With a large number of women becoming entrepreneurs, industrial organisations are being made to see that women are taking up more positive roles in developing the economy. They have, however, realised that women do not have the funds and they lack the technical know-how to run a business. This is why the Federation of Business Women Entrepreneurs (FEBWE) and Uplift Development Foundation are organising the 6th edition of Nigeria Women Entrepreneurs Exhibition, tagged: NIWEX 2015 in Abeokuta, DANIEL ESSIET reports.
NO time or age is too late to start a business venture and no qualification is required for a woman to be in business. This is one message NACCIMA Business Women Group in collaboration with ECOWAS Federation of Business Women Entrepreneurs (FEBWE) and wife of the governor of Ogun State, Mrs Olufunso Amosun, are drumming into women ears trying to ensure opportunities for women entrepreneurs. To them, fostering entrepreneurship is a key policy goal for a government, which share the expectation that high rates of entrepreneurial activity will bring sustained job creation.
According to them, there is a clear need to provide better information about entrepreneurship as an attractive option for young women in school and for women outside the labour force.
To NACCIMA Business Women Group, it is time to empower women to make an income; accumulate assets; increase their economic security; improve industrial capacity and spur economic growth by creating new jobs, and expanding the pool of human resources and talents available in a country.
The entrepreneurs programme is designed to empower women around the country to end poverty by liberating the entrepreneurial spirit for good. One of the leading lights of the movement is the deputy national president of the Nigeria Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Chief Alaba Oluwaseun Lawson, a successful businesswoman. She is determined to help more women to become entrepreneurs .
According to the chairperson, Nigerian Women Entrepreneurs Exhibition, Mrs Cynthnia Saka, Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s administration has launched the state on the path of industrial base, adding that the state is rich in natural resources to make it competitive nationally, but needed the government’s efforts to develop into an industrial giant.
To achieve the developmental strides, she said, the government was providing incentives, building up business skills and encouraging firms to look beyond the borders. In addition, she said the government is boosting its services to meet the needs of small and medium-sized export firms.
One strategy which she maintained would help the government achieve its goal is the partnership with the chamber of commerce as evidenced in the increased business activities.
According to her, investors believe in the state, and that is why it is having the largest concentration of industries.
Besides, Mrs Saka said the state’s investment is not only in infrastructure, but also in designing and implementing projects. These according to her, would secure lives and properties and protect future legacies.
She said women entrepreneurs need a little help along their entrepreneurial journey.
“The need of the hour is for a mentor, a hand holder to walk beside them on their path to success,” she said.
Being a fledgling entrepreneur herself, Mrs Saka CEO, T. Cynthia Nigeria Ltd, found her self needing guidance and advice on various aspects. For her, the experience of starting her own business had its own share of roadblocks. She said women entrepreneurs find banks as the most difficult source for obtaining funds. While women find it easier to start up, they find it equally difficult to grow and access capital as a result of which most of their businesses do not grow.
For her, Ogun State has emerged as the best place for women entrepreneurs to start business with high level of optimism on various factors that are important to judge business growth. To address women challenges, she said the Federation of Business Women Entrepreneurs (FEBWE) and Uplift Development Foundation of Mrs Amosun, is organising the 6th edition of Nigeria Women Entrepreneurs Exhibition tagged: (NIWEX 2015). The event, which will last seven days, has been scheduled to take place from December 7 to 16 at the MKO Abiola Trade Fair,
She said the fair is the dream of like minded women entrepreneurs, who wanted to train, guide, support and enhance the lives of ladies. “The Federation of Business Women Entrepreneurs (FEBWE) is a branch of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) dedicated to promoting economic development for women entrepreneurs in Africa,” she said.
FEBWE Nigeria , according to her, is a national organisation with members spread throughout the country.
The organisation, she said, provides women wishing to start their own ventures, business counselling, networking opportunities and bring businesswomen on a common forum to ensure that their visions are collectively and effectively taken up with policy makers and other agencies. The goal, she said, remains to ensure development of opportunities for women entrepreneurs.
“Uplift Development Foundation is already working to empower police officers’ wives, market men and women, community leaders, hunters, artisans, religious bodies, farmers, widows and others have benefited from the state community empowerment programme,” she said.
The programme, which was initiated by Mrs. Amosun, creates opportunities for the less privileged to participate in the economy and improve their earning potentials in order to assist their families fight their way out of poverty.
Mrs. Amosun explained that the programme was aimed at maximising growth opportunities among the less privileged in Ogun State and support them to reach their full potentials.
She noted that the Community Empowerment Programme was borne out of the needs assessment carried out before embarking on the programme where various community leaders and associations were consulted to ensure that the needs of these communities were met to enable them to be self-employed and self-sufficient.
The women group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has made a case for more energy and resources to be channelled towards grooming the next generation of female entrepreneurs as a way of tackling the high unemployment rate in the country.
Speaking at the second edition of the Group’s annual conference held in Lagos, the Chairperson of the Women Group, Mrs Adenike Sobajo, said this will only be possible when women take it as a point of duty to nurse and spur entrepreneurial spirit in their offspring from a tender age.
