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Tag: entrepreneurship

  • Jobs crisis: Agric entrepreneurship to the rescue

    Jobs crisis: Agric entrepreneurship to the rescue

    Nigeria has a large economy with a  growing youth population .The bigger challenge is how to absorb the large number of unemployed youths. Experts believe agric entrepreneurship will tackle the problem. This was the focus of the 20th annual lecture of Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI) held in Ilorin, Kwara State. Daniel Essiet writes.

    For aspiring agric entrepreneurs, a new dawn is here. The 20th annual lecture of the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), held in Ilorin, Kwara State could not have come at a better time. The forum brought together successful entrepreneurs who are making impact uplifting and economically empowering women and men.

    It was to bolster economic renewal, job creation and innovation through agric entrepreneurship.

    Analysts at the event noted that Nigeria was a major economy with a growing youth population.  However, they believe that there is little evidence to suggest that the economy will absorb youths across the spectrum of skill levels and education.  They say the solution to youth unemployment is in the agri-food value chain.

    One of those who shared this view was the Chairman, Board of Directors, FirstBank of Nigeria, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika. She was the keynote speaker. She spoke on the topic: Promoting Agripreneurship Green Alternative: A Catalyst for National Security and Sustainable Development.

    She said the youth employment deficit left thousands of graduates produced by tertiary institutions jobless. Against this backdrop, she said agriculture has the capacity to absorb unemployed graduates.

    She described agriculture as an alternative to the much=touted economic resources derived from petroleum.

    “Nigeria is blessed with a very fertile land, but it is saddening to know that majority of its youths are jobless,” she said.

    According to her, the stability of Nigeria depends on the nation being able to sustain its citizens’ food production,  which would translate to social stability.

    Mrs. Awosika further said Nigeria has all  the fundamentals needed to grow in agriculture, saying, “we need to know the time of oil is long gone”.

    She said Nigeria has opportunities for young workers to start new businesses, create quality jobs, improve their quality of life and wellbeing, strengthen their sense of belonging and integrate themselves into the community. From cash crops to grains, fruits and vegetables, livestock and others, she noted that there are countless opportunities along the value chain.

    Currently, she said, the potential of the agric sector is highly underutilised.

    Mrs. Awosika noted that agriculture has evolved into what is now known as agribusiness, which is centred on making profit through maximised productivity.

    She called for entrepreneurial skills development for profitable agriculture and agribusiness enterprises among the youth.

    Mrs. Awosika said the time had  come for institutions to play their part in developing entrepreneurs,  adding that the society requires a re- orientation to enhance the entrepreneurial mindset to boost startups and create employment.

    To her, entrepreneurship has been widely acknowledged as an important mechanism for economic growth and employment creation.

    A motivational speaker, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, listed the characteristics of an entrepreneur to include vision, hard work and focus. For her, one must be focused to be the best in the market. With a good vision and great execution, one’s dreams can come true.

    A discussant at the lecture and Managing Director of Thelma Farms in Ijebu-Ode, Mr. Babatunde Ogunyemi, emphasised the need for Nigerian youths to embrace agriculture, “On my 350 hectares of land in Ijebu-Ode where I grow fresh indigenous vegetable for exportation, I feel depressed that not enough is done in agriculture.

    “Even with our huge production we can only meet just nine per cent of the demand.

    “When I met with Mr President some weeks ago in Abuja, I told him that though Nigeria is winning the war against insurgency, but how do we fight the war of feeding our citizens,” he said.

    The Executive Director, Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Dr. Olufemi Oladunni, called for the overhaul of the agriculture sector to boost the economy, saying if government can overhaul the sector to bring appropriate intervention, agriculture will be a life saver for the nation.

    He said  the institute is working to empower Nigerians to explore opportunities in the agric sector.

    The aim, according to him, is to help Nigerians create jobs, combat food insecurity and poverty by expanding agribusiness, increasing  food production, and supporting entrepreneurship .

