The Nation Newspaper

Tag: entrepreneurial

  • 78 ex-militants trained in entrepreneurial skills

    Seventy-Eight ex-Niger Delta militants have been trained in entrepreneurial skills at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA).

    According to the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Adebiyi Daramola, 50 of the militants who were trained in welding and fabrication had graduated, while 28 of them are currently undergoing training in agriculture production.

    Speaking at the convocation briefing in Akure, through the Chairman, Ceremonials Committee of the university, Prof Olaniyi Okunlola, the V-C said the university collaborated with the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs for the training exercise.

    He said the Niger-Delta militants were trained by the Centre for Entrepreneurship Studies of the university, stressing that the training would make the militants to be self-reliant in order to be useful for their families and the society.

    Prof. Daramola, who noted that the Niger-Delta militants trained by the university are of good conduct, stressed the need for national environmental development by the Federal Government.

    While giving a breakdown of the graduating students for the 28th Convocation ceremony, the don said 85 of them bagged first-class, 1,044 made second-class (Upper Division), 1,274 in

    second-class (Lower Division), 453 had third-class, while 33 had Pass.

    Besides, he said a total of 105 will bag the university’s Ph.D degrees, 731 hold Master’s degree and 40 will obtain the Post- Graduate Diploma Certificate of the university.

    He revealed that the President of African Development Bank (ADB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina and a German scholar, Prof. Rainer Horn are receiving the university’s honorary doctorate degree.

    Prof. Daramola hinted that a student, Ali Abdul-Hafiz of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering emerged the overall best graduating student of the university for the 2015/2016 academic session, with a CGPA of 4.89.

    He said as part of the convocation ceremonies, 10 different projects executed by school management would be inaugurated.

    Among the projects are Prof Albert Ilemobade Library, Advancement Centre Building, 1,000-Seater LT Mini Campus Multi-purpose Hall and Shopping Complex.

    Prof. Daramola assured that adequate security arrangements had been put in place to ensure hitch-free convocation ceremonies.

  • Bol, firm partner on entrepreneurial training, funding

    Bol, firm partner on entrepreneurial training, funding

    •Equip youths, others for export market on precious stone

    The Bank of Industry (Bol) is collaborating with Laurel School of Mines (LSM) to produce gem stones for export.

    At the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between BoI and LSM in Lagos on Monday, BoI’s Acting Managing Director Mr. Waheed Olagunju said that the partnership would facilitate entrepreneurship and employment in the solid minerals sector.

    He said the collaboration was the boldest initiative the Development Finance Institution (DFI) has taken so far in the solid minerals space in the country.

    Olagunju said: “We have lots of agricultural resources, solid minerals and oil, but solid minerals are the lowest hanging fruits. With gem stones, you do not have to wait like agriculture where you plant to harvest and process. We have gem stones where we can pick them up, add value and within few weeks make thousands of dollars.”

    According to him, the partnership is also coming on the heels of Nigeria’s quest to diversify its revenue base, saying that the gem stones industry is capable of earning the much needed foreign exchange for the Nigerian economy.

    ‘’The turnaround time is faster in precious stones, unlike what we have in agriculture or the petroleum sector. We are going to generate a lot of entrepreneurs in this sector. We will be training 1,600 in each location and 200 per location across the country spanning the six geo-political zones, including Lagos and Abuja.

    The BoI boss said that those who are trained and show signs of becoming potential entrepreneurs will be supported by the bank. “We will give them concessional facilities to enable them trade and export gem stones to earn foreign exchange, which would go a long way to help Nigeria diversify the economy while also earning foreign exchange for the country,” he added.

    Olagunju said there would be four batches of 50 each in the locations to ensure that the training is effective. He also stated that the training is expected to last for three days, adding that the course curricular of the training programme will include picking the gem stones, adding value and trading for export.