She explained that the aim of the conference themed ‘Developing the Next Generation of Female Entrepreneurs’ was to afford up and coming female entrepreneurs the opportunity of rubbing minds with successful business women and tapping from their wealth of experience.
“At the LCCI, the women group is ensuring that women move forward. Out of the school, we should begin to mentor them so that they can think on their own as to how to develop themselves business-wise. It is not just about making money, but adding value to their persons and to the society, Sobanjo said.
She stated that the LCCI Women Group is already in partnership with international bodies to support aspiring women entrepreneurs with start-up capital to develop their businesses.
Commending the initiative, LCCI President Mr. Remi Bello, represented by the former deputy governor, Lagos State, Mrs. Sarah Sosan, described the conference as ‘timely,’ considering the limited employment opportunities in the country. He however, urged women to remain undaunted from taking bold steps towards attaining outstanding financial height.
As Bello stated, “Most of our women are inhibited; they don’t have the confidence, and for you to go into business you must be bold regardless of whether you are going to fail or not. If you fail, you will try again. Many have started and they have failed but today, they are successful.”
The LCCI chief challenged women to strive to equip themselves with the necessary values and skills on how to access funding, start a business and be successful in their chosen field.
“There are lots of financial outfits out there, but they will always ask for collateral that people do not have. Regardless, there is one very key asset and that is getting the first start finance from friends or families. Whatever you get, don’t take it for granted.
Don’t mix business with pleasure or mix your capital with personal spending,” he advised.
The Executive Director of 141 Worldwide Limited, Mrs. Bunmi Oke, said the use of modern technology and social platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and WhatsApp, among others, would afford women entrepreneurs the opportunity of global branding and recognition. “It’s all about marketing. If you cannot market yourself, you may not be successful in business,” she said.
For Managing Director, Hayil Consult, Mrs Fehintola Folusho-Onagoruwa, there is need for women to adopt a positive mind-set on entrepreneurship. She noted that succeeding in business is not entirely a function of the environment or location, rather it is about mind-set.
She said: “You need to move from being the employee to being a business owner. You are not a business owner when your enterprise cannot last one day without your presence. You must also understand the power of networking and partnering to make your business thrive.”
Stockbrokers have started wooing indigenous entrepreneurs to the capital market as part of efforts to deepen the market and enhance its developmental roles in the economy.
Stockbrokers would be using the platform of the yearly conference of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), scheduled for October 29 and 30, to discuss key strategies and ways of enhancing the use of capital market by Nigerian entrepreneurs.
Addressing capital market reporters on the forthcoming conference, Chairman, Programmes Committee of CIS, Mr Akeem Oyewale, said the Institute has chosen the theme: Entrepreneurship and the Capital market: Fast-tracking a new economy for Africa, in demonstration of the importance of entrepreneurs in the quest to boost activities and reposition the market for global competitiveness.
According to him, no capital market can thrive without the participation of entrepreneurs who have the capacity to bring their companies for listing on the stock exchanges.
“It has been proven that our annual conference is a platform for articulating issues that would help the government in its policy planning and implementation. Last year’s conference focused on the entertainment industry and many of the key players in that sector have been utilising the market facilities to expand their businesses.
“Capital Market is not just about listing alone, there are other windows such as the use of debt instruments to raise fund. We are focusing on the entrepreneurs this year as part of our input towards strengthening the African capital markets. We want to promote entrepreneurs because they occupy a pivotal role in the development of a capital market,” Oyewale said.
Chairman, Annual Conference Sub-Committee, Mr Wale Agbeyangi, explained that participants for the conference had been carefully selected with emphasis on those who are knowledgeable about issues of capital market development.
Managing Director, Fortress Capital, Mr Yomi Adeyemi, noted that Africa has many entrepreneurs that can compete globally.
“We need to promote our entrepreneurs. As the present administration tries to tackle social problems including unemployment, the roles of entrepreneurs become more glaring. We must encourage our entrepreneurs to come and create more businesses and employ people,” Adeyemi said.
The conference would be flag-off by the Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor YemiOsinbajo. Other speakers included Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, Executive Governor, Lagos State, Mr Mounir Gwarzo, Director General, Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Oscar Onyema, CEO, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Mr Tony Elumelu, Chairman, Heirs Holdings; Michael Harris, Head of Research and kurkish Product, Rencap, Mr Bismark Rewane, CEO, Financial Derivatives Company, Mr Peter Bankole, Director, Enterprise Development Centre, Pan African University; Mr Rasheed Olaoluwa, MD, Bank of Industry (BOI) and Ms. Eme Essien-Lore, Country Manager, IFC among others.
For the over 4,000 prospective entrepreneurs and career seekers, who attended the Sterling Bank’s Get Ready for Work initiative, in Lagos, the chances of either starting new businesses or securing choice jobs look promising. The event was an opportunity for the lender to deepen its retail banking segment among youths, support those seeking capital and knowledge and those who want to start new businesses, reports COLLINS NWEZE.
Entrepreneurship is the soul of every thriving economy and so is a productive workforce.
Sterling Bank’s Get Ready for Work initiative held in Lagos at the weekend broadened the opportunity for young entrepreneurs and job seekers to achieve their life ambitions.
The event, with the theme “Mind The Gap” was organised to help participants understand what they need to make it in life, whether in businesses or paid employment.
