Most entrepreneurs with success stories have a story or two to tell. They are either faced with immediate family issues or household problems marked with conflicts with little or no love. However, they work doggedly, not minding the hurdles before them, to build business successes and thrive, especially in the face of instability. One of them is Adeshola Adepoju, House of Kaffy Chief Executive. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Polygamous families, some believe, create great entrepreneurs. Whatever being used to verify this assertion is subject to analysis. However, the pivotal trait, which enables children from such background to achieve success is their resolve   to develop skills and resilience to become winning entrepreneur in the face of adversity.

One of such entrepreneurs with such background, who became a success story is Lagos make-up artist, Adeshola Adepoju, who also combines fashion designing to make her story complete. Her current projects include an entrepreneurship skills school, clothing line and make up business.

Adepoju, who studied business administration at Lagos State Polytechnic, Lagos State, passed through a lot of emotional trauma as a child, who grew up in a polygamous setting. She had to struggle through school because there was little emphasis on quality education.

Her situation as a child, who grew up with no love and affection, however, did not deter her in acquiring education, after which she veered into make-up industry about six years ago. As a young girl, she was very fond of handicrafts, which kept her busy when parents were not there for her. She would arrange materials and turn them into something attractive. This ultimately made her venture into bead making and  fashion a natural path for her.

She recalled starting the business with little or no capital. Today, the business has grown tremendously. Not only that, she has  additional hands to help her. Her philosophy of seeking knowledge has helped her a great deal. To her, there is no end to learning. What makes her work unique is her desire for beautiful beads with their natural matrixes.

When she started, she  faced  challenges. One of which was finance. To overcome this, she had to offer her service almost free. At the end, she got referrals to make more money. She offered free  make-up training. She also showcased her works on Facebook  and Instagram.

As determined as she was, she also was putting more efforts  to learn the craft. Along the line, she studied  how to make bags, slippers and sandals. One thing that has made her products and services successful is that they are affordable and attractive. She  also made significant strides in the makeup industry. While she works as a makeup artist, she did some businesses associated   with  beauty and fashion.

As in any business, there is  competition. But she has identified  and discovered her niche. She has the belief that she will always succeed.

On how she came into the business, Adepoju said she always loved fashion and makeup business. She had always loved makeup from a child and was always conscious of fashion and one looks. It was just a passion and a love.

Adepoju is also optimistic about opportunities in the sector for young people and she is raising a lot of awareness about this.

She said she is determined to address growing youth unemployment, through capacity building and encouraging skill acquisition in areas such as professional  makeup and headtie (gele) tying training, determined to offer young people the chance to accelerate their capacity for success.

Consequently,  she has taken it upon herself to train aspiring young designers, covering the entire value chain of garment making, bead making and make up business, training young girls in different skills to give them the tools and the confidence they need to create their own jobs.

During her just concluded two-week entrepreneurship training programme,  Adepoju  gave young people the skills to identify and act on economic opportunities in their communities.

The process was not without challenges. Some participants, who  could not afford the N4000  charged for the training were allowed to participate.

During the training, they were attentive and motivated with some of them thinking of business ideas.

The post Striving to achieve success amidst odds appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

At a youthpreneur business summit in Lagos, experts examine the major challenges businesses face in today’s
tech-orientated world. DANIEL ESSIET reports

Founder and CEO, eTranzact; Valentine Obi , said self belief  gave him the confidence to start a software company that has taken the world by storm.

Addressing the second youthpreneur business summit which held  in Lagos, Obi said he  was not hesitant in producing a software for sending  messages  when  there were few network operators in Nigeria. While it was a fantastic idea, Obi  said there were no  positive response from people towards his idea but he decided to go for it.  He devoted  his time  to producing the product.

Obi,  a serial innovator, persisted at it for long years without any monetary support or recognition.

He was in his 30s and had a family to look after, yet he decided to take the risk, something that all entrepreneurs do. But, it is not risk just for the sake of it. He took a calculated one. It was a good idea, but what separated Obi from the rest of idea chasers was that he made it happen. And in the process went laughing all the way to the bank. He  said the company’s  product was born from a desire to build a payments product that people could easily use; be it a bank, trader trying to set up a website, or as a direct consumer.  He said the  company wanted to use the platform to eliminate the need to use cards, hardware tokens or a visit to the bank by allowing customers to access their bank accounts  through  BankIT-powered platforms. In 2003, he launched the company and started operations as a pay outlet to Econet Wireless (now Airtel) and Lagos State Water Corporation.With technological advancement and customer sophistication in the advent of GSM technology, the need arose for convenient methods of processing transactions and making payments.

Obi saw the need to deploy his mobile payment solutions to banks and non-bank financial institutions and to optimise telecommunication services to provide a robust package to customers. This led to the introduction of his company’s award winning, multi application electronic payment platform to pioneer the electronic commerce in Nigeria. This provides the enabling technology for bank customers to make banking transactions on mobile phones.

Today, he is one of the indigenous tech entrepreneurs producing mobile payment systems.  He  told the forum that there are opportunities for young people to change the face of  technology business. Etranzact International has evolved into a brand with a global reach,offering products that cut across virtually all aspects of the e-payment space – ATM, internet connectivity, POS, and mobile money. It has acquired extensive knowledge of switching and transaction processing systems from online remittances to e-dividend payment to web payments.The company currently has operations in five other African countries and the United Kingdom.It is still expanding operations to other countries in the world.

According to him, young  people can explore  opportunities  to produce  applications that can solve  problems from finance and farming to education and healthcare.

Participants had the  opportunity to  listen to young entrepreneurs share their experiences starting and running their own businesses.

The Founder, Youthpreneur Business Development Network (YBDN),Mrs Abimola Oligbinde, said the organisation decided to bring successful, young entrepreneurs who founded their own companies to relate to their stories.

For her, young people  have new and innovative ideas, but they just need someone to show them how to take their big idea to the next level.

She said YBDN is a non-profit organisation established in 2016 to empower youth-owned businesses for accelerated growth.  She said YBDN was established to enhance the contribution of youths to economic development.

The  Speaker,Lagos  State House of Assembly,Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, urged youths to use technology to connect other parts of the world for the advancement of their future.

He said that the youth ought to identify their talents in their daily usages of technological gadgets to develop the country and fend for themselves. Representaed by Hon. Tunde Braimah a member of Lagos House of Assembly representing the good people of Kosefe Constituency 2, Obasa said technologies can used as  be sources of inspiration and development  as the success stories the young entrepreneurs shared.The maiden edition of Youthpreneur Business Summit held on August 16, 2016 with the theme: Passion to Wealth: Road to Economic Diversification. Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr. Muda Yusuf was the Keynote Speaker.

The post The power of starting small, being focused appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

The establishment in 2005 of the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI), a Federal Government’s organisation charged with the responsibility of coordinating the government’s-owned Technology Incubation Centres (TICs), has helped to create new entrepreneurs. One of the TICs in Minna, Niger State, is giving entrepreneurs the tools and space to help turn their ideas into viable businesses. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

One of the success stories from the Technology Incubation Centre(TIC),  Minna, Niger State, is Mary John, a producer of groundnut chips (kuliKuli).

A computer  graduate of Niger State Polytechnic, Mary, is a success story.  She was ruminating over a business idea when she realised  she could do  something  with food processing.

She  wanted to prove  groundnut chips can be  produced  deliciously, healthily and tastfully at the same time.

She knew nothing about food ­manufacturing, so she set out to get grips with everything from food labelling, marketing and sales.  She  started the business  a year  ago with N20,000. Today, the business is worth N500,000. It all began out of her passion and drive to  explore entrepreneurship. She spent  time learning how to process peanuts to perfection and the peanut business in general.

She  heard about  the Technology Incubation Centre(TIC)  Minna, Niger State entrepreneurial support. She was taken in  along with several young entrepreneurs with technology and entrepreneurship support, mentorship and  space, to grow their innovative ideas into viable businesses.

One   factor that  has brought her  success is her  commitment to offer, not just good quality products but the best that there is.  She has   strong adherence to cleanliness.  She  believes that when starting a business, success does not lie on the capital, but on hard work and patience.

Mary Paul  has become  a small success story  of the Niger State’s start-up ecosystem. She  is a brainchild of the National Technology Incubation Centre, Minna,Niger State   now abuzz with young, creative minds.

Co founder, Zealous production Company, Obetta Martins Chukwudi, is a  dynamic young entrepreneur. A chemical engineering  graduate, his entry into paint production has fetched him money. He looks forward to transiting from a small business to a big industry player.

Dissatisfied with mediocre finish of modern paints, he began research into  cheap paint production formula.  Interestingly, the business has become self sustaining, producing different paint formula. Already, he is training corpers in Niger State  on  entrepreneurship.