    On the versatility of the firm in partnership, the Bol boss said LSM is a global player and is currently operating in some parts of Africa successfully as well as in countries in Asia such as Sirilanka, Thailand, Mali and Senegal among others.

    “We are dealing with a reputable institution that is Nigerian and the MoU we are signing is also in sync with BoI’s operation strategy. We operate and collaborate with domestic and foreign development partners. LSM happens to be a domestic development partner in the private sector and the first in the solid minerals space,” he stated.

    Also, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Tope Adebanjo, said if Nigeria channels the required efforts towards gem stone development, the industry is capable of turning the fortunes of the economy around. He maintained that the industry has transformed many economies of the world.

    ‘’It is sad that foreigners are dominating the gem stone business and there are millions of unemployed youths in the country. The industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. We can make Lagos and Abuja another Las Vegas in Nigeria,” he said.

    According to him, Nigeria is tapping next to nothing in the global share index of the industry. He maintained that almost half of the total population of Thailand, which is about 60 million, engage directly and indirectly in gem stone production.

    He, however, listed factors affecting investment in gem stone development in Nigeria to include lack of capital, market, technology, mineral resource and entrepreneurs. He stressed the need to develop entrepreneurs in Nigeria to take advantage of the enterprising sector.

    “The training we are embarking on is about $277 per person for three days, which is less than $100 a day. Selection will be done diligently together with the BOI. Basically, the whole idea is to engage the youth to take over what belongs to them. Nigerians are intellectually sound, ready and willing to work, but the problem is who will lead them to work,” he said.

  • ‘Knowledge acquisition panacea to entrepreneurial failures’

    Knowledge acquisition, not finance, is the panacea to problems bedevilling entrepreneurs.

    This was the view of  stakeholders at the first edition of the Youth Entrepreneurship Summit (YES), organised by Palm3 Strategy, in Lagos.

    The  theme was “Nigeria beyond oil: Advancing SMMEs development through entrepreneurship social media”.

    The consensus of participants  was that acquisition of the right knowledge will go a long way in ensuring the success of young entrepreneurs.

    The Acting Chief Executive Officer, Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr Waheed Olagunju, said though most entrepreneurs complained of lack of finance in starting up, investigations revealed that most start-ups do not have the requisite knowledge to manage their businesses.

    He said BoI would tackle youth unemployment through various grants –  Youth Entrepreneurship Support (YES) grant to young graduates and Graduate Entrepreneurship Funds (GEF) for youth corps members – to assist youths with good business ideas to start their business.

    Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Chief Executive Officer Mr Olusegun Awolowo said the agency has various initiatives to assist young entrepreneurs to key into government policies on exportation. He, however, regretted that lack of information about the activities of NEPC explained why many Nigerian products were not being exported.

    Olam Nigeria Vice President, Ade Adefeko, said for Nigeria to diversify beyond oil, the nexus between agriculture and technology, with the  active participation of the youth, should be pursued as that would promote agriculture.

    Similarly, the Managing Director, Palm3 Strategy, Mr Ndiana Mattew, said YES was borne out of lack of mentorship for budding entrepreneurs without connections or a formal business school, a level playing field on market entry, obstacles to finance and lack of knowledge/skill or its accessibility by the average the youth.

  • IDPs learn entrepreneurial skills

    IDPs learn entrepreneurial skills

    Knowing that handouts from the public are not enough, internally displaced persons have embraced skills acquisition, GRACE OBIKE reports

    Give a man a fish, as they say, and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish, and you feed for a lifetime. At a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Abuja, this Chinese proverb has a literal meaning.

    The IDPs depend largely on charity, but even as they cherish every handout, they still lack most of life’s basic necessities.

    Things are changing. The truth of the Chinese saying is sinking in, and the IDPs have started learning trades in order to be able to support themselves. And they are doing quite well.

    Some well-meaning entrrepreneurs have dedicated  their time and knowledge to  training the displaced persons to be self-reliant.