    Oladunni said through its training, the institute focuses on the key gaps inhibiting growth in agribusiness,  as it enables smallholder farmers to raise their incomes and yields, while also creating jobs for young people and raising incomes for women.

    He said ARMTI supports the development of a vibrant and diversified commercial agriculture as a means to move away from subsistence agriculture, often synonymous with poverty for a majority of rural households.The forum aimed at raising awareness on the importance of engaging youths in agribusiness, making a case for agribusiness as a solution to the high youth unemployment rate, and building consensus around initiatives to address unemployment, contribute to economic growth, and poverty reduction.

  • Elumelu draws attention to entrepreneurship, gender equality

    Elumelu draws attention to entrepreneurship, gender equality

    Chairman, Heirs Holdings and Founder, The Tony Elumelu Foundation, Tony O. Elumelu, has identified entrepreneurship and gender equality as two critical areas that need urgent attention to drive the inclusive growth and economic diversification in emerging continents like Africa.

    He joined global private sector leaders at the Future Investment Initiative Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to discuss ways to achieve economic diversification in dynamic economies. The conference was organised by the Public Investment Fund.

    Speaking on the panel of speakers including Mary Erdoes, CEO, JPMorgan Asset Management, United States; Oh Joon Kwon, Chairman, POSCO, South Korea; Frédéric Oudéa, CEO, Société Générale, France; Harvey Schwartz, President & Co-COO, Goldman Sachs, USA; and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman & CEO, DP World, UAE,  Elumelu pointed out the importance of supporting women-run businesses to achieve inclusive growth.

    He stated that these businesses empower a critical population of the economy. “Female businesses create more benefits for the society,” he said.

    An advocate of a new model for entrepreneurship in Africa, through Africapitalism, Elumelu said the philosophy plays important in powering Africa out of poverty. “Africapitalism is the intersection between prosperity and social wealth – doing good while making profit. It is a realisation that the private sector has a role to play in the social and economic diversification. We need to prioritise the young ones and prioritise SMEs if we are to achieve the much spoke about economic diversification,” he said.

    Also speaking, Bin Sulayem identified entrepreneurship as a key driver of today’s economy. “When we encourage entrepreneurship, we encourage ideas,” he said.

    Elumelu has demonstrated the potential of his Africapitalism model through his Foundation’s flagship Programme¯The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme¯where he endowed 10,000 African entrepreneurs with $100million over a 10-year period with the goal of achieving 10million jobs within the period. Already, the Programme has celebrated its third cohort of Fellows bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 3,000 since its inception in 2015, creating an impact will significantly transform the African continent.

    “Entrepreneurship is a bottom-up approach to economic diversification. It is about trying to encourage our youths to be more enterprising, ultimately realising that they will drive the diversification process,” Elumelu said.

  • Tech in transportation‘ll promote entrepreneurship, others

    Tech in transportation‘ll promote entrepreneurship, others

    Technology is redefining every facet of human endeavour. From health, agric, education and communication to many others, technology has changed everything. The General Manager, Uber sub-Saharan Africa, Alon Lits, says multi-modal transport powered by technology is the best way to promote entrepreneurship, relieve pressure on infrastructure, and deliver safe and efficient transport that helps people connect with work, business and leisure opportunities. He shares his perspectives with LUCAS AJANAKU.

    How it started

    when Uber was first established in 2009, its mission was to help people everywhere get a ride, safely, quickly and at the push of a button. Eight years later, that mission remains the same and Uber’s innovative, technology-driven business model is still fundamentally changing the way people think about meeting their transport needs.

    For the past four years, Uber has been delivering this same level of transformation across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and with more than 1.8 million active riders using the app, Uber certainly has reason to celebrate its fourth anniversary on the continent this September.

    And it’s not just Uber that has benefited from the stellar uptake of its convenient offering in Africa. The SSA countries in which Uber now has a presence, and the citizens of those countries, are also reaping significant socio-economic rewards thanks to the transformation that the Uber approach has helped to drive.