The event, part of the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, was supported by online job portal, Jobberman and skills development centre, Field of Skills and Dream. It empowered over 4,000 graduates with employable and entrepreneurship skills.
The event presented a platform for the bank to bridge the financial exclusion gap as its staff also encouraged participants to open accounts with the bank and enjoy the benefits. For instance, as fallout of last year’s programme, the bank gave grants to those who have started their businesses. Four beneficiaries got N2.5 million, N1.5 million, N1 million and N500,000. The gesture is expected to be repeated this year.
The bank has consistently reaffirmed its commitment to promoting retail banking which allows it to provide banking services to individual consumers. Such services include savings and transactional accounts, mortgages, personal loans, debit cards, and credit cards, among others.
This year’s events also witnessed a psychoanalysis session where the participants had their personalities analysed by an expert to determine what career path would be most suitable for them. It also featured speeches from successful career people on how to tread successfully on whatever career path one may choose.
Chief Executive Officer, Wakanow, Obinna Okezie, urged the participants to be hard working. He said: “We started with nothing, but today, we employ over 500 people in our five years of operation. That is why it is important for you all to pursue your ideas and turn them to reality.’’
Executive Director, Field of Skills and Dreams VTE Academy (FSD) Omowale Ogunrinde, commended Sterling Bank for investing in the future of youths in country through the initiative.
According to her, the bank was responsible for organisations like hers agreeing to take part in the programme without charging participants professional fees. She said her firm is doing everything possible to get more Nigerians prepared to become better entrepreneurs. He said the FSD has in recent years, equipped the youths with entrepreneurial skills that enabled them to start their own businesses. “We are helping to build enduring entrepreneurs. This can only be achieved through training and commitment from organisations as Sterling Bank is doing,” she said.
Sterling Bank’s Executive Director, Finance & Strategy, Abubakar Suleiman, said apart from getting the youth ready to pursue their career choices and helping them acquire the required skills, the lender will also through the programme, reduce the unemployment rate in the country.
Suleiman, who spoke at the pre-event briefing held in Lagos, said: ‘Get Ready For Work’, now in its third year, is the bank’s way of giving back to the society and equipping the youths with the right skills to succeed in their jobs.
He also said the lender is considering extending its “Get Ready For Work”initiative to more states of the Federation and encouraged other banks to join in the project.
He said the lender was committed to helping to reduce the high level of youth unemployment in the country, pointing out that there would be serious consequences for the society if the problem is not addressed.
According to him: “There is no country in the world that would not be affected by a high level of youth unemployment. Once youth employment stands above 25 per cent in any country, such country is heading for chaos.”
He noted that the problem of youth unemployment in the country had been made worse by the fact that what students are taught in schools these days often leaves them ill-equipped to handle simple tasks when they eventually secure employment.
Speaking to reporters during the training, Sterling Bank’s Head of Strategy and Communications, Shina Atilola, said the initiative was part of the bank’s efforts at addressing the paucity of skills in the labour market.
He said: “We discovered that when you analyse the Nigerian labour market there is disconnect between the demand and supply. Most of the jobs that are available, most people are not qualified for them. But this is because our institutions are not prepared to take them into the employment system. We also initiated this programme because we realised that some people are qualified but are not employable. This is because, there is no institutional structure to train them and prepare them for a work environment.
“These are the reasons Sterling Bank started this ‘Get ready for work’ initiative. We have brought successful entrepreneurs to come mentor these young people. Beyond that, some people that are just willing to work in career employment, we have also brought in people that have made impact and are successful in their careers to come and teach them how they succeeded in it. We also have brought in human resources agencies to teach them how to best market themselves.”
He also said this seminar had over 3,000 people registered, saying that over 4,000 were present. This, according to him was a clear indication that there are a lot of willing applicants with no jobs. Also he added that some applicants would be divided into master classes with seasoned Entrepreneurs, high flying career individuals.
Life coach/psychoanalyst, Jerome Onipede engaged entrepreneurs in a master class on what it takes to develop a business and make it in the cut-throat environment like Nigeria. Another class was also organised for career focused individuals to learn how to become employees of value in any organisation of their choice. The event gave participants the opportunity to interact with human resource representatives of various organisations and undergo on-the-spot testing with a view of securing jobs.
Olise-Emeka Nwachukwu, Consultant at Human Capacity Development Consultants, said Sterling Bank is trying to bridge the gap between competencies in terms of employment and entrepreneurship in the market.
“We have a large number of young people who leave school, and need to take step one to become skilled, in terms of ready to work environment.
They also need to know how to set up their business. People do not have the right attitude to work, they do not have the right skills to take the available jobs. The schools only give them theory about the knowledge of the job.
It is about people understanding the competencies that are required to be good performers. “What Sterling Bank has done is to bring these young people together and get experts in different fields to talk to them. And they also give them the opportunity to drop their resume with human resources firms that are here,” he said.
He said his firm helps orgnaisations to develop their staff to optimum levels. “All the collected resumes will be uploaded to our database, and we will match them with employers. Getting a job is a prerogative of the staff. There are few experienced people also, and we are looking at ways to support them. I am looking at theirs skills and experiences, which help us profile the candidates and match them with available roles,” he said.