    The government of the Federal Capital Territory says the displaced camps are in the wrong places, meaning it is not obliged to take care of them. This attitude inspired a lot of Nigerians to take up the responsibility of giving to the displaced out of the little they have which has so far been sustaining them but some residents in some cases have gone a step further in providing education, health facilities and empowerment programmes to the IDPs. One of such organisations, the Life Builders Initiatives formed by a couple, has erected structures in Durumi and presently teaches over 1000 children. The organisation also feed the IDPs  ones a day.

    Whereas most of their parents, especially mothers, have nothing to do, a few people have taken to training the mothers as well. Recently, the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA) empowered 43 women in different skills ranging from bead-making, soap making, making of hand wash, bags, flower vases and a lot more.

    The training which took place at the Maria Centre Abuja, located around the Durumi camp was coordinated by Rev. Sis. Anne Falola who explained that she had always visited the camps to provide them with relief materials but she felt that they should not simply be reduced to simply relying on people’s hands out.

    She said, “I was coming to the camp like every other person to give food and clothing but I felt that no human being should be reduced to just handouts, I feel that these people’s lives have been disrupted, their normal way of livelihood, they have lost everything in the crises and felt they should be re-equipped to face life so that the time that they are in transition and away from home can be put into a useful purpose.

    “Each time we spoke with government agencies about them, they always told us that this was a temporary thing, that we should not invest too much on them and I feel that is not right because every human life is precious. I feel that where we need to invest in our country is not in buildings but in persons; that is our greatest resources, so all this put together made me say that the little people gave to me for my birthday, let me divert it to use. I saw how downcast the women where and decided to give them a space to play and talk which brings healing in itself and in the process learn something that they will not need a lot of money to invest in, many of them are very happy because it is useful for them, it takes their minds away from being depressed now they see that they can do things, sell and make money.

    “Today 43 women graduated after three months and we were able to give a small start-up for 11, others are waiting and we want to give to all of them, with as little as N20,000 we can put something beautiful for them.

    “My dream will be that in all the suburbs, there should be empowerment centres because we don’t look at the potentials in people in this country, we look at people as problems which is a mistake, the women where really surprised when they made their first purses, they never believed it was possible before then, I have seen people from other countries come here today to say that they can actually take the items home and tell people that they bought in from Nigeria. In all the suburbs where joblessness is the daily song of people, where depression is bitting hard and people are unable to think because they don’t see a future, people need to learn to start little things, different handwork, this was how Indonesian shops where developed and now they supply to chain stores in Europe, there are wasted spaces everywhere in this country, even a little poultry will bring down the price of chicken in the market, we need to learn to stop importing stupid things in the name of joblessness, we do not actually need big money to start a lot of things.”

    Coordinator Governmental and Public Relations of the IDP camp in Area 1, Idris Ibrahim Halilu, explained that even though they appreciate being provided with food and clothing items, they will love to be self-reliant.

    He said, “The sisters of the Ladies of Apostles contacted us that they wanted to organise a skills acquisition training for our wives, widows, sisters and we welcomed the idea, we spoke with our people and got the number required to register and I had the privilege of being the translator and it has been a success story so far.

    “This is an opportunity for our women to acquire skills to enable them become self-employed and trainers to other, so they can be a relief to the society instead of depending on NGOs, individuals and the government to come to feed us, with something to do, for instance, if she is a widow, she can make use of her skills to take care of her children, which is good because the men are equally being trained because when a man gives you food, it is just for a day but being thought skills is being given food for life. If you bring a hundred thousand trailers of food, it will finish but these skills will always remain and can be imparted to others and the impact is on the larger society.

    “When they return home, this is what will sustain them and they will be eager to teach others, as we train them.”

    Executive Secretary of Caritas Nigeria, a relief and development agency of the Catholic Bishops conference of Nigeria Rev. Fr. Evaristus Bassey, added that the problem with the country is that, unemployment and the level of hardship in the country makes it difficult for a lot of people who would have ordinarily want to help the needy in their midst, to help because people with jobs in a family have a lot of dependants which makes it difficult for a lot of people to make much to give after providing for their families.