According to him, paint production business has been extremely rewarding as there are no barriers to entry. His philosophy is if one is ambitious and willing to learn the business and works hard, there are no limits to what one can accomplish.

By way   of  expansion, Chukwudi  and Co partner, Zealous production Company, Stanley Okwuchukwu has  developed unique  cosmetic formulas, tested on who knows how important a healthy, attractive appearance is and how the professional products work.

He plans and his partner creates safe, high performance and quality  cosmetics.

Similarlly, Taiwo Shokunbi, an accounting  graduate, is  producing cassava flour from the centre. He packages cassava  flour in packets and sell them in the market.

His  capital, came from his savings.

Initially, there was the challenge of limited capital, which has hindered him from  expansion and hiring more sales persons to market the flour.

According to him, cassava can also be an excellent industrial money-making crop for farmers and for the economy. Through cassava value addition, one can get glue, cassava chips, starch and flour.

Shokunbi said he  wanted to become a full-fledged entrepreneur who creates jobs for others. The idea was from the agri-business point of view, because he  saw that there was a lot of opportunity in cassava processing  as a business and the best approach was to look at products that could have value added to make the farmers make more money. He  has found a market in people selling fufu at market or along roadsides.

The  Centre  Manager, Zakeriah Tukura, said a lot of start-ups have come out of the hub. The building, according to him, provides infrastructure support in the form of space, power and internet connectivity.

Tukura  said the centre is ready  to support  entrepreneurs to turn their business ideas into viable businesses.

According to him, the centre was established in support of the government’s goal to increase employment opportunities through public private partnerships

He explained that nurturing young entrepreneurs is particularly important given Nigeria’s high youth unemployment rate. The Centre Manager, Technology Incubation Centre, said new businesses are given free accommodation  at the Centre for three years. During this period, he said the businesses are exempted from taxation.

At the centre, equipped with  fabrication and testing facilities, he  said, young tech entrepreneurs can be mentored. He said the centre is  committed to the continuous training of entrepreneurs.

These centres,  he said, have produced small scale entrepreneurs who may emerge as a new class of businessmen.

At the centres, access to experts across all engineering and management disciplines  is easy.

According to him, it is fundamental to identify opportunities and the added value small enterprises can bring, by integrating their own skills and developing training programmes to improve enterprise performance, enhance profitability and growth, and offering technology and management support to small businesses and early movers to maximise the value of their ideas.

Businesses in the incubator fall within some stages – conception, where a first-cut assessment of the strategic environment is made, to development, where feasibility and go-to-market strategies are  explored and, ultimately, commercialisation, where profitable market opportunities are exploited and the focus is on growing the venture.

According to him, TICs ,  has become the key policy driver for turning unemployed youths into entrepreneurs and  business owners.

He urged  entrepreneurs to take  advantage of the incubation centres provided them to work out a better future for themselves.

The post Creating entrepreneurs through technology incubation appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

The establishment in 2005 of the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI), a Federal Government’s organisation charged with the responsibility of coordinating the government’s-owned Technology Incubation Centres (TICs), has helped to create new entrepreneurs. One of the TICs in Minna, Niger State, is giving entrepreneurs the tools and space to help turn their ideas into viable businesses. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

One of the success stories from the Technology Incubation Centre(TIC),  Minna, Niger State, is Mary John, a producer of groundnut chips (kuliKuli).

A computer  graduate of Niger State Polytechnic, Mary, is a success story.  She was ruminating over a business idea when she realised  she could do  something  with food processing.

She  wanted to prove  groundnut chips can be  produced  deliciously, healthily and tastfully at the same time.

She knew nothing about food ­manufacturing, so she set out to get grips with everything from food labelling, marketing and sales.  She  started the business  a year  ago with N20,000. Today, the business is worth N500,000. It all began out of her passion and drive to  explore entrepreneurship. She spent  time learning how to process peanuts to perfection and the peanut business in general.

She  heard about  the Technology Incubation Centre(TIC)  Minna, Niger State entrepreneurial support. She was taken in  along with several young entrepreneurs with technology and entrepreneurship support, mentorship and  space, to grow their innovative ideas into viable businesses.

One   factor that  has brought her  success is her  commitment to offer, not just good quality products but the best that there is.  She has   strong adherence to cleanliness.  She  believes that when starting a business, success does not lie on the capital, but on hard work and patience.

Mary Paul  has become  a small success story  of the Niger State’s start-up ecosystem. She  is a brainchild of the National Technology Incubation Centre, Minna,Niger State   now abuzz with young, creative minds.

Co founder, Zealous production Company, Obetta Martins Chukwudi, is a  dynamic young entrepreneur. A chemical engineering  graduate, his entry into paint production has fetched him money. He looks forward to transiting from a small business to a big industry player.

Dissatisfied with mediocre finish of modern paints, he began research into  cheap paint production formula.  Interestingly, the business has become self sustaining, producing different paint formula. Already, he is training corpers in Niger State  on  entrepreneurship.

According to him, paint production business has been extremely rewarding as there are no barriers to entry. His philosophy is if one is ambitious and willing to learn the business and works hard, there are no limits to what one can accomplish.

By way   of  expansion, Chukwudi  and Co partner, Zealous production Company, Stanley Okwuchukwu has  developed unique  cosmetic formulas, tested on who knows how important a healthy, attractive appearance is and how the professional products work.

He plans and his partner creates safe, high performance and quality  cosmetics.

Similarlly, Taiwo Shokunbi, an accounting  graduate, is  producing cassava flour from the centre. He packages cassava  flour in packets and sell them in the market.

His  capital, came from his savings.

Initially, there was the challenge of limited capital, which has hindered him from  expansion and hiring more sales persons to market the flour.

According to him, cassava can also be an excellent industrial money-making crop for farmers and for the economy. Through cassava value addition, one can get glue, cassava chips, starch and flour.

Shokunbi said he  wanted to become a full-fledged entrepreneur who creates jobs for others. The idea was from the agri-business point of view, because he  saw that there was a lot of opportunity in cassava processing  as a business and the best approach was to look at products that could have value added to make the farmers make more money. He  has found a market in people selling fufu at market or along roadsides.

The  Centre  Manager, Zakeriah Tukura, said a lot of start-ups have come out of the hub. The building, according to him, provides infrastructure support in the form of space, power and internet connectivity.

Tukura  said the centre is ready  to support  entrepreneurs to turn their business ideas into viable businesses.

According to him, the centre was established in support of the government’s goal to increase employment opportunities through public private partnerships

He explained that nurturing young entrepreneurs is particularly important given Nigeria’s high youth unemployment rate. The Centre Manager, Technology Incubation Centre, said new businesses are given free accommodation  at the Centre for three years. During this period, he said the businesses are exempted from taxation.

At the centre, equipped with  fabrication and testing facilities, he  said, young tech entrepreneurs can be mentored. He said the centre is  committed to the continuous training of entrepreneurs.

These centres,  he said, have produced small scale entrepreneurs who may emerge as a new class of businessmen.

At the centres, access to experts across all engineering and management disciplines  is easy.

According to him, it is fundamental to identify opportunities and the added value small enterprises can bring, by integrating their own skills and developing training programmes to improve enterprise performance, enhance profitability and growth, and offering technology and management support to small businesses and early movers to maximise the value of their ideas.

Businesses in the incubator fall within some stages – conception, where a first-cut assessment of the strategic environment is made, to development, where feasibility and go-to-market strategies are  explored and, ultimately, commercialisation, where profitable market opportunities are exploited and the focus is on growing the venture.

According to him, TICs ,  has become the key policy driver for turning unemployed youths into entrepreneurs and  business owners.

He urged  entrepreneurs to take  advantage of the incubation centres provided them to work out a better future for themselves.

The post Creating entrepreneurs through technology incubation appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

At a youthpreneur business summit in Lagos, experts examine the major challenges businesses face in today’s
tech-orientated world. DANIEL ESSIET reports

Founder and CEO, eTranzact; Valentine Obi , said self belief  gave him the confidence to start a software company that has taken the world by storm.

Addressing the second youthpreneur business summit which held  in Lagos, Obi said he  was not hesitant in producing a software for sending  messages  when  there were few network operators in Nigeria. While it was a fantastic idea, Obi  said there were no  positive response from people towards his idea but he decided to go for it.  He devoted  his time  to producing the product.

Obi,  a serial innovator, persisted at it for long years without any monetary support or recognition.

