Fatiha Association (ADF). “So I came up with the idea for a project during a competition of the French CCE [French Trade Advisors], in the international category.”

    In 2006, two years after the competition, Hajji used the association to create the social enterprise Ifassen ("hands" in local dialect) in Berkane, her hometown in northeastern Morocco. Since then, the brand has recycled more than 56,000 plastic bags and given birth to three artisan women cooperatives, and it continues to grow and improve.

    Based on local women’s weaving skills, the project combines environmental protection and social entrepreneurship, Hajji says. The women manufacture baskets and market bags using plastic bags and Alfa, a flexible and resistant local plant, traditionally used for weaving baskets. The plastic bags are cleaned, cut into strips, then woven by the craftswomen. The brand has since added other products, such as decorative objects,
    coasters and handbags.

    At the beginning, the ADF association helped the craftswomen of the cooperatives, training them in quality and production processes, management, communication and marketing tools, as well as how to find business opportunities, either locally or for export.

    In 2016, a major windfall pushed the entrepreneur to step up her game: the Moroccan government launched its national Zero Mika policy (" zero plastic" in Arabic), strictly banning single-use plastic bags’ production, import, sale and distribution.

    Ifassen had to find a viable business model, increase production volume, and focus on developing partnerships and gaining visibility to get in line with the new national policies. Thanks to ADFs partnership with the European Union’s Switched program and the nonprofit Beyond Plastic Med [BeMed], Ifassen’s associated cooperatives were
    able to make and distribute reusable bags free of charge in the Berkane markets. All of this was combined with awareness campaigns," Hajji explains.

    Between March and April 2018, the ADF association conducted a market study among 100 Ifassen customers and 50 retailers in Berkane to understand how recycled bags are used. The study showed that women are more likely to use recycled bags than men, because they tend to plan their shopping beforehand, while men shop rather
    spontaneously. The inquiry led the brand to improve the design and functionality of its bags, now made from flour sacks, which contain polypropylene.

    Ifassen’s bags are now equipped with two different-sized handles, to be carried by hand or slung over the shoulder. In addition, once empty, the bags are easy to fold and fit inside a pocket. ADF partnered with the Zero Zbel association ("zero waste" in Arabic) to produce 200

    recycled plastic bags as part of a pilot program called " Alternatives to single-use plastic bags."
    Today, Ifassen employs 60 women, involving seven designers to create new bag models from recycled plastic bags. The sales profits are used to finance the work of the craftswomen and ADF’s activities. All prices are fixed in agreement with the partner cooperatives, and reflect the women’s meticulous handiwork.

    The company must now find a balance between potential sales and the products we can offer, Hajji says. Aiming to diversify and improve its quality, the brand is now investing in contemporary art through the new Moroccan Initiative for Craft, Art and Technology (MICAT) project, in partnership with the Moroccan architect Aziza Chaouni. The project’s goal is to recycle plastic bags and bottles and turn them into wire for 3D printers, then use it to
    produce a wide variety of high value-added crafts. The first prototype born from this operation is a lamp with a 3D-printed base. Craftswomen from different cooperatives and regions of Morocco will weave designs onto the base using various techniques and natural materials such as reeds and wool, or else recycled materials such as plastic and clothing.

    If we can find the necessary funding, we will present the lamps at the Venice Biennale from 11 May to 24 November 2019, says Hajji. Many challenges await this project, not least its estimated cost of 61,000 euros (USD 69,000) – but the expected results are promising.

     

  • An open source platform to sort garbage

    Around 9 a.m. every day, Rajendran and his team hop into their pickup truck to collect waste from companies in the IT hub Electronics City, in Bangalore, India.

    At each destination, Rajendran uses a smartphone to scan a QR code previously given to the company.

    The team then weigh each type of waste (wet, dry, rejects) on a digital scale and enter the weight information on a mobile application. “Even those who don’t know how to read can use it, as different streams of waste are colour-coded,” he says.

    The app, called “I Got Garbage” (IGG), was developed by the Indian IT giant Mindtree, and it helps Rajendran and his team at the Electronics City Industrial Township Authority (ELCITA) Solid Waste Management Centre generate invoices for the 103 companies they serve. It analyses the data in order to determine the weight of each sub- category of waste. With this information, companies can draw up plans for waste reduction in particular streams, such as wet or dry waste, plastic waste and construction debris.

    Mindtree launched IGG through Mindtree.org —the company’s corporate social responsibility initiative— in Bangalore in 2014, to empower rag pickers (informal waste collectors), increase their collection capacity and help them climb up the value chain using technology to better organize their work flow and payments.

    Prashant Mehra, Vice President of Social Inclusion for Mindtree, says that in mid 2015, his team started approaching various municipalities with the IGG platform. “While many were excited about it, no one wanted to start using it,” he notes.