Nwachukwu said the company also looks at candidates achievements over time, because that could explain that if you have been doing this, there will be possibility that you will do well.
Continuing, he said that it is not everyone that really needs to get a job as a good number are better off with entrepreneurship. “People have to understand that it is not just about getting a job but people can go into entrepreneurship, focusing on everyday needs of the people and they will make their money because people spend so much money on their everyday needs. Young people need to understand their skills, develop them and transform them into money making ventures rather than just looking for job,” he said.
He said the company’s Productivity Plus, looks at people’s lives and train them on how to become successful. “We set your financial goals, academic goals, careers goals and emotional goals and put a system that will help you to achieve those goals. Some of the candidates have been contacted, and will be given direction on the next phase of their lives,” he said.
A Human Resources Officer, H. Pierson, Tom Onoja, said his team had been able to interview 10 candidates, who would progress to the next phase of their career.
“We are helping people that are looking for job find the right employers. We already have 10 people we are trying to get job for in line with our goal of assisting the bank to achieve their goals. We will keep talking to all the people that are qualified, and they will all be contacted,” he said.
A participant, Godwin Nwachukwu, who graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka said his expectations were met at the event. He said his details are already with the human resource mangers from the event, who he believed will contact him later on. “I am confident that I will be contacted. And besides, what I have learnt is enough to enable be start my own business,” he said.
Managing Partner, Red Media Africa, Chude Jideonwo, said: “We would share skills and knowledge that can help them as they get into the work space because there are so many young unemployed people.”
Partnership with FSD
Sterling Bank Plc has signed an agreement with Field of Skills and Dreams (FSD), a vocational training institution, to provide training programmes for members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
The pact, the bank said, is part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) drive to support skill acquisition among youths to prepare them for self-employment.
Under the agreement, the bank will sponsor the training of NYSC corps members in various vocations during the course of their service year in alignment with its expressed purpose of enriching lives. The lender has so far funded the training of about 100 NYSC members in various vocations during the pilot stage through the NYSC-SAED (Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development.
For the over 4,000 prospective entrepreneurs and career seekers, who attended the Sterling Bank’s Get Ready for Work initiative, in Lagos, the chances of either starting new businesses or securing choice jobs look promising. The event was an opportunity for the lender to deepen its retail banking segment among youths, support those seeking capital and knowledge and those who want to start new businesses, reports COLLINS NWEZE.
Entrepreneurship is the soul of every thriving economy and so is a productive workforce.
Sterling Bank’s Get Ready for Work initiative held in Lagos at the weekend broadened the opportunity for young entrepreneurs and job seekers to achieve their life ambitions.
The event, with the theme “Mind The Gap” was organised to help participants understand what they need to make it in life, whether in businesses or paid employment.
The event, part of the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, was supported by online job portal, Jobberman and skills development centre, Field of Skills and Dream. It empowered over 4,000 graduates with employable and entrepreneurship skills.
The event presented a platform for the bank to bridge the financial exclusion gap as its staff also encouraged participants to open accounts with the bank and enjoy the benefits. For instance, as fallout of last year’s programme, the bank gave grants to those who have started their businesses. Four beneficiaries got N2.5 million, N1.5 million, N1 million and N500,000. The gesture is expected to be repeated this year.
The bank has consistently reaffirmed its commitment to promoting retail banking which allows it to provide banking services to individual consumers. Such services include savings and transactional accounts, mortgages, personal loans, debit cards, and credit cards, among others.
This year’s events also witnessed a psychoanalysis session where the participants had their personalities analysed by an expert to determine what career path would be most suitable for them. It also featured speeches from successful career people on how to tread successfully on whatever career path one may choose.
Chief Executive Officer, Wakanow, Obinna Okezie, urged the participants to be hard working. He said: “We started with nothing, but today, we employ over 500 people in our five years of operation. That is why it is important for you all to pursue your ideas and turn them to reality.’’
Executive Director, Field of Skills and Dreams VTE Academy (FSD) Omowale Ogunrinde, commended Sterling Bank for investing in the future of youths in country through the initiative.
According to her, the bank was responsible for organisations like hers agreeing to take part in the programme without charging participants professional fees. She said her firm is doing everything possible to get more Nigerians prepared to become better entrepreneurs. He said the FSD has in recent years, equipped the youths with entrepreneurial skills that enabled them to start their own businesses. “We are helping to build enduring entrepreneurs. This can only be achieved through training and commitment from organisations as Sterling Bank is doing,” she said.
Sterling Bank’s Executive Director, Finance & Strategy, Abubakar Suleiman, said apart from getting the youth ready to pursue their career choices and helping them acquire the required skills, the lender will also through the programme, reduce the unemployment rate in the country.
Suleiman, who spoke at the pre-event briefing held in Lagos, said: ‘Get Ready For Work’, now in its third year, is the bank’s way of giving back to the society and equipping the youths with the right skills to succeed in their jobs.
He also said the lender is considering extending its “Get Ready For Work”initiative to more states of the Federation and encouraged other banks to join in the project.
He said the lender was committed to helping to reduce the high level of youth unemployment in the country, pointing out that there would be serious consequences for the society if the problem is not addressed.