He was in his 30s and had a family to look after, yet he decided to take the risk, something that all entrepreneurs do. But, it is not risk just for the sake of it. He took a calculated one. It was a good idea, but what separated Obi from the rest of idea chasers was that he made it happen. And in the process went laughing all the way to the bank. He  said the company’s  product was born from a desire to build a payments product that people could easily use; be it a bank, trader trying to set up a website, or as a direct consumer.  He said the  company wanted to use the platform to eliminate the need to use cards, hardware tokens or a visit to the bank by allowing customers to access their bank accounts  through  BankIT-powered platforms. In 2003, he launched the company and started operations as a pay outlet to Econet Wireless (now Airtel) and Lagos State Water Corporation.With technological advancement and customer sophistication in the advent of GSM technology, the need arose for convenient methods of processing transactions and making payments.

Obi saw the need to deploy his mobile payment solutions to banks and non-bank financial institutions and to optimise telecommunication services to provide a robust package to customers. This led to the introduction of his company’s award winning, multi application electronic payment platform to pioneer the electronic commerce in Nigeria. This provides the enabling technology for bank customers to make banking transactions on mobile phones.

Today, he is one of the indigenous tech entrepreneurs producing mobile payment systems.  He  told the forum that there are opportunities for young people to change the face of  technology business. Etranzact International has evolved into a brand with a global reach,offering products that cut across virtually all aspects of the e-payment space – ATM, internet connectivity, POS, and mobile money. It has acquired extensive knowledge of switching and transaction processing systems from online remittances to e-dividend payment to web payments.The company currently has operations in five other African countries and the United Kingdom.It is still expanding operations to other countries in the world.

According to him, young  people can explore  opportunities  to produce  applications that can solve  problems from finance and farming to education and healthcare.

Participants had the  opportunity to  listen to young entrepreneurs share their experiences starting and running their own businesses.

The Founder, Youthpreneur Business Development Network (YBDN),Mrs Abimola Oligbinde, said the organisation decided to bring successful, young entrepreneurs who founded their own companies to relate to their stories.

For her, young people  have new and innovative ideas, but they just need someone to show them how to take their big idea to the next level.

She said YBDN is a non-profit organisation established in 2016 to empower youth-owned businesses for accelerated growth.  She said YBDN was established to enhance the contribution of youths to economic development.

The  Speaker,Lagos  State House of Assembly,Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, urged youths to use technology to connect other parts of the world for the advancement of their future.

He said that the youth ought to identify their talents in their daily usages of technological gadgets to develop the country and fend for themselves. Representaed by Hon. Tunde Braimah a member of Lagos House of Assembly representing the good people of Kosefe Constituency 2, Obasa said technologies can used as  be sources of inspiration and development  as the success stories the young entrepreneurs shared.The maiden edition of Youthpreneur Business Summit held on August 16, 2016 with the theme: Passion to Wealth: Road to Economic Diversification. Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr. Muda Yusuf was the Keynote Speaker.

The post The power of starting small, being focused appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Piggery has continued to expand, creating new products and providing opportunities for people. There is, however, a move by stakeholders to encourage students explore such opportunities and  promote campus entrepreneurship, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Piggery is expanding, creating new products for end-users and providing numerous economic opportunities. This is being driven by growing consumer awareness of the nutritional value of pork and increased income.

Piggery offers an opportunity for high quality meat and products. There are also vast work opportunities on and off the farm, which increase means of livelihoods for numerous people.

Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of The Porkies Family Hangout, which held in Lagos, Jotess Agro Chief Executive, Dr. Dapo Onadipe, said pig business has an immense growth potential and young Nigerians stand to benefit a great deal from participating in the pork market.

According to him, he has done much to promote piggery as a sustainable entrepreneurship through various means.

Some of the ways he has done this, is by encouraging students’ participation in piggery business, saying student-owned piggeries  have the potential to becoming game-changers for both the students and the public.

With pork meat being used  for  confectionaries and snacks, the stakeholders are ready to turn students pig farmers to job-creators, who can establish distribution channels thereby providing livelihoods and empower them to make money.

One of the co-ordinators of the Pork Show, Mr Femi Malomo, said pork business is gaining ground in the country. Pork meat, he said, is the most consumed animal protein around the globe. As the population increases with disposable income,  the competition to supply Nigerians with wholesome, safe pork, according to him, increases.

According to him, about N3 billion worth of pigs are exported from the country yearly.

Pig business, he said, is one of the highly valued and high-revenue generating business. With good and practical training, Malomo said small-scale farmers can adopt best practices that will guarantee good returns on investment.

To succeed in the business, he said new entrants need training on areas such as breeds; breeding; management; shed design; weather management; vaccination protocols; diseases and their prevention; value addition of pork; mycotoxins and economics of the business, among others.

Another pig farmer, Kola Osunsanmi, said Nigerian pork meat is produced to the very best standards of welfare, quality and safety and the sector is creating more jobs and opportunities for premium pork producers, who can guarantee quality from farm to fork.

He explained that piggery is a promising and stable source of generating income than poultry. According to him, the piggery business changed his socio-economic status within a short period. But it was not a smooth ride for him when he started managing the animals.

He started attending training programmes and was in regular touch with animal experts.

Apart from selling live piglets, he also supplies dressed pork for various social functions. At present, he is involved in the breeding of quality piglets.

He said since the piglets reared in his farm are improved ones, the demand is obviously high and orders are from different parties.

According to him, the maintaining piggery reqiures high skill and it’s labour intensive, noting that only farmers with good entrepreneurial skills can succeed in it.

According to him, would be farmers need training to acquire skills in farm management and entrepreneurship.

A member of the organising committee of the pork show, Mr Eniola Bamgbelu, said the  growing demand for pork has prompted farmers to go in for pig farming in a big way.

He explained that pig farming is a lucrative proposition for small and marginal farmers. According to him, there is tremendous potential for pig farmers, because the demand is huge.

The post Promoting campus entrepreneurship, jobs through piggery appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

An All Progressives Congress (APC) member in Lagos and a House of Representatives aspirant has advised governments and banks  to support graduates of skills empowerment institutions by reducing loans’ interest rates for them.

Martins Owodunni Iwonlanwe, who gave the advice at 120 trainees’ graduation at TREM City, Wilmer, Lagos, said it is the only way beneficiaries of such programmes could be supported since many of them have no money to start off. He scored the empowerment training, which he sponsored, high and praised the graduates for their attendance and comportment during their training.

The trainer and Managing Director of Spotless World Skills Acquisition, Agim Immacualate, also praised the graduates saying: “I will score them 100 per cent. The trainees performed more than expected. You can’t train a person to make a cake or a pair of shoes in three days. But with this set of trainees, we did. They did marvelously well. They should keep it up. They should start something, no matter how small, even if it is N1000 they have, they should take off with.”

Wife of resident pastor TREM City of Joy, Olodi-Apapa, Princess Favour Nkere, advised the graduates on the need to go for further training. She said:“You have acquired knowledge, go for further training. Register a company, do complementary cards to sell yourself to enable people buy your products.’’ Her husband, Rev Chinedu Nkere, prayed for them, urging them to be God-fearing in their businesses.

A graduate of the training, Mrs Husainat Ibrahim, expressed delight with the sponsor and the trainer, saying she applied for the training and was picked without any hurdles. She promised to deploy her training in her fashion business.

The post ‘Cut interest rates to assist skilled graduates’ appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

An All Progressives Congress (APC) member in Lagos and a House of Representatives aspirant has advised governments and banks  to support graduates of skills empowerment institutions by reducing loans’ interest rates for them.

Martins Owodunni Iwonlanwe, who gave the advice at 120 trainees’ graduation at TREM City, Wilmer, Lagos, said it is the only way beneficiaries of such programmes could be supported since many of them have no money to start off. He scored the empowerment training, which he sponsored, high and praised the graduates for their attendance and comportment during their training.

The trainer and Managing Director of Spotless World Skills Acquisition, Agim Immacualate, also praised the graduates saying: “I will score them 100 per cent. The trainees performed more than expected. You can’t train a person to make a cake or a pair of shoes in three days. But with this set of trainees, we did. They did marvelously well. They should keep it up. They should start something, no matter how small, even if it is N1000 they have, they should take off with.”

Wife of resident pastor TREM City of Joy, Olodi-Apapa, Princess Favour Nkere, advised the graduates on the need to go for further training. She said:“You have acquired knowledge, go for further training. Register a company, do complementary cards to sell yourself to enable people buy your products.’’ Her husband, Rev Chinedu Nkere, prayed for them, urging them to be God-fearing in their businesses.

A graduate of the training, Mrs Husainat Ibrahim, expressed delight with the sponsor and the trainer, saying she applied for the training and was picked without any hurdles. She promised to deploy her training in her fashion business.