    Benefits/milestones

    At an economic level, these benefits take many forms. In many cities, the reliability, immediacy, and convenience that Uber offers to city residents and visitors is having the positive impact of helping to reduce congestion. In most urban parts of sub-Saharan Africa, single occupant vehicles remain the biggest contributors to gridlock. But increasing numbers of city residents are recognising that Uber offers a cost effective way of sharing their daily commute with others, thereby reducing the total number of vehicles on the roads, while at the same time cutting down on the costly wear and tear that regular stop-start driving causes.

    Uber usage in South Africa is a prime example of these shifting private transport perceptions. This month, almost 25 000 riders each used Uber more than 10 times a week, which points to the increasing adoption of this tech-driven solution, not just as a leisure transport option, but also for work and business purposes. This demonstrates that Uber is a true alternative to private car ownership.

    Another significant benefit that Uber is delivering in sub-Saharan Africa is enabling and empowering economic opportunities and offering more choice. The steadily growing number of Uber driver-partners in countries across the region is testament to the appeal of the Uber business model. That’s because it creates real opportunities for local entrepreneurs to create and enjoy the flexibility and enhanced earnings potential – for themselves and, ultimately, for individuals that many of them bring into their thriving and growing transport businesses.

    And growing demand for trips across the sub-Saharan Africa region leads to a steadily growing need for drivers. Currently more than 29 000 such driver-partners are taking advantage of the earnings generating opportunities delivered by the Uber app. Importantly, the Uber model allows these individuals to be as flexible as they need to be, which means that they are able to earn what they want, when they want to, either as  full-time entrepreneurs or to supplement other sources of income.

    Uber investigates partnerships with businesses that bring benefits to drivers, such as the multiple vehicle financing programmes that have been made available to drivers across South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, that reduce barriers to credit and capital. The first partnership of this kind was implemented in South Africa with WesBank, offering existing drivers access to vehicles at preferential rates, with a view to establishing their own passenger transport business. This unique model is based on driver ratings and earning potential, as opposed to the norm of credit checks. The model was successfully expanded across sub-Saharan Africa and is being tested in markets across EMEA.

    Uber also invests heavily into supporting its driver-partners in their businesses through ongoing technological innovation as well as physical presences in the form of support hubs. Apart from the existing Greenlight Hubs across SSA, five more of these state-of-the-art Greenlight Hubs were opened in Dar Es Salaam, Nairobi, Kampala, Kumasi and Lagos this year and, in addition to offering driver-partners technical and app support, they also offer information sessions and tailored workshops to driver-partners, focusing on training and skills development.

    In a region of high unemployment and stagnating economic prospects, Uber’s business partnership approach provides an accessible means for entrepreneurs to not only supplement their own income, but also to become small business owners, thereby helping to improve the lives and futures of individuals, families and communities.

    Importantly, Uber’s approach to shifting perspectives of how people in sub-Saharan Africa move around their cities is one of partnership with all stakeholders. Uber strives at all times to collaborate closely with local regulators to understand the challenges they are grappling with in their cities and then help them to develop workable and accessible solutions that benefit people and economies. It’s with this in mind that Uber has just launched Uber Movement in Johannesburg, a new website to help urban planners, city leaders, third parties and the public better understand the transportation needs of their cities.

    Technology in transport

    This partnership approach has always been at the heart of the business because our global experience has shown us that multi-modal transport powered by technology is the best way to promote entrepreneurship, relieve pressure on infrastructure, and deliver safe and efficient transport that helps people connect with work, business and leisure opportunities.

  • Tackling poverty through entrepreneurship

    Tackling poverty through entrepreneurship

    The Dickson Leadership Training Institute International, a non-governmental organisation, is silently playing its role of facilitating, nurturing and promoting the development of entrepreneurship and growth of enterprises. It gives its founder, Barnabas Dickson, immense pleasure and satisfaction to see enterprises grow and prosper through his mentorship. DANIEL ESSIET writes.