According to him: “There is no country in the world that would not be affected by a high level of youth unemployment. Once youth employment stands above 25 per cent in any country, such country is heading for chaos.”
He noted that the problem of youth unemployment in the country had been made worse by the fact that what students are taught in schools these days often leaves them ill-equipped to handle simple tasks when they eventually secure employment.
Speaking to reporters during the training, Sterling Bank’s Head of Strategy and Communications, Shina Atilola, said the initiative was part of the bank’s efforts at addressing the paucity of skills in the labour market.
He said: “We discovered that when you analyse the Nigerian labour market there is disconnect between the demand and supply. Most of the jobs that are available, most people are not qualified for them. But this is because our institutions are not prepared to take them into the employment system. We also initiated this programme because we realised that some people are qualified but are not employable. This is because, there is no institutional structure to train them and prepare them for a work environment.
“These are the reasons Sterling Bank started this ‘Get ready for work’ initiative. We have brought successful entrepreneurs to come mentor these young people. Beyond that, some people that are just willing to work in career employment, we have also brought in people that have made impact and are successful in their careers to come and teach them how they succeeded in it. We also have brought in human resources agencies to teach them how to best market themselves.”
He also said this seminar had over 3,000 people registered, saying that over 4,000 were present. This, according to him was a clear indication that there are a lot of willing applicants with no jobs. Also he added that some applicants would be divided into master classes with seasoned Entrepreneurs, high flying career individuals.
Life coach/psychoanalyst, Jerome Onipede engaged entrepreneurs in a master class on what it takes to develop a business and make it in the cut-throat environment like Nigeria. Another class was also organised for career focused individuals to learn how to become employees of value in any organisation of their choice. The event gave participants the opportunity to interact with human resource representatives of various organisations and undergo on-the-spot testing with a view of securing jobs.
Olise-Emeka Nwachukwu
Olise-Emeka Nwachukwu, Consultant at Human Capacity Development Consultants, said Sterling Bank is trying to bridge the gap between competencies in terms of employment and entrepreneurship in the market.
“We have a large number of young people who leave school, and need to take step one to become skilled, in terms of ready to work environment.
They also need to know how to set up their business. People do not have the right attitude to work, they do not have the right skills to take the available jobs. The schools only give them theory about the knowledge of the job.
It is about people understanding the competencies that are required to be good performers. “What Sterling Bank has done is to bring these young people together and get experts in different fields to talk to them. And they also give them the opportunity to drop their resume with human resources firms that are here,” he said.
He said his firm helps orgnaisations to develop their staff to optimum levels. “All the collected resumes will be uploaded to our database, and we will match them with employers. Getting a job is a prerogative of the staff. There are few experienced people also, and we are looking at ways to support them. I am looking at theirs skills and experiences, which help us profile the candidates and match them with available roles,” he said.
Nwachukwu said the company also looks at candidates achievements over time, because that could explain that if you have been doing this, there will be possibility that you will do well.
Continuing, he said that it is not everyone that really needs to get a job as a good number are better off with entrepreneurship. “People have to understand that it is not just about getting a job but people can go into entrepreneurship, focusing on everyday needs of the people and they will make their money because people spend so much money on their everyday needs. Young people need to understand their skills, develop them and transform them into money making ventures rather than just looking for job,” he said.
He said the company’s Productivity Plus, looks at people’s lives and train them on how to become successful. “We set your financial goals, academic goals, careers goals and emotional goals and put a system that will help you to achieve those goals. Some of the candidates have been contacted, and will be given direction on the next phase of their lives,” he said.
A Human Resources Officer, H. Pierson, Tom Onoja, said his team had been able to interview 10 candidates, who would progress to the next phase of their career.
“We are helping people that are looking for job find the right employers. We already have 10 people we are trying to get job for in line with our goal of assisting the bank to achieve their goals. We will keep talking to all the people that are qualified, and they will all be contacted,” he said.
A participant, Godwin Nwachukwu, who graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka said his expectations were met at the event. He said his details are already with the human resource mangers from the event, who he believed will contact him later on. “I am confident that I will be contacted. And besides, what I have learnt is enough to enable be start my own business,” he said.
Managing Partner, Red Media Africa, Chude Jideonwo, said: “We would share skills and knowledge that can help them as they get into the work space because there are so many young unemployed people.”
Partnership with FSD
Sterling Bank Plc has signed an agreement with Field of Skills and Dreams (FSD), a vocational training institution, to provide training programmes for members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
The pact, the bank said, is part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) drive to support skill acquisition among youths to prepare them for self-employment.
Under the agreement, the bank will sponsor the training of NYSC corps members in various vocations during the course of their service year in alignment with its expressed purpose of enriching lives. The lender has so far funded the training of about 100 NYSC members in various vocations during the pilot stage through the NYSC-SAED (Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development.
It has also equipped a 20-seat ICT laboratory of the FSD which will provide all participants with rotational access to free ICT training.
Sterling Bank in a statement explained that the need to support the development of skills among the youth has become inevitable given the growing rate of unemployment in the country. “We believe that the steps we have taken so far would help in ameliorating the problem of unemployment in the country and support other initiatives such as the Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES) and the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YOU-WIN) introduced by the government to checkmate the relatively high rate of unemployment in the country.”