The post ‘Cut interest rates to assist skilled graduates’ appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

The growth in infrastructure development in the Middle East has resulted in a construction boom. The boom has catalysed in increased demand for artisans. Hiring artisans with the right skills and experience has been a challenge. There is a training programme to recruit Nigerians to work in the region and other parts of the world, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Construction sector is one of the most important sectors in the economy. It generates about 10 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and positively influences the growth of employment in other related economic activities.

However, contractors need good and skilled artisans to effectvely deliver projects of high quality. But there is a level of professionalism required for construction work as an artisan, or tradesman. This covers competence in building plans and specifications, methods of construction and materials management. But only a few local artisans possess this. This has had negative impact on the industry.

To address this challenge, the Universal Learn Direct Academia Limited (ULDA), a consortium of professionals that facilitate skills training in vocations, such as carpentry; plumbing; electrical installation; brickwork; plastering; tiling and site engineering, among others, is training secondary school leavers, polytechnic and university graduates, as well as unemployed youths for the building and construction industry.

Its  President, Gasper Olawumi, expressed dismay over the skills gap among polytechnics and university graduates, adding that with their partnership with those in the industry, they can engage the trainees, who would in turn help in strengthening  capacities across the sector.

He noted that lack of skills among the lower cadres of workers is chiefly responsible for problems dogging the construction industry. Such problems, he noted, include structurally unsound buildings, which end up collapsing.

Gasper, who is a partner and   former Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB), said the institute is making the industry more attractive to school-leavers and graduates by equipping them to work in the construction industry, while incentives for employers will also help encourage more youths into apprenticeships.

The organisation is now focusing on the Middle East with the much-anticipated pick-up in construction activity in Dubai. The company is opening an international office in Dubai to enable it export trained artisans, who can work abroad. The organisation equips youths with skills in masonry, carpentry, formwork, plumbing, tiling, scaffolding and plastering within a year.

“The young graduates will be trained on all aspects of carpentry, block-laying, plumbing and electrical on site. We are taking off with hands-on skills. That is why engineering is a key programme to us and we are ready to ensure that Nigerian graduates hone their skills early enough so that job opportunity will be available for them,”Gasper said, adding that training leads to quality workmanship, which means fewer lives are likely to be lost as a result of building collapse.

Gasper, a former Lagos Polytechnic rector, said that is why training is important because it imparts skills and positive behaviour. “For instance, when artisans are conversant with their roles on the construction site, they need minimal supervision, but will do a substantial amount of work.

“So, since training equips artisans with the requisite work ethics, the contractor will not have to worry about workers reporting to work late, materials disappearing from the site, or workers skipping work after being paid,” he said.

The project visioner and co-ordinator, Mr.  Gbola Oba said the construction industry is replenishing the housing stock, building new infrastructure and helping to restore the economy, but there are challenges whether it is to attract and retain a forward-looking workforce output.

Oba stressed the need for a dynamic industry that is alive to global market opportunities, international relations and the exporting of skills.

He said the company sees prospects in training artisans under global standard best practices and exporting them across the world.

According to him, such artisans must be trained to a level where they can work in places, such as Dubai with stringent key performance indicators and design-savvy occupiers, where  issues of efficiency and performance are  put into acute focus.

In terms of addressing poor public perceptions of construction workers, Oba stressed that it is high time  things were taken to the next stage by inculcating performance ethos that will promote the industry’s positive image.

To stand any chance of plugging the existing skills gaps, diversifying the workforce and securing a talent pipeline for the future, he said more young people need to be persuaded to pursue careers in construction industry.

The post Creating jobs for artisans, tradesmen in construction appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

The growth in infrastructure development in the Middle East has resulted in a construction boom. The boom has catalysed in increased demand for artisans. Hiring artisans with the right skills and experience has been a challenge. There is a training programme to recruit Nigerians to work in the region and other parts of the world, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Construction sector is one of the most important sectors in the economy. It generates about 10 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and positively influences the growth of employment in other related economic activities.

However, contractors need good and skilled artisans to effectvely deliver projects of high quality. But there is a level of professionalism required for construction work as an artisan, or tradesman. This covers competence in building plans and specifications, methods of construction and materials management. But only a few local artisans possess this. This has had negative impact on the industry.

To address this challenge, the Universal Learn Direct Academia Limited (ULDA), a consortium of professionals that facilitate skills training in vocations, such as carpentry; plumbing; electrical installation; brickwork; plastering; tiling and site engineering, among others, is training secondary school leavers, polytechnic and university graduates, as well as unemployed youths for the building and construction industry.

Its  President, Gasper Olawumi, expressed dismay over the skills gap among polytechnics and university graduates, adding that with their partnership with those in the industry, they can engage the trainees, who would in turn help in strengthening  capacities across the sector.

He noted that lack of skills among the lower cadres of workers is chiefly responsible for problems dogging the construction industry. Such problems, he noted, include structurally unsound buildings, which end up collapsing.

Gasper, who is a partner and   former Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB), said the institute is making the industry more attractive to school-leavers and graduates by equipping them to work in the construction industry, while incentives for employers will also help encourage more youths into apprenticeships.

The organisation is now focusing on the Middle East with the much-anticipated pick-up in construction activity in Dubai. The company is opening an international office in Dubai to enable it export trained artisans, who can work abroad. The organisation equips youths with skills in masonry, carpentry, formwork, plumbing, tiling, scaffolding and plastering within a year.

“The young graduates will be trained on all aspects of carpentry, block-laying, plumbing and electrical on site. We are taking off with hands-on skills. That is why engineering is a key programme to us and we are ready to ensure that Nigerian graduates hone their skills early enough so that job opportunity will be available for them,”Gasper said, adding that training leads to quality workmanship, which means fewer lives are likely to be lost as a result of building collapse.

Gasper, a former Lagos Polytechnic rector, said that is why training is important because it imparts skills and positive behaviour. “For instance, when artisans are conversant with their roles on the construction site, they need minimal supervision, but will do a substantial amount of work.

“So, since training equips artisans with the requisite work ethics, the contractor will not have to worry about workers reporting to work late, materials disappearing from the site, or workers skipping work after being paid,” he said.

The project visioner and co-ordinator, Mr.  Gbola Oba said the construction industry is replenishing the housing stock, building new infrastructure and helping to restore the economy, but there are challenges whether it is to attract and retain a forward-looking workforce output.

Oba stressed the need for a dynamic industry that is alive to global market opportunities, international relations and the exporting of skills.

He said the company sees prospects in training artisans under global standard best practices and exporting them across the world.

According to him, such artisans must be trained to a level where they can work in places, such as Dubai with stringent key performance indicators and design-savvy occupiers, where  issues of efficiency and performance are  put into acute focus.

In terms of addressing poor public perceptions of construction workers, Oba stressed that it is high time  things were taken to the next stage by inculcating performance ethos that will promote the industry’s positive image.

To stand any chance of plugging the existing skills gaps, diversifying the workforce and securing a talent pipeline for the future, he said more young people need to be persuaded to pursue careers in construction industry.

With opening abroad, he said his organisation is broadening the appeal of construction to those who may never have considered it as a career.

A partner, Alhaji Lukman Guru said the group is still looking for young Nigerians which they will train to work at foreign construction sites.

The post Creating jobs for artisans, tradesmen in construction appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Piggery has continued to expand, creating new products and providing opportunities for people. There is, however, a move by stakeholders to encourage students explore such opportunities and promote campus entrepreneurship, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Biggery is expanding, creating new products for end-users and providing numerous economic opportunities. This is being driven by growing consumer awareness of the nutritional value of pork and increased income.

Piggery offers an opportunity for high quality meat and products. There are also vast work opportunities on and off the farm, which increase means of livelihoods for numerous people.

Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of The Porkies Family Hangout, which held in Lagos, Jotess Agro Chief Executive, Dr. Dapo Onadipe, said pig business has an immense growth potential and young Nigerians stand to benefit a great deal from participating in the pork market.

According to him, he has done much to promote piggery as a sustainable entrepreneurship through various means.

Some of the ways he has done this, is by encouraging students’ participation in piggery business, saying student-owned piggeries  have the potential to becoming game-changers for both the students and the public.

With pork meat being used  for  confectionaries and snacks, the stakeholders are ready to turn students pig farmers to job-creators, who can establish distribution channels thereby providing livelihoods and empower them to make money.

One of the co-ordinators of the Pork Show, Mr Femi Malomo, said pork business is gaining ground in the country. Pork meat, he said, is the most consumed animal protein around the globe. As the population increases with disposable income,  the competition to supply Nigerians with wholesome, safe pork, according to him, increases.

According to him, about N3 billion worth of pigs are exported from the country yearly.