    “The reason and season had not yet come together like it did in Bangalore, Karnataka, and Hazaribagh, Jharkhand.”

    In 2016, Extended Producer Responsibility was mandated and it was only in 2018 that the governments started getting serious about it. Since then, the app has been deployed in seven cities across India.

    Today, as many as 16 partners —mostly non-profits— work with IGG in these cities.

    It has helped transform the lives of nearly 10,000 rag pickers and scrap dealers previously working in the informal sector, with some now managing their own micro businesses.

    Over the years, these rag pickers and scrap dealers have been able to recycle 52 million kg of solid waste and compost roughly 127 million kg of organic waste thanks to the app, thus preventing 212 million kg of waste from ending up in landfills, according to Mindtree.org.

    Mehra says the company has now embarked on a new project that aims to help 50 cities recycle or reduce their use of plastics using IGG. For the project, christened Prithvi, Mindtree has partnered with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages (HCCB), and local municipalities.

    It is via the Prithvi project that the company hopes to empower and mobilise around 40,000 more waste pickers. “The platform is available free of charge. We realised that if waste pickers can use it, other people who want to scale up the value chain can also use it and benefit from it,” Mehra explains.

    Over the years, the company has also been able to come up with a blueprint of what it takes to create a zero waste city. “Based on our experience, we know what it takes for a city to have a robust solid waste management system in place,” Mehra says. “How to promote source segregation and home composting, solid waste management centres that have to be set up, what the capital expense should be for the municipalities, and so

    on.”

    It takes a highly integrated approach, with factors such as technology, infrastructure, delivery models, community engagement and governance playing vital roles. The project implementation includes solid waste management master planning, programme management, municipalities building capacity, community engagement and creation of a replicable zero waste model at the level of a municipal ward.

    Mindtree has also been able to draw up a waste maturity model and is approaching municipalities across the country. These municipalities could adopt the model, put systems in place as per the blueprint and work towards becoming zero waste cities.

     

     

  • Ensuring the Earth Beats On

    As Earth Day approaches on April 22, alarm bells are ringing more and more loudly. The unbridled technological development of recent decades has generated astronomical quantities of highly polluting and rarely recycled waste, while the extractive industries necessary to produce the goods we use devour natural resources.

    It is the overexploitation of these resources coupled with the excessive use of fossil fuels and
    chemicals that have degraded the air we breathe and the land and water upon which our survival depends.

    Human activity is at the center of it all. If the Earth’s 4.5 billion years of existence were condensed into 24 hours, humanity would only appear at 23:45, and the industrial revolution at two seconds to midnight, the equivalent of two heartbeats. It’s a fraction of time yet enough to modify the surface of the planet to the point of creating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a seventh continent made of more than 80,000 tonnes of plastic waste.

    The latest reports leave no doubt about the impact this activity has had on people and the planet. According to the World Wildlife Fund, 60 percent of vertebrate species populations – fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles – disappeared between 1970 and 2014, while the planet's available fresh water decreased by 83 percent.

    The World Health Organization estimates that nine out of 10 persons worldwide breathe polluted air, a problem that causes nearly seven million premature deaths every year.

    And yet there are women and men around the world undertaking initiatives against waste and pollution. They are initiating zero-waste movements, finding new alternatives to plastics, focusing on reforestation, or developing high and low-tech devices capable of cleaning our oceans, rivers, land and air.

    Each one is hoping to stem the devastating effects of pollution and help protect life on Earth.

    All of us can and must participate in these efforts to make our planet livable in a sustainable way. That is why ( The Nation ) has joined the Impact Journalism Movement, gathering internationally renowned news media outlets to look beyond the problems and report on local solutions to global issues.

    From April 15 to 29, 18 newsrooms are working together as part of the editorial project Earth Beats, in
    partnership with UNESCO, Jour de la Terre, Impact Hub and CDC Biodiversité.

    Because every beat counts, every story counts, and everything can change from one second to
    another.

    Christian de Boisredon, founder of Sparknews, and the Sparknews team

  • Is state police not the answer?

    The moment of truth has come. The reality has dawned on the privileged class that the danger is real. As targets of kidnapping, armed robbery and terrorism, the rich are crying.

    Senators are waking up from their deep slumber. Their constituencies are not insulated from crime that has the tendency of threatening their lives and those of their immediate families. Security is at its low ebb. In their view, state police is the answer.

    The agitation is just beginning to catch up with the proposals enjoined by pro-National Conference organisations, including Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Middle Belt Forum and other ethnic nationalities which have clamoured for true federalism, but without success.