Social lender scheme
In its determination to keep supporting the youthful population, Sterling Bank has repackaged the Social Lender Scheme by increasing the minimum on-line micro credit from N3,000 to N10,000.
The scheme was launched last year and the bank has disbursed over N6 million to over 2000 on-line customers. To date, over 90 per cent of the loans have been paid back by the beneficiaries.
Social Lender; the first in Nigeria is a modified peer to peer lending solution using the Social Media Platforms through which micro-credit is offered to members of these communities. The scheme provides a platform for online fans and followers who are customers of Sterling Bank to obtain these monies via social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter.
The bank in a statement explained that the scheme was repackaged with added benefits because of its success story for the bank, the quality of feedback from members of the on-line community and the impressive pay back attitude of the beneficiaries.
Chief Akin Disu is known widely as the chairman of Eagle Paints Group, the manufacturers of the popular brand of paint known as Eagle. But while he is also reputed for his philantropic gestures, not many know him as a legal icon. The truth, however, is that he studied Law before he veered into business to establish himself as a frontliner in paint manufacturing business.
Going down memory lane, he recalled that he had been motivated to study Law after a visit that First Republic politician, Bode Thomas, paid to his school in a beautiful Pontiac car, while he (Disu) was a student at CMS Grammar School, Lagos, and, second, because he didn’t want his peers in business to think he was an illiterate man.
He said: “The late Bode Thomas came to our school with a beautiful car and we were all carried away by his flamboyance. From that day, many of us vowed that we would study and become lawyers like Bode Thomas.
The impact the late politician made on his life has motivated his concern for the youth who he teaches at every available opportunity to look out for role models through whom they can rise to enviable positions in the society.
His is a clear departure from the prevailing situation where many successful men don’t want to let out the secrets of their success.
He said: “Life is what you make of it. You must be focused in all you do. You must have role models that you look up to. You do not need to see them day by day. All you need to do is find their stories and emulate their templates.
“I also believe today’s youths must learn to persevere like the Latin says, labo ouwa vinaiti, which means we must persevere till the end, for perseverance overcomes everything.
“I also want youths of today to be steadfast and take life easy. It is the urge to make if fast and in a hurry that has led many youths of today to join the .com millionaire club, which is also called yahoo.yahoo.
“Whoever cheats somebody of his or her hard-earned money must be punished by God. And why defraud fellow men?” he wondered.
Disu himself is a life coach to many young entrepreneurs and a mentor to numerous others.
To him, only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. “Challenges are what make life interesting, and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful,” he said.
Being a patriot himself, Disu is an untiring preacher of patriotism. He wastes no time in telling any Nigerian who cares to listen to be proud of their country, saying there is no country in the world without its own challenges, “but they manage their own challenges well while most Nigerians are sellouts.”
He frowns seriously on sabotage, asking Nigerians to stop talking or portraying their country in negative light to the outside world. “Nigeria, despite all odds, is blessed, good and can be better with collective efforts of each and all,” he said.
He does not involve himself in politics as he says he is too busy looking for daily bread. He also wishes that every Nigerian, particularly the political class, would be concerned with how they can make Nigeria better while working for their daily bread, rather than turn themselves into destructive critics.
Negative comments about our leaders, he said, tell on our image in the comity of nations. He believes that we affect the image of our country by the way we talk about its leadership, hence he cautions against character assassination.
The secret of our progress as a nation, he said, inheres in discipline.
His liberal nature is demonstrated by the fact that although he was born a Muslim, almost all his kids are Christians, and Chief Ernest Shonekan, the man he regards as his best friend, is a Christian. In fact, on the wall at the entrance of his house is hung a big eagle with a Bible accompanied with a Biblical passage taken from Isaiah 40:31: “But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”
To him, we all serve one God and we must not discriminate against one another. He believes in African moral ethics and not religious fanaticism.
A visit to the Eagle Paints factory on Lagos Mainland shows Disu to be a diligent entrepreneur who holds dear the principle of perseverance as key to success in business. Little wonder Eagle Paint has won the SON quality award for three years running.
Remarkably, in spite of his tight schedule, Disu does not joke with family matters. He is an all round success who believes in the home front/family. In fact, he gives top priority to looking after his family just as he does rendering service to God.
All work and no play, they say, makes Jack a dull boy. Hence High Chief Akin Disu finds time to ease off stress by belonging to some notable clubs like Metropolitan, Boat and Yoruba Tennis clubs. He says he likes travelling the world and he is a lover of fast cars, both vintage and new ones.
He said: “Cars give me some joy. If I wake up and after my communion with my creator, I love to look at my collection of cars. Of course, I am not born with them, but through a dint of hard work, some luck on my side and with God’s blessing, I was able to acquire them all.”
Disu is not just a great father to his children, but also a great grandfather as well as a caring and exemplary husband. He loathes laziness and sluggishness. He has sacrificed a lot financially and materially to see his children and grandchildren through qualitative education.
He holds a long list of traditional titles, including the Abobagun of Lagos; Borokini 1 and Nnanne Nna Mba of Isala, among the long list of other traditional titles conferred on him across the country.