Pig business, he said, is one of the highly valued and high-revenue generating business. With good and practical training, Malomo said small-scale farmers can adopt best practices that will guarantee good returns on investment.

To succeed in the business, he said new entrants need training on areas such as breeds; breeding; management; shed design; weather management; vaccination protocols; diseases and their prevention; value addition of pork; mycotoxins and economics of the business, among others.

Another pig farmer, Kola Osunsanmi, said Nigerian pork meat is produced to the very best standards of welfare, quality and safety and the sector is creating more jobs and opportunities for premium pork producers, who can guarantee quality from farm to fork.

He explained that piggery is a promising and stable source of generating income than poultry. According to him, the piggery business changed his socio-economic status within a short period. But it was not a smooth ride for him when he started managing the animals.

He started attending training programmes and was in regular touch with animal experts.

Apart from selling live piglets, he also supplies dressed pork for various social functions. At present, he is involved in the breeding of quality piglets.

He said since the piglets reared in his farm are improved ones, the demand is obviously high and orders are from different parties.

According to him, the maintaining piggery reqiures high skill and it’s labour intensive, noting that only farmers with good entrepreneurial skills can succeed in it.

According to him, would be farmers need training to acquire skills in farm management and entrepreneurship.

A member of the organising committee of the pork show, Mr Eniola Bamgbelu, said the  growing demand for pork has prompted farmers to go in for pig farming in a big way.

He explained that pig farming is a lucrative proposition for small and marginal farmers. According to him, there is tremendous potential for pig farmers, because the demand is huge.

The post Promoting campus entrepreneurship, jobs through piggery appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Leaders of startups and business incubation movements gathered in Lagos to discuss ways of using accelerators to boost youth-led enterprises’growth, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

The conference attracted incubation managers and startup growth coaches.

The business incubators and accelerators stakeholders forum on growing youth enterprises, which held in Lagos, addressed gaps inhibiting growth and development and proffered ways to  create job opportunities.

Passion Incubator founder, Olufunbi Falayi, said business incubators are platforms for economic development.He said his organisation is determined to provide a functional incubator that would boost entrepreneurship.

He said most entrepreneurs need help through fundraisers, or business pitching, while successful enterprises require infrastructural support, saying the challenge for most incubators is how to attract the right  enterprises to their programmes.

Falayi said the incubator must continually strive to produce more and more successful entrepreneurs, pointing out that this will require that they have a good pre-incubation set of support and robust selection.

He stressed the need for incubators and accelerators to adopt better approaches to increasing the numbers of new businesses.

West Africa Regional Chapter Coordinator at Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), Olatunji Ajani, said the   meeting was meant to provide specific insights into how incubators and accelerators are responding respond to youth enterprise development.

He said the network is interested on how the incubators and accelerators can support youth enterprise development, youth center development, accelerator and incubator processes for supporting innovation and business.

He stressed the need to build the eco system to help young people seek their knowledge and services to learn how to set up successful businesses.

He said the event was sponsored by Oxfam Nigeria and supported by Global Accelerator Learning Initiative (GALI). ‘’It is focused on how the incubators and accelerators in Nigeria are supporting youth own enterprises. The findings from the meeting and other desk research would be used to develop knowledge brief for the ecosystem and how youth can make the best of incubators and accelerators,’’ he added.

Executive Director, MindtheGap, Tayo Olosunde, said his organisation is running programmes to transform the youth from job seekers to job creators, and make them more relevant to the development of the medium and small enterprises.

He said incubators and accelerators are  an important component of the startup eco-system infrastructure that supports new business formation and growth. This type of infrastructure, he added, can advance business formation, create and retain jobs, commercialise technologies, and accelerate the delivery of new products and services to the marketplace.

Wennovation Hub co-founder,  Oluwole Odetayo,  said business incubators help to reduce the incidences of failure in early stage companies and this  results in the financial viability and growth of firms that it supports.

He said there are also evolving models of business incubators, offering services to entrepreneurs. This, according to him,   is particularly important as they have impact on economic growth through innovation and entrepreneurship.

He said accelerators offer impact enterprises support across their spectrum of needs as they seek to scale.

He said the economy needs incubators that can engage with early-stage businesses and help to turn startups into success stories. On the other hand, high-growth businesses are those that have a scalable business model and achieve significant short-term revenues and employment growth.

The post ‘How young innovators can grow’ appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Lagos State is set to undertake new investments to boost youth employment. In this interview with Daniel Essiet, Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti, gives an insight into government’s programmes aimed at reducing unemployment.

How is Lagos tackling  youth unemployment?

As you are aware, rapid urbanisation comes with its attendant problem of high youth unemployment. This is expected, Lagos being the commercial and economic nerve centre of Nigeria.  While the Lagos boasts of high potential for growth of small businesses, it battles the negative effect of development which is high youth unemployment.

Bearing this in mind, Governor Akinwumi Ambode on assumption of office, decided to set up the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment, first of its kind in the entire federation that will address these issues.

He reasoned that if the state is to grow small businesses, it must create an enabling environment for them to operate, with access to finance and market . When they grow, they will be able to employ more people.

On the other hand, a lot of youths have problems of employability skills. We have lots of unemployed graduates.

The question is, are they unemployed because there are not jobs? We need to look at the causes of under employment, to find out whether  the situation is structural, or are there jobs the people cannot fill?

What strategy have you adopted to address the problem?

Lots of government programmes have been created in the past to address this challenge. Right from Operation Feed the Nation (OFN), National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), these were all run by the government.

Taking a realistic view, we believe that government does not create jobs. Only the private sector can create jobs.

Consequently, we decided that the best strategy was to put in place an initiative to enable small businesses.

How did we do this?

The state government decided to set up the Employment Trust Fund.  The government allocated N6.25 billion every year to small and micro businesses as small loans. The loans range from N250, 000 to N5milion. The fund is easy to access but at the same time, there are eligibility criteria.

In the past, such funds were run by government. In this case, we are dealing with tax payers. In line with Governor Ambode policy of inclusion, the government decided that all the stakeholders affected in the ecosystem, the young entrepreneurs, the civil society organisations, gender groups, young people should be part of the machinery that will set the criteria and methodologies on how to  run the fund to get to the right people. Today, the fund is managed by nine people, out of them, only two of them are government officials, my self and the Commissioner for Finance.

The trust fund is being run independently by this group of eminent citizens of Lagos and Nigeria. That is why the programme is a success.

How about employability challenges?

We examined three layers of those that are unemployed.  In our study of the factors that have led to low employability skills, we discovered  that there are jobs that our youths lack the orientation to contest for them.

From my experience, some of the youths don’t know where the jobs are. Then, there is the issue of  cognitive skills’ building institutions.

The challenge is that the youths are not exploring those institutions that can help them build their cognitive skills. We are talking about groups and social institutions, such a Boys Scout, Girls Guild, Red Cross andDebating societies.

All these groups are vital in building employability skills. These days ,we don’t have active extra curriculum activities in schools. These  activities go a long way in helpling youths to build  employability skills.

We discovered also among youths that the spirit of volunteerism is no longer there. When you volunteer, you are learning something.

A young graduate lawyer will leave school with the mindset of getting a job with an established law firm. With the situation in the economy, he might stay home for three years without getting his dream job.

Rather than stay home without a job, it will pay him to volunteer with a legal firm. If he continues to stay home, he will become rusty.

If he decides to volunteer with a legal firm, he will not only learn something, he will be considered when there is a vacancy within the firm. He may not earn a salary, but he gains experience.

We are trying to reorient our youths about volunteerism, to go out and volunteer if they want to get jobs.

 What about school leavers?

We also have school leavers who couldn’t advance because of family financial difficulties.

How do we address it?

There are two things we are trying to achieve through the school system. While in school, we want the system to produce students who can be employed or can become entrepreneurs.

They can come out to work for people or set up their businesses. We are going back to schools to   campaign to inculcate entrepreneurship skills in students.

That is why we are working with Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB) to create youth entrepreneurs clubs in technical and vocational colleges in the state.

How do they get  the jobs they are trained for ?

That is why we are reaching out to private organisations that  know the industry skills’ needs. We have reached out to companies such as General Electric, Sterling Bank and quite a number of others.

We sat down with them and say, let us work together and solve the problem because it affects all of us.The responses have been good and gradual. Of course we are expecting more. The important thing is that we are involving the private sector.

The private sector knows the kind of skills they need.

We have also reached out to international development partners ,such as Ford Foundation, Mercy Corps and the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP). We work with them on our problems. We know our problems. We seek for areas of synergy.

What about the informal sector?

At  the informal sector, we have artisans and trade associations. We have welders, mechanics, painters and others. All these are jobs. They are part of small businesses.They can also access the ETF and grow their businesses.