    Many reasons have been adduced as justification for state, and even community policing. Intelligence gathering is central to general policing and security. But, how, for instance, can a policeman, a native of Kano, police successfully in Lagos State or Rumuokoro in Rivers State? He lacks the understanding of the geography, sociology, language, history and culture of his environment of operation. He may be a patriot, but, he is not emotionally attached to the ‘foreign’ environment.

    Read Also: State police: Learning from history

    Is it not better for a Kanuri to police Boko Haram-ravaged Borno communities, which he is familiar? Why are the local vigilance groups effective and successful in their localities? What is the strength of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), in the absence of the knowledge of the environment?

    Why is the Federal Government shying away from the possible? Have state governments not invested more in the state police commands than the Federal Government? Apart from the payment of salaries of policemen, states have been supplying vehicles and other tools.

    Nigeria has adopted a semblance of federal principle, but without implementing its full elements. Yet, its peculiarity as a nation-state of diverse national communities makes it compelling. Why should governors, who are Chief Security Officers in their respective states, depend on the distant power-loaded Federal Government and Inspector-General of Police for security of their domains? Why can’t state police commissioners take lawful orders from governors without clearance from Abuja? Why a unitary police formation in a federal country?

    The ghost of the past may still be hunting the country. Before and after independence, there was state or regional police. Its goal, like the Army’s, was regime protection. Then, policemen were tools in the hands of ruling parties and governments to oppress, intimidate and cow the opposition to submission.

    State police may underscore autonomy for states in matters of security. It may encourage contiguous states in a region to collaborate on fighting criminal activities.  But, how mature is the polity? What is the level of political culture that will accommodate innovation and ensure its workability? How mature are the governors who may misinterpret state police as additional powers of coercion meant to solidify their positions and cage their perceived foes? Governors control the state electoral bodies. The results of council polls are predictable. The opposition is always a loser. Grassroots democracy is violated because the hands of many governors are heavy on the state electoral agencies.

    But, does the advantage of state police not outweigh its disadvantage? Indisputably, the federal police have failed to halt the insecurity nationwide. Armed robbery, kidnapping and terrorism have continued unabated. Therefore, is the option not worth testing?

  • 7 things you may not know about Aliko Danogte at 62

    Aliko Dangote, the richest African – as ranked by Forbes Magazine, celebrates his 62nd birthday today and here are some facts that you might not have known about the business mogul.

    1. Aliko Dangote has survived three plane crashes in his lifetime. One was in London in 1983, which left the pilot dead and co-pilot paralysed. He survived another crash in 1996 that killed his brother and another in Angola in 2008.

    2. He was exposed to the entrepreneurial spirit at a young age. From as early as when he was in primary school, he would bring a carton of sweets to sell to his peers for profit making.

    3. He fell in love and proposed to the woman of his dreams, Nafisat Yar’Adua (daughter of late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua) but was turned down.

    4. Dangote declared in an interview in 2010 that he had intentions of buying Arsenal club in 2020.

    5. His company, Dangote cement, is the largest cement production company in Africa with production capacity of 20M tons per year.

    6. Aliko Dangote has retained his position as the richest man in Africa for eight years straight.

    7. Back in 1977, he took a loan of N500, 000 from his uncle to start his own business.

  • 7 interesting facts about Florence Ajimobi at 60

    One look at Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, wife of Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, brings warmth to the heart and rightly so.

    She is a woman with unique qualities and impeccable character worthy of emulation. As she celebrates her 60th birthday today, these are seven things noteworthy about her.

    1. Although she was born in Benin City on the 5th of April 1959, she is of mixed ancestry. She hails from the renowned Hajaig family of Lebanon and grew up in Ibadan in Oyo state.

    2. She possesses a degree in Secretarial Studies and Management from The Polytechnic Ibadan as well as a Doctoral degree in a management science. She was on Monday 1st of April 2019 inducted as a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Resources Management and Politics (CIPRMP) based in Ghana.

    Read Also: Florence Ajimobi at 59: When noise is not music

    3. She is the biological mother of five; four daughters and a son. In 2012, she adopted twin boys, Oluwaseyifunmi and Oluwaseunfunmi making her a mother of seven.

    4. She is the Yèyé Ààré of Ibaanland. This title was conferred on her on the 16th of December 2016 by Oba Saliu Adetunji, the Olubadan of Ibadanland.

    5. She is passionate about humanity. Florence Ajimobi is the founder of several humanitarian projects such as Access to Basic medical Care (ABC) foundation, Ajumose Food Basket, Educate A Rural Child project among many others.

    6. She is also a philanthropist. She has donated a fully equipped ICT center to Ajayi Crowther University and is known for donating gift items and cash particularly to orphanages within Oyo state.