Chief Disu, whose mother was the first Muslim girl admitted into Queens College, Lagos, and whose father attended King’s College, Lagos, is an alumnus of CMS Grammar School, Lagos. He holds postgraduate degrees and belongs to many professional bodies, including those of of Personnel Management and Public Administration.
Young graduates and goal-driven starters who wish to pursue self-employment and unearth their entrepreneurial potential will soon have access to global training and mentorship and initial capital to start their own companies.
This is the focus of the AnneGift Foundation, a skill-based empowerment organisation being promoted by Princess Aderonke Adelowo, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of MoreCare Services (UK) Limited.
AnneGift will offer training and mentorship in agriculture, designs, clothing and beauty businesses among others. The Foundation has already raised its initial capital and setting up its multi-purpose farm settlement in Ilaro, Ogun State where it will train young entrepreneurs on state-of-the-art farming techniques.
In an interview with The Nation, Adelowo said the Foundation plans to collaborate with some Nigerian banks and organisations to provide funding for the members of the Foundation with a view to boosting the development o Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria.
She said the Foundation will work on the United Kingdom model of entrepreneurial empowerment under which funds are used to purchase required facilities and equipment for the entrepreneurs rather than direct disbursement of the funds to the beneficiaries.
“My experience in UK is that, such money is not released directly to the beneficiaries. The approach there is that the equipment and assets needed to set up are purchased and made available to the beneficiaries. Money is never given to those starting up good businesses, but without financial strength. This is to avoid expending the money on something else. My determination is to replicate similar standard and approach in Nigeria, especially on supporting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and offering vocational training,” Adelowo said.
She said the Foundation would source funds and provide guarantee for members of the group under an arrangement that allows them to own their businesses while making agreed remittances to the group to recoup the initial investment over a period o time.
“I have looked into banks and some private organizations with respect to approach and information on how to encourage and boost SMEs in Nigeria. The Foundation is very keen on this, because training alone is like opening a wound, without treating it, the wound will get deteriorated. The Foundation has also got information on availability of funds in certain banks where loans can be sourced for skill acquisition programme. My focus is to ensure that, when such money is available, it is used for the purpose it was collected,” Adelowo said.
According to her, for those graduate trainees of the Foundation who chose to leave after their training, the organisation shall support them by introducing them to where they can access funds.
She said her Foundation would assist Nigeria to repatriate its huge human capital that is wasting away in foreign countries by assisting and encouraging Nigerians without proper documentations and tangible means of livelihood abroad to return to Nigeria.
She noted the increasingly difficult economic environment in Europe and America pointing out that now in UK, any company that employs illegal immigrants will earn a minimum fine of 10,000 pounds, therefore, making it difficult to get jobs now in England.
“The Foundation will counsel Nigerians to return home and make themselves available for vocational training, which is being initiated by AnneGift back in Nigeria. We have got a land space that will accommodate 100 trainees at a time in Ilaro, Ogun State, South West Nigeria. The Foundation will accommodate them and ask about their area of interest – which trade they wish to learn. If it is farming, the Foundation will offer the training and support them,” Adelowo said.
She said while the Foundation hopes to access funds from international and Nigerian organisations in future, it will run in the meantime on the initial capital she personally provided as part of her contributions to the development of the country.
She decried the dehumanising conditions under which Nigerians work and live abroad in the quest for money, noting that such energy could be channeled to more dignifying productive ventures at home.
“The Foundation intends to introduce and exposes its trainees to the modern technology of agricultural activities. We are working on getting additional lands in Ogun State to realize our objective of engaging as many as possible members after the training,” Adelowo said.
She urged the government to support the Foundation by providing it with incentives adding that individual Nigerians at home and abroad should see the Foundation as a collective drive to develop the Nigerian economy.
“The Foundation will continuously encourage and call for support of financial empowerment and SMEs. We shall encourage the youths to embrace entrepreneurship. There will also be sensitization on the urgent need for the young graduates to change focus, regarding insistence on getting white collar jobs; that there are jobs for youths and willing entrepreneurs to engage themselves. We shall continue to impress it on people that abroad is not a bed of roses; that there, people work diligently to get money. We shall discourage people selling off their properties or resigning their lucrative jobs in Nigeria, just to travel abroad and stay, but in the end, what is available are menial jobs. We shall continue to encourage people to invest in their mental and physical assets in Nigeria for economic empowerment and wealth creation projects. Nigeria is blessed, so our people should moderate the passion to travel abroad,” Adelowo said.
She said the Foundation would partner with willing vocational bodies and educational institutions to complement its on-site training and ensure that it deploys its expertise to enhancing quality of training in the educational institutions.
She called on the Nigerian politicians to provide quality leadership and create enabling environment for the improvement of the living standards of Nigerians.
“Nigerian leaders visit abroad regularly. They observe and witness how system works in the West. Nigerian leaders should replicate the good experience they encounter abroad. The leaders should not visit abroad just for the fun of it. They should introduce the productive system encounter in Nigeria as well,” Adelowo said.
Life Continental Lager Beer, a brand of beverage from the stables of Nigerian Breweries PLC, has increased the number of promoters of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in the Southeast, who benefited from the “Life Continental Beer Progress Booster Radio Project” to 36.