We keep saying that Togolese and artisans from neighbouring countries are stealing our jobs. Do we know our artisans are now doing better. To address this, we have  created a compendium of registered artisans and tradesmen. The compendium provides details on 20,000 registered  artisans.

Every artisan on the compendium has a unique identification number, and an identity card. Apart from these, the artisan will be given a unique ATM card that is linked with Ibile Micro Finance Bank for loans. The other benefits is access to the state’s health insurance scheme.Those on compendium will be listed on the market place  where they can advertise their businesses.

The post ‘Tackling youth unemployment key to improving our economy’ appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Ten (10) tech start up with viable businesses will be enjoying business support services and anothor 20 female techprenuers will be enjoying soft loan going into the new year, this, The Generation Next Youth Empowerment Summit (TGNYES) has facilitated.

These beneficiaries emerged from the 2017 edition of TGNYES held recently in Abuja which had over 1000 Niagerian youths drawn from the six geopolitical Zones of the country in attendance.

The Summit, an initiative of Elbativeni Foundation and Elbativeni Impressions and Consult also had in attendance angel investors, business developers, notable dignitaries with motivational speakers including, His Excellency, Ambassador Leopoldo Rovayo Verdesoto, of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of  Ecuador to Nigeria, and Nigerian Communications Commission’s Executive Vice Chairman’s (EVC) Senior representative, Ms Olawaiye Olasumbo.

Others were: MD of Nanet group, Mr Ini Akpabio; Nigeria’s Former Minister of information, Mr Frank Nweke Jnr.; CEO of Elbativeni Foundation and Elbativeni Impresions and Consult, Ms Destiny Ruth Obiakoeze; CEO of O&S Services, Mr Oba Boniface, CEO of Media Range Ltd, Mr Hassan Abdul; Flex NG’s Mr Kabir Bayo Shittu; Ocean Hill’s Mr Chinonso Opurum; Speaker Arnold Pms Arnold Ayomide Afolayan amongst others.

The Project’s mission to build youth leaders and empower them with right resources, world class speakers, job opportunities, grants, loan facilities, entrepreneurship ideas and available physical gifts and tools to enhance their lives.

According to the Nigeria’s former minister of information, Mr Frank Nweke Jr. who was ‘Success Icon’ for the forum appreciated the the organisers as partners in Nigeria’s development and emphasized that “I say this because more often than not, we find many people who believe that they have no role to play in national development. So when I meet young people like Destiny and her team who envision this kind of empowerment programmes and it has encouraged others on what must be  done; one must duff his hats, one must respect them. So I pay my due respect to them”.

He spurred on participants to ask themselves hard questions and stressed on the need for passion and drive and the desire to push against all odds noting that he had faced challenges over the course of 7 years, implementing an idea that would employ over 15000 people.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Ecuador to Nigeria, H.E Leopoldo R Verdesoto shared varied experiences both as a diplomat, professionally and personally.

According to him, “I have served abroad in three different places, all of them nice from my point of view but they were considered not easy. One of the fact that I carry my career and I am very proud of it is some people didn’t want to go to the places that they had offered me to go but I say okay because for me, it’s a privilege to serve my country and I go! No Wahala on it”

The Managing Director of Nanet Group and Nanet Hotels, Mr Ini Akpabio, success Icon of the maiden edition and patron of the Summit spoke on “The roles of youths in a united Nigeria”. He raised salient issues of unity stressing that Nigeria had lots of things threatening to divide her.

Speaking on some of the take home for youths at the Summit Mr Ini Akpabio said “The Youths are very powerful so the first thing they must do is to recognize their power. The youths don’t know how powerful they are. In exercising their power, they will be able to make changes. The changes I have been advocating are those that can be embedded in our constitution. We should have a percentage set aside…maybe like 25%, and say that at all levels of governance, that 25% must go to the youths; defined as people between the ages of 15 to 35.

Earlier in her welcome address, the CEO of Elbativeni Foundation and Elbativeni Impressions And Consult the hosting organizations of the youth Summit, Ms Destiny Ruth Obiakoeze, explained that the youth Summit was to bring people of different sectors and proffer ideas and actions capable of helping the young people move forward.

Nigerian Communication Commission’s Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) who was represented by the Principal Manager in the public affairs department, Ms Olasumbo Olawaiye said that since the youths make up a huge percentage of the telecom consumers ‘the Generation Next Youth Empowerment Summit’ was indeed a great platform to enlighten them on the various telecom issues.

The Commission had earlier in March 2017 flagged off the ‘year of the Telecom Consumer Campaign’ focused on the needs and satisfaction of the Nigerian Telecom Consumer of which part of its purpose is to inform and educate the consumer with the sole intent of protecting and empowering them to make the right decisions and from unfair practices of network operators.

In a session on Brand Power, the CEO of Media Range Ltd, Mr Hassan Abdul taught that there were series of things that were important to becoming more marketable as personal and business brands and it is indeed important to increase performances in them. Attributes that differentiate individuals and business in the industry must be developed and improved.

According Mr Hassan Abdul, Personal branding can accelerate communications strategy, ease career transitions, increases long term career and business objectives as well as expected outcomes.

He spoke on the essence of communications and branding to individuals and business and how to leverage its capacities in life and business.

Mr. Peter Oluka, IT Correspondent with the Nigerian Communications Week  coordinated the ‘opportunities Panel‘  with CEO of MicroFlex,-Mr  Kabil Shittu; CoFounder of Ocean Hill, Mr Nonso Oprum; Representative of Elbativeni Foundation, Ms Biodun Ogundipe where opportunities for soft loans, Business support services and ICT Training for women were offered participants.

The last session was the Google Digital Skills for Africa session facilitated by the CEO of the hosting company and foundation- Elbativeni Impressions and Consult and Elbativeni Foundation., Ms Destiny Ruth Obiakoeze.

Some of the other success stories from the forum was free admission for participants at the summit, exposure to world class resources, facilitators and renowned motivational speakers.

The post TGNYES 2017: Nigerian Youths Enlighten on Innovation, Entrepreneurship appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

In 2017, it was a harvest of international funds for Nigerian start-ups from donors, business angels and venture capitalists, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

The year 2017 was eventful for the Nigerian small business sector. The sector emerged as one of the hottest for investors.  Leading venture capital firms evaluated several start-ups.  Many  secured seed funding in Africa and attracted increased international support. The space saw significant investment of over $ 200 million spread across small businesses and projects. The general trend was that the seed/angel rounds got bigger.

During the year, many startups get more than $ 50,000 investment.

Three Nigerian tech start-ups received $8.35m in seed capital from local and foreign investors: Wi-Fi provider Tzeti ($2.1m), e-commerce start-up Cars45 $5m and Fintech firm Lydia ($1.25m).

Fntech startup Lydia is a financial services platform, which grants individuals and African businesses access to small loans, using credit scoring algorithms.

Another start up, online travel agency, Travel beta raised $2 million seed funding from a group of Nigerian Investors barely six weeks after the company was launched on October 1.

Three Nigerian start-ups secured $450,000 funding from 500 Startups. The tech start-ups, which include Mail Haven, Mobile Forms and Fyodor Biotechnologies,  were part of the 36 companies drawn from across the world.

Last year, Coding School Andela in October secured $40million funding from investors  such as  CRE VC, Salesforce Ventures, DBL Partners, etc, to fund an aggressive expansion across Africa, taking its total venture funding to over $80 million. Andela, builds high-performing engineering teams with Africa’s most talented software developers.

A payments startup, Flutter wave, also secured funding of $10 million.

Digital and crowd-funded agriculture platform, FarmCrowdy announced raising $1m seed fund, barely a year after it launched, from Techstars and other international investors.

FarmCrowdy was the first and only African startup to be shortlisted into Techstars Atlanta’s accelerator programme in August. The seed fund will allow the award-winning startup to scale its operations with plans to expand to combined 20 states, work with 4,000 additional small-scale farmers and engage a combined 20,000 new farm followers and farm sponsors on its platform to learn about the opportunities in agriculture and partner farmers.

Former Minister of Communication Technology, Dr Omobola Johnson announced TLcom Capital’s $40m seed fund for African tech startups. Mrs   Johnson is the Lead General Partner for TLcom in Lagos.

Founded in 1999, TLcom Capital has invested in targeted businesses, which address technological issues in either large established global markets, or in the development of emerging markets with the potential for a global scale.

During the year, former country Manager of Starta, Yele Bademosi established Microtraction to invest early in the most remarkable technical founders as well as provide support to build world-class startups.