    His said, “We have supported the project financially and in terms of guidance, we have made substantial donations like the container with toilet facilities, sewing machines for the women etc.

    “The philanthropic culture in Nigeria is very poor, many Nigerians give so that their names can be mentioned, they give when it is relatives but to give not knowing where it will be used is poor here it is something we have to work on but it could be linked to poverty, when one has employment or a means, he has lots of dependence, so before he can take care of these dependents and reach out to people outside the circle is challenging, there is a lot of extended family and community dependency, it’s probably the reason and not that we are not generous but there are still people that can reach out and help those in need.”

    One of the beneficiaries, 17-year-old Fatima Ali from Gambarongala Local Government, who appreciated the opportunity, stated that she now believes that she has something that she can one day use to take care of not only herself but family.

    “I decided to learn because it can be a way of taking care of myself in future; if I don’t have anything doing, with this I can work for myself and get enough money to pay my bills instead of depending on anyone, with this I can become a businesswoman who can afford to take care of her family; it took me five months, now I can make bags, belts, flower vase, ear rings, bangles, key holders and lots more.”

    Another beneficiary, mother of five, 27-year-old Mariam Isah, said that she now believes that what she learnt will keep her going.

    “I learnt to make bags, soap, hand wash, vase and a lot more, they thought us a lot of skills, formerly we used to just sit at home doing nothing but now we can confidently call ourselves business women, now when I return home, I have a craft to keep me going, I have a business to use in taking care of my children.”

     

  • NYSC, BoI synergise on entrepreneurial training

    NYSC, BoI synergise on entrepreneurial training

    The Bank of Industry (Bol) has granted N2 billion as Graduate Entrepreneurial Fund (GEF) to support graduates in skill acquisition to curb perennial unemployment.

    The project is a partnership with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to train corps members on entrepreneurial skills.

    Relying on the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), BoI Managing Director Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa said about 1.8 million young Nigerians enter the already-saturated labour market yearly. He noted that more than 50 per cent of the youth are unemployed.

    According to him,  graduates of tertiary institutions are badly hit by unemployment, constituting about 20 per cent of youth unemployment. Of the over 250,000 graduates that enrol for the NYSC yearly, more than 41 per cent do not get jobs after the NYSC programme, he added.

    Olaoluwa regretted that job creation has simply not kept pace with the increasing working-age population. He said the programme, which is a collaboration with the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) unit of NYSC, will select about 1,000 corps members to participate in the capacity building process through an online business idea competition.

    The three-day programme will cover topics such as generating the right business idea (Value Proposition), the intricacies of running a profitable business (Business Model), basic selling skills and financial record keeping. At the end of the training, the NYSC members will be able to develop their own bankable business plans, which will form the basis for loan consideration.

    On the loan terms, Olaoluwa said: “It will be a medium to long-term loans at single digit interest rates after concerted training from BoI consultant with the total amount available for lending under the programme as N2 billion. Each beneficiary of GEF can access a minimum loan of N500,000 and a maximum of N2 million for the procurement of machinery and equipment as well as working capital, at a single digit interest rate of nine per cent, with a loan tenor of four to five years inclusive of six months moratorium,” he added.

    On the unique features of the initiative, he said it does not require the conventional collateral usually demanded by banks, adding that specific charges over the equipment procured with the loan will be charged with on the NYSC discharge certificate

    NYSC Director-General Brigadier General Johnson Olawumi  lauded the initiative, calling for a policy to assist young entrepreneurs to sell their products. He said though the World Trade Organisation (WTO) recommended free trade, the government should insist on what is right for entrepreneurs to encourage indigenous SMEs to grow.

    He said NYSC would keep its part of the bargain by ensuring probity and integrity on the part of beneficiaries to encourage the sustainability of the programme.