    Over the past few years, poverty has continued to fester in rural communities, with almost 60 per cent of the rural population living below the poverty line.  For social entrepreneurs, there is an urgent need to integrate the rural population into the nation’s developmental agenda. But this can only be achieved by supporting entrepreneurs to establish small enterprises  across the country.

    At the vanguard of this campaign, is the founder of Gombe State-based Dickson Leadership Training Institute International, Barnabas Dickson, whose drive is based on the belief that rural-to-urban migration is an inevitable socio-economic reality, especially for those unable to generate meaningful livelihood from rural resources.

    Dickson has seen  many Nigerians in  poverty and determined to establish a vehicle that will promote entrepreneurial solutions with a clear impact at the grassroots level. He also believes that taking a business approach to alleviating poverty will   create rural small businesses and help many Nigerians work their way out of poverty.

    He has established Agrolution – a revolutionary agriculture and training for young people.  The goal is to build a generation of agri entrepreneurs; create vibrant local markets; catalyse local production and demonstrate that entrepreneurship is the way to economic prosperity.

    His strategy is: give people the tools, education and resources to become entrepreneurs, the result will be vibrant communities promoting economic growth.

    The institute’s courses range from leadership and entrepreneurship to financial, business management and skills-based vocational training. His training stands out because of the emphasis on not only the skill building aspect, but design that encourages individual development and growth.

    Dickson’s organisation works with young people, guiding them through the processes. From needs assessment and market research to developing a business plan and financial planning.  His organisation has so far been building the capacity of many Nigerians in agri business.

    He is happy putting many Nigerians on the path of wealth and value creation. He is seeking out partnerships with organisations that are creating jobs. Today, the project is bourgeoning and he has 35 members of staff in his employ.

    Asked how much he used to start the business? He said: “I started with nothing. I just paid my transport fare to get the seedlings in areas where those plants are taken for granted, though we have improved on the seeds now.”

    One area he is promoting is microfinance.  He is seeking ways poor people can be reached with subsidised loans.  He has seen how the banking system has not done enough to restore financial health in the rural areas and how the number of small loans going to rural areas decreased rapidly. Consequently, he has established a cooperative wing to ensure that there is credit flow for entrepreneurs.

    Having spent some years in the business, he has this advice for young entrepreneurs: “Get risk

  • Nigerian businesses on Shell entrepreneurship innovation prize list

    Three Nigerian entrepreneurs have been shortlisted for Shell LiveWIRE ‘Top Ten Innovators’, a global competition, which highlights and rewards LiveWIRE businesses that demonstrate excellence in innovation.

    The Nigerians have come up with creative ideas on energy efficiency and access to chemical and paint products, and join 22 entrepreneurs from nine countries to vie for the prestigious prize. A public vote of the shortlisted businesses takes place September 1 – 8, 2017, with the results helping to determine the winners.

    “We are pleased at the opportunity for the Nigerians to showcase their talent on the global stage using Shell’s flagship entrepreneurship development programme,” said Igo Weli, General Manager, External Relations, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC).

    “SPDC launched the LiveWIRE programme in Nigeria in 2003, providing training, business development services and start-up capital for youth-owned businesses. Our ambassadors have benefited from this support to make their mark and we call on Nigerians to encourage them by voting for their ideas,” he added.

    ‘Top Ten Innovators’ is a worldwide competition open to the alumni of Shell LiveWIRE, a Royal Dutch Shell Social Investment Programme, operating in 15 countries, which enables young people to start their own business and create employment.  The shortlisted entrepreneurs have the chance to win a top prize of $15,000, three Runner-up prizes of $10,000 or six Merit awards of $5,000. The programme aims to create role models for other young entrepreneurs, and demonstrate that introducing innovation supports growth and job creation.

    Shell’s Vice President Social Performance, Joanna Cochrane, said: “Shell LiveWIRE is very important to us because when we help local entrepreneurs to set up businesses, they create long term sources of income for communities, they create jobs and they help to find innovative solutions to social and economic problems.”