Microtraction commited $65,000 at two different stages to recipient startups, an initial tranche of $15,000 for 7.5 per cent equity stake, followed by an extra $50,000 (convertible note) at a $1 million valuation cap for companies that showed significant progress.

Also, a venture capital firm, LoftyInc Capital Management announced the close of its Afropreneur Fund 1 and the launch of a new $25 million Afropreneur Fund II. LoftyInc Capital said the new fund will focus on early-stage enterprises that leverage technologies to create social impact and tackle big problems. The launch of the new fund was announced at Africa Diaspora Network’s Annual Investment Symposium in Silicon Valley.

“The key goal of the Afropreneur Funds is to leverage these investments for social impact, contributing as much to social change and impact as to the bottom-line, lifting millions out of poverty, illiteracy, sickness and unemployment,” the firm said. LoftyInc Capital Management (LCM) is an initiative of Idris Bello and partners.

During the year also, Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) brought valuable experience and network apart from the financial support to the start-up community. MEST, a not-for-profit organisation that invests in and trains African Entrepreneurs, with the aim to create next tech entrepreneurs and provide jobs for the continent, provides funding, space and expertise.

It also powers a cluster of innovation networks for startups in Lagos. Headquartered in Accra, Ghana, MEST has invested $20 million since opening its doors in 2008 to aspiring African entrepreneurs and has gone to recruit talents from not only Ghana, but Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Cote D’ivoire.

$1 million venture

capital fund

The Federal Government  through the Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed, established a  $1 million venture capital to boost the creative Industry.

He announced this in Lagos at the opening of a two-day Creative Industry Financing Conference, saying 20 individuals, each investing $50,000, are expected to help make up the required amount. So far, he said, five people had volunteered to invest $50,000 each and expressed the optimism that more investors would come forward.

The Venture Capital, according to him, would provide seed money for young and talented Nigerians to set up businesses in the creative industry. He said Nigeria’s creative industry needs to be taken into a golden era of smooth access to short and long term financing.

Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF)

New set of 1, 438 beneficiaries of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) received cheques totaling N924.7 million from Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

The governor, who presented the cheques to the beneficiaries at the blue roof Lagos Television (LTV) Agidingbi, said the initiative was geared towards providing funds for entrepreneurs, artisans and traders among others, to help boost their business and tackle unemployment challenges in the state.

The governor in January had presented cheques totaling about N1 billion to 705 beneficiaries, who were selected after scaling through a transparent screening process in the pilot phase.

Growing interest

in Nigeria

To experts, the Nigerian startup ecosystem has definitely taken off. It has been driven by increased international funding,   evolving technology space and a burgeoning demand within the domestic market.

Lagos State Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti said the state is building an ecosystem with significant improvements in ease of doing business, liberalisation in taxation policies and simplification of regulatory procedures.

He reiterated that Lagos’s economic future lay in encouraging startups, which will bring dynamism, new thinking and create jobs for the economy.

Growing interest in Nigeria globally has led to foreign companies and funds such as Alibaba (China), showing interest in   new generation entrepreneurs. The  Global Startup Ecosystem Report and Ranking 2017, produced by Startup Genome in collaboration with the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), noted  that at $2 billion, the Lagos startup ecosystem is the most valuable in Africa continent, but only second after Cape Town in terms of the number of startups.

The study said Lagos ecosystem has the ninth highest rate of founders with an undergraduate degree at 59 per cent, while 93 per cent of them have a technical background, the third highest rate in the world.

However, Lagos startups have one of the lowest rates of foreign customers, suggesting challenges to going global. Only 11 per cent of startups plan to go global.

“While Nigeria is busy adding six million new internet users every year, the feverish entrepreneurial energy of Lagos and its estimated 400-700 active startups stayed consistent by providing them with useful new technologies,” the report said.

The post Nigeria start-ups hot for investors appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Following the increasing rejection of agro exports, the  International Trade Centre (ITC) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) held a train-the-trainer workshop to improve packaging capacity of enterprises accessing the global market. Nigeria was represented. 

Capacity building for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to access the export market has increased in recent times.

This is because so many small businesses have become the main driver of national growth through exports.

According to analysts, these enterprises account for 50 per cent of the total exports and create jobs for 60 per cent of the population.

Although playing such an important role in the economy, SMEs face many difficulties, including rejections of their exports in the international market.

That is why the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the International Trade Centre are making efforts to help SMEs access markets and deepen engagement in global value chains.

One of the capacity building fora on Trainers in Packaging held in   Dares salaam, Tanzania.

Consultants, who   represented Nigeria at the event, included Executive Secretary, Institute of Export Operations and Management, Mr. Ofon Udofia; Mr. Alalekan Paul Akande, Institute of Export Operations and Management and  Managing Director, De-Praimmerc Consulting Limited, Mr. Kayode Oluwafemi.

Speaking on the training, Udofia said 25 experts from six countries participated at the forum. They included Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Rwanda and Zambia.

According to him, the training’s aim was  to build capacity of trainers to provide guidance to agro-food actors, governments and other stakeholders on appropriate food packaging.

Significantly, he said, the content of the training was built around packaging standards, materials, branding and labelling, quantity and weights, quality of products, barcoding, food contamination and preservations.

On the benefits of the workshop to Nigeria, Udofia said:” In most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, poor packaging is one of the main reasons local food products cannot compete favorably with imported ones.  Improving packaging of Small and Medium Agro-Enterprises (SMAEs) will contribute to strengthen the entire food supply chain, improve the competitiveness of SMAEs and benefit all food chain actors and consumers. This initiative will also support the government’s efforts in diversifying the economy from oil to non-oil based economy.”

He added: “The mission of the team that represented Nigeria at the workshop is to put an end to rejection of products, a case of our yam rejection was discussed.”

During the workshop an Intra-Africa Trade Promotion Mission campaign to promote trades among Africa countries was inaugurated.

The Nigeria Institute of Export Operations and Management Executive Secretary was elected the First President of the mission, while Mr. Oluwafemi Kayode was appointed country coordinator.

Over the years, ITC has trained a number of packaging experts in several African countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda.

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The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, says  Federal Government will use certificated skill acquisition to fight unemployment and idleness among Nigerian youths.

Ngige said this at the palace of Igwe Chukwuemeka Ilouno, Traditional Ruler of Ifitedunu Community of Anambra State.

Ngige was in the palace to receive documents for 3,000 square metres land for building a Specialised Skill Acquisition  project in the community.

He said the edifice to be built by the Federal Government would have hostels and offer skill courses with certification in levels one, two and three.He said the project would be a replica of the London City and Guild Academy.The minister noted that the project would be established in each state under the same model.

Ngige said the first phase of the project, which included skill laboratories, auditorium, water and security facilities, would be delivered in three months.

He also said the second phase of the programme would commence immediately, since the project had been captured in this year’s  appropriation bill.

“The Federal Government is looking inward by encouraging specialisation on jobs such as carpentry, bricklaying, tiling, fashion designing, make-up and bead making and interior decoration among others.

“This is to help redeem our youths from joblessness, occasioned by lack of white collar jobs.

“There are no white collar jobs any longer. If you are waiting for one, you will wait for a long time.

“People are now finding employment in the blue collar jobs, and it is even more profitable.

“How many of you are aware that the daily pays for carpenters and other artisans have increased?

“In Abuja they collect as high as N10, 000 per day’s job. If they get these per day jobs even if it is only five times in a month, do you know how much that is?

“How many white collar jobs pay that much in a month,’’ Ngige asked.

He also urged religious and traditional leaders as well as parents to strengthen the moral capacity of the young ones.

According to him, such steps will ensure that the youths are not idle and bereft of positive ideas.

The Deputy Governor of Anambra, Dr Nkem Okeke, expressed delight at the Federal Government’s decision to use the community as a pilot site for such a laudable programme.

Okeke assured the minister that the state was prepared to assist in any other way to ensure that the project was completed as planned.

“Anambra S         tate government will give its maximum co-operation to this project in order for the residents of the state to reap its benefits,’’ he said.

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An exciting time lies  ahead for young Nigerian innovators and entrepreneurs with  big and bold business ideas   this year. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Nigeria is set  to celebrate entrepreneurship, innovation and disruption across the small and medium enterprises and technical space. This is because the nation is going to witness enterprising entrepreneurs, technologists, company builders and investors that will promote ventures of all sizes from startups to enterprises.

Passion Incubator( PI) co founder  Olufunbi Falayi is an innovator to watch. He is determined to help Nigerian entrepreneurs turn their visions into reality with the aid of technology, which has shaped virtually every sector: banking, healthcare, transportation, education, agriculture . PI is a technology startup incubator, in Lagos, that  helps early stage founders validate their startup ideas and refine their business model.