    Olawunmi said the programme was timely as unemployment has become an issue, leading young people to crime. He argued that there is no better way to address it than moving away slightly from the focus of the NYSC.

    Founder, Growing Business Foundation, Mrs Ndidi Edozien, one of BoI consultants praised the partnership between Bol and NYSC,  urging beneficiaries to ensure they gave back to the society.

    He said: “Ensure that you create value and wealth in the local economy that you made what you are today. Credibility, integrity is the watchword for success in any endeavour.”

    She spoke of her mentoring in the last 16 years which has helped businesses grow, noting that the key success words remained sustainability and doggedness.

    CEO, African Community Bridge Foundation, Mrs. Onari Duke, also commended the synergy between the bank and NYSC, stating that it is a consistent and creative way of producing a mass of skilled young graduates. She regretted that a N40 billion grant for SMEs set aside by the Central Bank of Nigeria was not accessed nor utilised because operating banks didn’t get any qualified SME to grant the fund. She, however, advised that success of any business is not only about funding but requisite entrepreneurial skills and tenacity.

    Mrs Duke, former First Lady of Cross River State, called for what she termed a skewed policy that would favour  young entrepreneurs to ensure that whatever they produce is sold.

    Diversification of the economy can only work if the country prepares its youth to take up challenges after giving them appropriate training, she added.

  • Entrepreneurial training for Ogun youths

    Entrepreneurial training for Ogun youths

    As the country’s unemployment situation worsens, the Blessed Gumpat Foundation (BGF), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has organised skill acquisition training for youths of Olambe community, Ogun State.

    Over 80 people received training in different skills which included catering services, hat and bead making, event management, cosmetology (liquid soaps, air freshener etc), dish making, barbing, cocktail drinks, make-ups and gale, art and sign, black soap, tie and dye, basket weaving, ankara craft, cake making and snacks making, among others.

    The Coordinator of the programme, Pastor Timpaul Prisca said the foundation was committed to poverty eradication and alleviation. She also said there was need for entrepreneurship development and skill acquisition for the youth. This, she said, would impact positively on the immediate environment and the society as a whole.

    Apart from providing teaching aids, handout/training manuals, graduation gowns and certificates to successful participants, Prisca said the foundation would consider assistance for trainee(s) in dire need of finance to set up his or her workshop

    The foundation, which is also non-profit-based, was established for the purposes of empowerment and skill acquisition for the youth and the aged alike. According to the coordinator, the centre has goodwill for the homeless and children of school age who she said are rather hawking on the street instead of being in the classroom.

    She told Southwest Report that the foundation has the intention of building skill acquisition centres in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the nearest future.

    “Our target audience cuts across everyone who wants to be boss of his own and who wants to have streams of income in all rural/urban communities of the country,” she said.

    According to her, the foundation is in partnership with international bodies and local organisations in order to create wealth and ensure financial freedom among its target groups through training, lecture, donation and grants.

    If government and other public-spirited individuals or group of individuals would support the initiative, the rate of unemployment would be reduced if not eradicated.

    On some of the drawbacks the foundation experiences, the coordinator said funding was a major challenge confronting it.

    She said: “Financial support is hardly coming from anybody, including the government. It’s all about passion to ensure that the vision is not stifled that informed our doing it by ourselves.”

    She also said responses from benefiting communities were not very encouraging, adding that people were expected to come out en masse to key into the training. They didn’t believe what we have come to do; perhaps such things hardly ever come to them.

    Apart from the training, the NGO also donated some hospital equipment to facilitate the rehabilitation of the dilapidated primary health centre in the community.

    Commending the organisation’s efforts towards improving the living standard of members of the community, Chairman, Olambe Area Community Development Council (OACDC), Captain Babatope Emmanuel (rtd) said the empowerment programme would be significant to widows, women and youths that are idle. According to him, the training would go a long way in reducing youths’ disturbances in the area.