    The businesses shortlisted are Nigeria De-rahbs Energy Services, which produces, installs, services and repairs solar energy equipment, and also provides training to future engineers and energy entrepreneurs.

    Others include Nigeria Emobella Engineering Nigeria Limited, which provides engineering services with a USP of 24hours availability and high-quality customer service, and Nigeria Fendwall Paint and Chemical Products, which produces and retails household and commercial paint products via a business model supporting low-income customers to access their products.

    You can vote for the organisation you want to win on the website: http://topteninnovators.shell-livewire.com.

    Since its introduction in Nigeria in 2003, the LiveWIRE programme has trained 6,550 Niger Delta youths in enterprise development and management, and provided business start-up grants to 3,313, Shell spokesperson, Nigeria, Bamidele Odugbesan said.

  • Entrepreneurship, Key to ending Youth Unemployment in Nigeria- YPNI

    Entrepreneurship, Key to ending Youth Unemployment in Nigeria- YPNI

    A non-profit group, the Young Progressive Nigerians Initiative (YPNI) has described vocational skills and entrepreneurship as one of the major solutions to unemployment and poverty in Nigeria

    Speaking with news men after the annual general meeting recently held in Lagos, the group Convener, Adekunle Osibogun said the organization, which recently trained over 500 youths in Ogun State on various vocational skills, is focused on promoting entrepreneurship and patriotism among young Nigerians.

    The organization with members drawn from professions such as journalism, banking, law, information technology and medicine also deliberated on several national quagmires confronting the nation such as restructuring and national unity, unemployment and entrepreneurship, insecurity and youths’ participation in governance. They posited a need to evaluate the current political and economic structures to determine whether Nigerians should adopt a federal or unitary system of government, since the current hybrid system appears to be failing, with apparent signs of increased poverty, disunity, under-development, and insecurity.

    “We call on the National Assembly and the 36 State Houses of Assembly to incorporate in the current constitutional amendment process, the transfer of items 8 (census), 28 (Fingerprint identification and criminal records), 34 (labour), 39 (Mines and Minerals Resources), 45 (police and other government security agencies established by law), 46 (posts, telegraphs and telephones), 48 (prisons), 54 (quarantine), 59 (taxation of incomes, profits and capital gains), 62 (trade and commerce) of the 2nd Schedule (legislative powers) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) from the Exclusive Legislative list to the Concurrent Legislative list,” the group said.

    Speaking more on the Federal structure of Nigeria, Osibogun said: “Today, the unity of our nation is fragile, with youths from different corridors of our nation voicing their disbelief in a future with a united Nigeria. It therefore behooves on our leaders to convince our youths that we are better together than apart, because our generation is one that will only be swayed by sound arguments and not sentimental dictates. We believe an ideal starting point should be an evaluation of our malfunctioning political and economic structures which have continued to breed disunity and under-development in our country.”

    YPNI also called for the transfer of sections 16, 17 and 18 of the Constitution (as amended) from Chapter 2 (Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy) to Chapter 4 (Fundamental Human Rights), in order to empower the citizenry with the right to demand for certain agreed basic parameters in the economic, social and educational sectors from any government entrusted with these responsibilities.
    On the issue of insecurity, all members of YPNI unanimously called on the federal government to look into the increase of terrorist activities by insurgency groups, especially in north-eastern states, and the frequent clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the north-central and southern states, which has become a threat to food security in the country.

    The group stated the need for reforms in the policing structure of the country to create a more professional and independent police force. One that allows states within the federation share the responsibility of policing and securing their territories within the federal government.
    Osibogun said “it is important to create an independent body that is empowered to investigate and discipline erring police officers, because this will improve confidence in the police force and promote professionalism amongst the officers.”

    Charging all youths from 18 and above to register to vote and actively participate in the political process, the group head of planning, Mammud Yusuf said that it is time for our young men and women embedded with skills and managerial acumen to take over the baton of leadership from those who have been saddled with governance in Nigeria since the first republic.