    7. Her desire is to become a pastor at 60. She stated this wish at the August edition of Women Intercessory Network Prayer Rally in 2017. As she clocks 60 today, we do hope her wish comes true.

  • Common Tech mistakes limiting your business potentials

    Your business has big plans for now and the future. You are betting big on technology to take your business to the next level. Unknown to you, it is this same technology that is hindering and preventing your business from attaining its full potential. The interesting thing here is that some of the most common tech mistakes that businesses make are also the easiest to fix. Here are some tech mistakes that are hindering the growth of your business.

    You think you’re smarter than robots

    More businesses every day are jumping on the artificial intelligence bandwagon, and for good reason. AI can help optimize business operations, sift through huge amounts of customer data, and capture information that can help you make better decisions. The robotic takeover of the manual, repetitive tasks of businesses is inevitable. You can use this development to your advantage, or you can attempt to fight off the robot revolution.

    A business like Jumia, Nigeria’s no 1 shopping destination is already taking advantage of the benefits of AI with its chatbot tagged Jumia Bot. The Jumia Bot is the pocket assistant that helps you order food when you are hungry, book a flight or hotel when you want to travel and also assist with your shopping.

    Weak login password(s)

    In this era of online security consciousness and hackers looking for ways to steal information, using weak passwords for your login can put your business in great risk especially if you have customer information on your database. There’s no excuse for not having a more secure login process. You can use two-factor authentication which requires you to use a password to log in as usual, but goes one step further and forces you to confirm the login via a text message or phone call.

    Not recognizing that technology evolves

    Technology is highly dynamic. This means that training within a company must continually evolve. If you don’t focus on keeping up, your business will be left behind. The only way to stay on the cutting edge of technological evolution is to routinely stay updated. Give yourself and your staff as much training as possible, not only on new technologies but on systems currently in use as well. When you accept that you and your business will be lifelong tech learners, you’ll stay one step ahead of the pack.

    No reliable backup

    You should never assume that your backup system is working properly. At least, once each month you should back up a test directory, erase it, and then do a test restore. This will ensure that your backup device is working, but you also need to make sure that the proper data is being backed up.

    Buying cheap tech equipment

    I.T. will cost you a lot of money. In fact, depending on the industry you’re in, tech could be your biggest investment. Cheap, outdated and otherwise unsuitable tech arrangements can cripple your business and cost business owners way more in time, trouble and overall inefficiency. Instead of looking for the least expensive solution, determine what you’re going to need, and then look for the best deals on quality hardware and software.

  • How to protect your child from predators

    There could not have been a better time than now to present a book on sex and child abuses considering the increasing spate of sexual abuses in the society today. The recent presentation of protecting your child from sexual abuse written by Pastor Bisi Adewale therefore came at an appropriate time when parents need such valuable information on how to protect their children from predators.

    Speaking at the presentation in Lagos, Pastor Bisi Adewale said the 163-page book was borne out of an urgent need to ‘mitigate this great problem in our society today and I am happy you are a witness to the coming alive of this life-changing and destiny-preserving book.’

    He stated that the menace of child sexual abuse in the society has become so alarming that one can only imagine what is happening under the roof.

    He also disclosed that statistics about child sexual abuse keep increasing every day for the worse, adding that with its presentation to the public today, ‘one child or more may be delivered.

    Who knows how many children will have their lives transformed and delivered from the hands of pedophiles? The book, which is the 92nd book from the Family Booster’s stable, contains about 51 heart rending stories of past victims of child sexual abuses.

    According to the author, the book was written to help in dealing with the menace of child sexual abuse in the society. “A study revealed that 1 in every 10 children would be sexually abused before age 18. The book seeks to open the eyes of parents to the need to protect the lives of their children from pedophiles in our society. Many of these victims, now adults, shared stories of what happened to them when they were younger. Some were as young as four years old,” he said.

    The book reveals what sexual abuse is and how a child can be abused. It also gives the differences between sex education and sexualisation, recent statistics on child sexual abuses and shows reasons why parents should be careful about people they trust with their children’s upkeep.

    A study revealed that about 80% of sexually abused children have been abused by people known closely to them (Uncles, Cousins, Aunties, Teachers, Spiritual leaders, Neighbours, Nannies, Baby sitters etc).

    Indicators or signs that a child is being sexually abused are also revealed in the book while factors that predispose a child to sexual abuse are also mentioned.

    In the book, readers will be exposed to mistakes parents make that exposes their children to sexual abuse; what to do when a child is sexually abused; how to prevent abuse and how to protect children from abusers.

    The latter chapters of the book expose how to give an age-grade sexual education by giving a practical guide on how to educate toddlers, pre-scholars, grade-scholars, pre-teens and teenagers.