    He also said the hospital equipment donated by the foundation would spur community efforts to rehabilitate the primary health centre, saying the health centre had been abandoned for a very long time due to lack of government’s assistance.

    ”We are grateful to the Blessed Gumpat Foundation for the empowerment programme it brought to this community. We are also grateful for the hospital equipment it donated to the community’s health centre.

    “It is a challenge to us; it has encouraged us to move because we cannot just keep those things there; we don’t want to jeopardize their efforts. We will pool our resources through levy and voluntary donations; we need to put something on ground,” he said.

    He, however, appealed to the state government to provide infrastructural facilities such as roads, water, schools and electricity for the development of the area.

     

  • Time for entrepreneurial studies

    In this century of technological advancement, entrepreneurship has become important achieve growth in modern economy and realise sustainable development. Entrepreneurship is a new trend being explored by countries to create wealth and jobs for their teeming population.

    However, the power of entrepreneurship is the willingness to develop, organise and manage a business venture along with risk to make profit. It is the process of discovering new ways of combing resources, a form of activities that one can develop in other to become independent after schooling.

    It was against this backdrop that entrepreneurship course was introduced in the curriculum to serve as a remedy to the socio-economic problems facing Nigeria today. Acquiring entrepreneurship skill will help to provide employment and serve as powerful weapon to fight poverty. The main goal of entrepreneurship education is to encourage business thinking and provoke the minds of young people to be self-reliant after school.

    It is now mandatory in all higher institutions in both developed and developing countries to teach students skills that will make them entrepreneurs. Many rely on white-collar jobs and government employment, which are not readily available. But, with the power of entrepreneurship, school leavers would have the hope of good future, which they would create through their hands and skills. The prosperity achieved by the likes of Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Chief Mike Adenuga has shown that free enterprise is the key to development.

    Entrepreneur as a course is meant to expose students to training that will prepare them to be their own boss. In the light of this, we must make best use of the opportunity while in school and explore entrepreneurship to create jobs for others.

    In my discussion with one of my lecturers, Mr Zakariyah Mujeeb, I learnt that, higher institutions produce more than what the government and private sector can absorb for employment. But, any graduate with entrepreneur skills would not have to worry about life after school.

    This is why it becomes necessary for students to believe in what they can do for themselves rather than what the government or anyone can do for them. It is a necessity for students to acquire entrepreneurial skills because of the situation of things in the country. For these reasons, every student must learn how to make themselves busy after their programme and this will enable them to contribute positively towards the economic growth.

    However, the need for entrepreneurship education has to be upheld by the society and there must be value re-orientation for students to see embrace it as the solution to unemployment. Schools should not only be seen as centres for knowledge but also for acquisition of skills that will be useful.

    This will greatly assist in changing the orientation of the students from studying for certificate to problem solvers through acquisition of entrepreneurial skills.

    The unemployment crisis should re-awaken us to create of a nation of entrepreneurs and not a nation of job-seekers. Nigeria is a developing country. The long-term solution to the nation’s unemployment crisis is to create a sustainable environment for breeding entrepreneurs.

    Empowering young people should not be an option, but a matter national imperative. Given the current state of youth unemployment in our country, we must challenge young people of today to seize the opportunities created by democracy to create a better life for themselves and the country.

    For this curriculum to be sustained, each high institution must adopt its own method of teaching its students skills in entrepreneurship irrespective of discipline. It is not out of place to say that great business ideas emerged from non-business oriented disciplines.

    Federal Government should therefore provide a more conducive environment in form of quality infrastructure and start-up financial support for willing youths ready to explore their entrepreneurial skills.

     

    Jennifer, ND II Mass Comm., OFFA POLY

     

     

     

  • Firm holds business leaders’ forum

    Firm, Service Desk Limited, has introduced a bi-monthly networking event for top executives and entrepreneurs, known as The Business Leader Forum (TBLF).

    In a statement, it said the initiative aims to bring together entrepreneurs and business owners for the purpose of networking and sharing successful business ideas.