    “Governance in 21st century should be saddled with those that understand the language of the 21st century. Governance needs characters embedded with a lot of energy, zeal, strength, exposure, education, innovation, creativity and purpose which could only be found with people rooted and grounded with the realities of 21st century.”

    “Therefore, we believe that it is time for the youths of Nigeria to wake up from their slumber and take over the affairs of the country from our fathers that have been recycling powers within themselves since the first republic. “We call on young Nigerians to participate in politics, register to vote and be voted for and also stand for elections. France just elected Emmanuel Macron aged 39, Emil Dimitrev who is the Prime Minister of Macedonia is 39 years, Emir of Qatar, Tamim Ah Tani is 37 years, President of San Marino, VanesaD’Ambrisio, 29 years, Saleh Al-sammad was recently elected President of Yemen at age of 38 years, therefore, why are Nigerian Youths missing in governance?” he said.

    Reinstating the position of the group on panacea to unemployment in Nigeria, Osibogun opined that instead of competing for limited white-collar jobs available in the country, youths should embrace entrepreneurship and vocational skills as an alternative medium to make a living, stressing that our current political and economic structure will not permit any government to provide adequate jobs for the citizenry.

    “While we implore governments at all tiers to tame the surge of unemployment and joblessness in the country; as an organization that believes in entrepreneurship and skills acquisition, we call on our peers to learn a skill today as a medium of making a living instead of looking for white collar jobs that are not available.”

    YPNI also announced that the second batch of training on entrepreneurship for unemployed youths shall commence in the second week of October. The training, according to the communication manager of the group, Mr. Maxwell Adeyemi Adeleye, will offer our youths access to acquisition of various skills such as beads and craft making, events planning and decoration, fashion design, catering services and shoe making.

  • NECA unveils entrepreneurship scheme 

    The  Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) and Imagine Business Services have launched NECAPreneur to address youth unemployment.

    Speaking in Lagos, NECAs Director-General, Mr. Olusegun Oshinowo said: “The initiative in is tandem with NECA’s mandate to influence economic and socio-labour policies to create an army of gainfully employed youths who in turn would be employers of labour and ultimately add to national development. The target is getting youths to be wealth creators rather than job seekers.”

    Oshinowo deplored a situation where the youths are roaming the streets and available as ready tools for social ills.

    He said: “The NECAPreneur is, particularly, designed for youths and undergraduates in Nigeria and the whole idea is to create an environment where we can get our undergraduates to think entrepreneurship before they leave the university, while those who have left and are unable to get a job would be motivated to embrace entrepreneurship as well.”

    Oshinowo said Nigeria has a population estimated over 185 million, above 50 per cent of which is below 30 years, and over 13 per cent of this are unemployed.

    NECAPreneur, according to him, seeks to aggressively develop and make entrepreneurs of Nigerian youths by creating entrepreneurial consciousness among them.

    “As representative of employers, we have the statistics and the fact is that the jobs are simply not there. That is the truth.

    “Demand for jobs has by far outstripped the supply for jobs and this is going to continue for a while and we would want to enjoin our youths to take their destinies in their hands by embracing entrepreneurship.

    “The scheme is activated in tertiary institutions across Nigeria and also opened to the teeming youth that are already out of school. It will not only equip them to birth and successfully run their own businesses, but also lead them into avenues for start-up capital, mentoring, internship opportunities through NECA’s network and eventual certification of successful participants,” he said.

    The Entrepreneurship e-learning programme comes in three stages – Basic, Intermediate and Advance.

    It is delivered through video tutorial and texts which is structured into engaging modules. The curriculum is tested, practical and culturally relevant with the support of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

  • BoI, Ebonyi govt seal N4b deal to fast-track industrialisation

    TO fast-track industrialisation through entrepreneurship and create jobs, the Bank of Industry (BoI) and the Ebonyi State Government have signed a N4 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote agriculture and establish industries in the state.