The brand offered N3 million to the third set of 12 winners whose proposals were outstanding.
Addressing the budding entrepreneurs at the Cheque presentation at Ama Brewery of NB Plc, Enugu, Mr. Olalekan Okubanjo, the Packaging Manager, urged the winners to stay focused and to invest wisely in their ventures.
He assured them that the brand will not abandon them in their endeavour to move their enterprises to the next level. His words: “The panel of experts that assessed and judged your business proposals will monitor your progress. They will be there to mentor and provide valuable advice, when necessary.”
Okubanjo said there was still an opportunity for the winners to get additional N250,000 if their business could progress.
The winners include Joy Ogbanigo (Healthy Vegetable Drink Production; Innocent Onyeukwu (Opening of a Butcher’s Shop); Felicia Emeh (Food Canteen Expansion); Augustine Okoli (Household & Furniture Welding); Tuvia Kings Enterprises (Creative Fashion Designing and Prints) and Chijindu James (Automatic Wireless Change Over).
Others are: Eusebius Owusi (Cold Room Business Expansion); Nwaenyi White Nelson (Computer Training Centre Establishment); Stella Okechukwu (Hair Dressing Salon Establishment); Ebube Jediho (Cassava Planting and Production); Ezo Ukwuora Benjamin (Transparent Bar Soap Production); and Anyachukwu Donatus (Food Condiments Processing).
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has set aside a $2 million Project Development Facility (PDF) for agro entrepreneurs to transform their innovative ideas into bankable investments, the body has said.
The USAID Nigeria Expanded Trade and Transport Programme (NEXTT) Export and Business Development Promotion Team Leader, Mr Bob Ezumah, told The Nation that the programme would work with development partners and financial institutions to enhance agribusinesses.
He said NEXTT would support agricbusinesss and other investments on the Lagos-Kano –Jibiya (LAKAJI) axis.
The PDF provides seed funding to for feasibility study for bankable ideas and investments.
He noted that the major challenges facing agro businesses is funding, adding that the programme would train entrepreneurs on investment projects’preparations and analyses n to attract investments.
He said the project has also partnered with commercial banks, leasing companies, private equity and impact investors willing to provide necessary financing.
He said it is up to the agricultural entrepreneurs to develop the sustainable and realistic business models that encourage investment.
To be competitive in the marketplace, he said farmers’needs should integrated into the chain of production, from farm to fork, adding that USAID was facilitating this integration, enabling producers and rural industries to better connect with agricultural trade and market opportunities. Around the world, he said, businesses struggle to access the finance they need to expand.
He said: “The US Agency for International Development’s Development Credit Authority (DCA) is working to address this by providing partial credit guarantees to mobilise financing.”
With these additional resources, he said, lenders can take on additional risk, and small businesses benefit from additional access to credit.
He said NEXTT supports the government’s efforts to expand trade in the Economic Community of West Africann States (ECOWAS) sub-region and beyond, and improve trade efficiency so that trade, particularly in agricultural products, can provide inclusive economic growth and development.
Meanwhile, the Project Director, Cashew Adding Value to Africa, Prof Kola Adebayo, said lending to the sector is the least of total lending by the banking sector.
He said commercial banks were yet to understand the agricultural sector, citing poor recovery rates, high risks and relatively high administrative costs as some of the reasons for low lending to the agricultural sector.
He called on financial institutions to get more engaged in understanding the peculiarities of the agric system to provide the much-needed financial assistance to smallholder farmers.
He said rather than allow rural farmers to continue to engage in subsistence farming, they should be supported to approach agriculture as a commercial venture to enable them to benefit from their toil.
He also stressed the importance of agricultural extension workers in agricultural production chain, saying that technical information on the right use of chemical fertilisers and insecticides was crucial to the attainment of food security if it was made available to farmers at the right time.
President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Alhaji Remi Bello, has said entrepreneurs are undeterred despite the various challenges they face.
He spoke at the LCCI awards in Lagos at the weekend.
He said: “The business environment is replete with all manner of difficulties in the area of infrastructure, funding, policy, corruption, insecurity and weak institutions, hence investors that have remained resolute deserve to be celebrated.”
The firms were rewarded at the Second Awards by LCCI held over the weekend in Lagos.
Bello said the awards were conceived to celebrate deserving corporate organisations for their input to the advancement of the economy.
He said the awards were not aimed at diminishing the importance of an enabling environment for the progress of the economy and the prosperity of enterprises, but to remind the government of what it must do to the economy.
The president, who will step down later this year, said: “We are celebrating excellence, best practices in corporate governance, value addition, backward integration achievements, innovations and good corporate social responsibility practices.’’
A former Minister of Health and a honorary life president of LCCI, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, said getting the awards was special as all the awardees deserved the accolades.
He said the first edition of the awards was a challenge for other organisations to work harder.
First Consultants Medical Centre was the winner in the Global Best Practice in Medical Services for curtailing the impact of the Ebola disease in Nigeria,with the late Dr Stella Adadevoh, Dr Amos Abaniwo, Nurse Justina. Ejelonu and Nurse Aide Evelyn Uko remembered for their efforts.