    Service Desk said the first TBLF was held at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry on August 9, during which participants gained insight on running businesses successfully in Nigeria.

    There was also a practical session in which participants honed their business and entrepreneurial skills, while learning about specific areas of interest.

  • Driving entrepreneurial spirit in women

    IN a fast-paced economy where all roads leads to Africa for investment in an emerging market full of opportunities, many are not folding their arms watching things happen but are going out of their way to take up chances through preparation.

    The Women of West Africa Entrepreneurship Conference which held at the Eko Hotel and Wheatbaker Hotel from June 20th to 22nd provided an ample opportunity for women with skills and ideas to share knowledge on how to initiate and manage their enterprises.

    Borne out of the belief that driving entrepreneurial spirit in women and girls is the route to economic development in Nigeria, speakers were drawn from various industries spanning banking and management, media and publishing, fashion and make up industries, IT and telecommunications, advocacy and charities and other fields.

    During the course of the conference, there were discussions on ways to make entrepreneurship accessible to women through the social media platforms. There were also forums for networking and sharing of ideas as most of the workshops were anchored along lines of interaction which provided participants with the opportunity to bare their minds on challenges and prospects in business.

    Some of the participants at the workshop from various fields of interest shared their experience with The Nation at the event.

    Omotola Adeniyi Martins from House of Tara described the conference as a great experience judging by the calibre of women from the various West African countries that she encountered. “One of them was Magatte Wada, the founder of TIOSSAN from USA. Mo Abudu was powerful in her presentation and she really communicated with me. Forbes magazine managing editor, Chris Bishop, and Mrs. Adesuwa Oyenokwe were equally good,” she submitted. Asked on what she is taking away from the conference, she said she is taking away a message of hope. “I have learnt that even if you work for someone right now, you can also have your own business in the future.”

    In an encounter with Ebere Mogo, the president of Engage Africa Foundation, an NGO involved in fighting non communicable diseases through prevention and the media, she disclosed that she was inspired to come to the conference due to her desire to meet people who are doing positive things in the society. “I saw this as an opportunity to learn from people. I also got ideas from people who are already successful on how to grow my own organisation and I was quite happy.”

    Another participant from a financial institution, Nkiru Odocha, speaking on the workshop she attended on technology and innovation, said she was enlightened with the flexibility that technology provides. One of which she explained is how one can use social media to create a larger clientele base. Odocha believes that every African woman should be involved in doing something positive. “This is not the time for anyone to be idle,” she said.

  • 21-year-old wins entrepreneurial competition

    A 21-year-old undergraduate of Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU), Zaria ,Ashbel Ngalabak Ayuba, has won the 2012 edition of the Global Student Entrepreneurship Awards (GSEA).

    Ayuba would represent Nigeria at the GSEA global final in New-York US on November 14th. In addition, Ayuba would also receive a free business support from Stambic/IBTC Bank and a free communications pack from Etisalat.

    At the event held at the auditorium of the Lagos State Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ayuba show enterprise by bringing the show to his feat as a lad who went into farming at 17, and earned his first millions by selling eggs and other agricultural produce at 20, while still in secondary school .

    The GSEA is an organisation that encourages through awards, cash rewards and trips outside the country to international competitions among other pecks, to youths that have distinguished themselves via exceptional talent in entrepreneurship through their ability to own and successfully nurture their businesses from scratch to some level of prominence.

    Other six finalists were Abimbola Amusan a 300-Level undergraduate of Obafemi Awolowop University (OAU) Ile-Ife; Ashefo Bezaleel Reuben, a 400-Level Computer Science student from the University of Ibadan; Aladasuyi Tolulope a 2011/2012 graduate of Crop, Soil and Pest Management from the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA); and Christian Nwosu another 300-Level Agric Economic undergraduate of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri.

    Other finalists would also enjoy Etisalat free communications packs with a potential mentoring programme courtesy the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry internship opportunities.