    The signing, which took place at the Ebonyi State Government House, in Abakaliki on Monday, will usher in economic boom for the state, which targets to set up at least one industry in each of its 150 communities under the dispensation of the N4 billion Fund.

    Governor Dave Umahi praised BoI for supporting the state’s economic growth initiative with 50 per cent of the Fund. He stressed that the bank was, indeed, not out to make money, but to foster development.

    The governor added that empowerment programmes have been proven to be more impacting when anchored with BoI, which has competent personnel and an effective coordinating strategy.

    He said: “Free money is not productive when it is not worked for, and the way to go about empowerment is what we have done today with the BoI, which has made tremendous impact in recent times.

    If this is enacted across the 36 states of Nigeria, it will lead to job creation on a massive scale.” The governor added that the initiative was Nigeria’s solution to the economic recession currently plaguing the country following the crash of global oil prices.Governor Umahi explained that N2billion under the initiative will be dedicated to the agric sector, while the other N2billion will go to the industrial sector.

    He said beneficiaries of short-term loans will be charged five per cent, while long-term beneficiaries will pay back with a 6.25 per cent.Umahi charged his cabinet members to drive awareness of the intervention fund across their constituencies and encourage would-be beneficiaries to set up cooperative societies to enable them access the fund and attend entrepreneurship capacity building workshops to be hosted by BoI.

    Earlier in his remarks, the Managing Director of BoI, Mr. Kayode Pitan, noted that the bank has been involved in supporting entrepreneurs in the growth of large and small scale industries in the state before now in excess of N2billion.”With this, we will now be able to help more people to get employed as well as enhance the growth of the solid minerals sector as the governor has also requested,” he said.

    He added that the development finance institution was ready to finance more projects beyond the scope of the MoU.”We are partners with the state and are happy that this MoU has further strengthened that partnership,” he said.Some of the projects financed by BoI include Ebony Agro Industries, Crystal Chemical Nigeria Limited, Hapelroadstone Nigeria Limited as well as Maxdove Foam and Chemical Industries Limited.

     

  • Osinbajo hails group’s advocacy on entrepreneurship

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has commended Young Progressive Nigerians Initiatives (YPNI) for its advocacy drive on Entrepreneurship, Skills Acquisition and Citizenship Education in the country.

    He gave the commendation in Abeokuta, Ogun State Capital,  while receiving a copy of the book on entrepreneurship and citizenship education by YPNI’s chairman of BoT, Adekunle Osibogun, at a two-day clinic on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).

    Osinbajo said: “Service to humanity is the best work of life. Please continue to serve humanity.

    “The more you take the indigents and under-privileged out of obscurity, the more favour and mercy you receive from God.”

    The Acting President, who was at YPNI’s exhibition stand at the clinic, also advised the youths trained by the non-profit organisation to be focused, diligent and consistent, urging them to keep striving until they get to the top.

     

  • ‘Entrepreneurship, antidote to unemployment’

    Founder, Ajayi Polytechnic, Ikere-Ekiti in Ekiti State, Dr. Busayo Ajayi, has described entrepreneurial skills as the antidote to high rate of unemployment.

    Ajayi, who urged young graduates to develop an entrepreneurship mindset for their advancement, also challenged Nigerians to learn how to run businesses through Information Communication Technology (ICT).

    He spoke during the institution’s maiden Inaugural lecture titled: ‘Entrepreneurship and basics of business skills’.

    Most young graduates, Ajayi lamented, were either jobless or unemployable because they lack the necessary skills and training. “This is why Ajayi Polytechnic was born to address this shortfall,” the founder noted.

    Ajayi added: “Innovativeness means being proactive and being able to take risks. These are some of the characteristics of entrepreneurship, which the youth must develop.  It has to do with creating businesses and becoming an employer in the larger business world.

    “Aside creating businesses and being employable through the entrepreneurial training, ICT knowledge will help them secure jobs in other countries while resident in Nigeria because we are in a global world.”

    He said the institution is partnering  Samsung and the British Computer Society to enhance its training scope and confer international recognition on the institution.