With innovation hubs, having become a mainstay of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, analysts expect some of the  best minds to shine a spotlight on Nigerian tech innovation excellence. They  expect  young innovators and entrepreneurs, to come out from  Co-Creation Hub (CcHub), to  provide  solutions that will  help to change the lives of Nigerians.  In line with this, Facebook will open a “community hub space”  this  year to encourage software developers and technology entrepreneurs. The centre would host an “incubator programme” to help develop technology start-ups, while it will also train 50,000 Nigerians in digital skills. CcHub is billed to play a major role in the project.Last year, CcHub made two moves in May to tap talent and investment abroad. The Lagos-based innovation space launched its Diaspora Challenge in London: a programme that offers up to $250,000 and nine  months of mentorship to startup ventures run by Africans living in the United Kingdom(UK), United States(US) and Europe.

CcHub operates  its Next Economy accelerator programme and Growth Capital fund, which take equity in early-stage startups while offering business support. The programme is open to businesses in three categories -¯education, fintech, and energy¯with a criterion that their startups “solve a clear problem that affects a large number of people in Africa. An  innovator to watch is Hanson Johnson. He  is Akwa Ibom’s foremost tech entrepreneur and CEO of Start Innovation Hub. The  tech focused hub is based in Uyo. Aimed at stimulating economic growth in the local community, the hub helps tech startups by providing workspaces, internet and power. They also provide seed funding, mentoring and access to business expertise. His efforts have helped place Uyo in the spotlight as an emerging tech city.

Other  analysts are  expecting  forward-thinking individuals and startup  to  push the boundaries in everything from e-retailing,  agri tech, e-travel, e-education, business incubation , fintech to security and cloud technology.

E-Commerce Sector

For stakeholders, the year is going to be an eventful one with more Nigerians  focusing on building their own online stores.  E-commerce is already a thriving industry in Nigeria, especially, Lagos.

Online platforms such as Jumia, Konga, Yudala, Payporte,Kara, Fashpa, Gloo.ng; OLX; Wakanow, will  push for Internet  customers this year. Despite shrinking purchasing power, retail sales still  sustain the big players while the new entrants  continue to struggle.

Like the Managing Director, CEO  PayPorte Global Systems, Eyo Bassey Francis, noted, the challenge is finding ways to encourage more  Nigerians to make more online transactions with innovative solutions to boost  online sales, through  trouble-free deliveries and returns.

A  lot of  young entrepreneurs are  building  and hosting  online stores . There are now  platforms that enable  e-commerce companies and marketplaces to sell to consumers in international markets. Yenne-eMarket, an online trading platform, founded  by  Akan Don Udom, connects buyers and sellers of old and new products and services is a  platform to watch. It was started in 2016, after he resigned from a teaching job, as an errand running service. Currently, it still offers domestic and cooperate errand services such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, babysitting, package delivery among others.The platform connects people with  international admission and flights agents who help people with flight bookings, visa processing, hotel bookings and local logistics for travelers. So many online groups will emerge this year, offering a commodities’ marketplace that connects farmers with customers. Between 2015 and last year, many young entrepreneurs  have  established online platforms which offer to save consumers trips to markets by delivering to their doorsteps  farm produce and food stuff. The platforms operate both web and mobile-based supply platform for customers to order supplies such as vegetables, groceries  and confectioneries.  Specific websites and platforms  will  provide   fertiliser, improved seedlings, agro-chemicals, extension, advisory and disease early warning..

Hotels.ng

Hotels.ng founder Mark Essien is an entrepreneur to watch.  Hotels.ng, raised $1.2 million to expand across Africa. Investors include EchoVC Pan-Africa Fund and Omidyar Network.

Users performed more than a million hotel searches on the site last year, while 70,000 new customers signed up. Hotels.ng’s growth in its home market hinges on two factors: Nigeria’s Internet penetration rate, which is the highest in Africa and still increasing rapidly, and the government’s investment in its tourism industry, which is expected to contribute 5.8 percent of its gross domestic product by 2024.

Uber alternatives

Transportation might be a pain in Nigeria. but it is also a business opportunity. Poor coordination  and the deteriorating state of the sector is promoting  private sector  competitiveness in the bid to provide solutions  and  attracting  new businesses. Last year was really challenging  for  Uber,  with rival  service, Taxify, headquartered in Estonia, trying to get  a large chunk of the market  with  its services through  smarter products. The two may remain the major players; however, many transport sub sector specific applications and platforms will be inaugurated with a focus on hard to reach locations.

Online farmers market

There is an array of startups that are expected to do great  things this year.

For instance, Farmcrowdy, a digital  agric platform,having raised $1 million from investors including Techstars, Cox Ventures and Social Capital, will  bring more small scale Nigerian farmers to a broader market . One of the latest entrants is Grain Capitals, a digital platform that gives opportunity to investors  to invest in grain storage.With support from African Development Bank and others, watchers expect the  food ecosystem to receive  a lot of venture funding flowing into the area.

ThriveAgric

ThriveAgric acts more like a middleman servicing farmers and individuals interested in investing in farming.For individuals, it allows easy and insured investment with a promise of 23% ROI in less than a year. While farmers get access to the funding needed to embark on their farming operations.

Since inception last year, Thrive Agric has made notable achievements. The startup claims to have sold out more than 200 hectares of farmland, which is not up to a fraction of the 80 million hectares of arable land Nigeria is blessed with. Also, it was admitted as part of Ventures Platform’s second cohort, which got it $20,000 in funding.

Fintech

The lifeblood of the nation’s   emerging and growing  digital marketplace is the presence of  mobile payment solutions that are instant, seamless and  secure. This  has led to the emergence  of payment solutions that  enable seamless payment experience between marketplaces, sellers and buyers. So many fintech companies have birthed, including , Startcredits.com, to provide   online loan marketplace for  entrepreneurs to fund their  start-ups, promoting financial inclusion in the bid to fix the access to credit problems. A fintech  to watch  is Social Lender, a  digital   lending solution based on social reputation on mobile, online and social media platforms.  Social Lender is designed to bridge the gap of immediate fund access for people with limited access to formal credit. Social Lender uses its own proprietary algorithm to perform a social audit of the user on social media, online and other related platforms. Loans are guaranteed by the user’s social profile and network allowing users to then borrow from banks and other financial institutions based on their social reputation.

One area innovations are expected is in mobile payments with more digital payment platforms growing out of the  challenge of  United States online payment provider, PayPal, not allowing Nigerians to withdraw money from its platform.

Flutterwave, a payments platform is  making  it easier for banks and businesses to process payments across Africa. U.S. investors  have  invested  $10 million into it. Flutterwave is backed by an impressive collection of VCs: Omidyar Network, Social Capital, Greycroft, Khosla, Green Visor and more.

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Interest in fitness is growing.Young entrepreneurs are using innovative new business models to turn their passion into thriving brands. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Hassan Balogun’s love for fitness began few years ago. Last year, he and his partner, Buhari Jjemilu, started Fitness Montagne.

He said: “We started the company as students last year before graduating from studying Architecture at Oduduwa University, Ile-Ife.

“I used to take up little jobs which, including ushering, security, activation and making and selling of framed pictures.”

Balogun said Fitness Montagne started as a fitness page on Instagram to showcase the experts in the fitness world. Later they posted fitness tips and workout routines, before turning it into a business page where they engaged in online training.

“We got messages from potential clients asking about the training fees and after the enquiries, we don’t hear from them anymore. I later got to know that most of the youth who were interested were handicapped by funds and couldn’t register,” he said.

Balogun had to make the online training free, but he couldn’t continue after a while because he found it difficult to raise funds for data subscription.

He disclosed: “At the point the online training became free. I had to ask for money from my mum to subscribe on time, so I could attend to clients. Later I stopped because it was too hard to sustain.”

As the health and wellness programme continues to gain popularity, the fitness boot camp was added. To Balogun, it filled a large void in the industry— a comfortable place to exercise and become healthy.

The first boot camp was a success. Many participants were satisfied with the camp’s services, which included tips on healthy foods, exercises, self-defence, dance, fun games and diet talk and creating an atmosphere where like-minded women and men can come together, build confidence and inspire one another through fitness.

He thanked officials of the Lagos State Public Service, who sponsored the event.

He announced that another camp would hold at the jjt Park, Alausa, Lagos on February 24. It is expected to attract dignitaries, such as Chairman, Lagos State House Committee on Health Services, Hon. Olusegun Olulade and House of Assembly member from Badagry1, Hon. Alayonde Ibrahim Olanrewaju.

Balogun added that the camp would be unique as more exercises had been included.

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The Computer And Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN) has called on the Minister of Communications, Alhaji Adebayo Shittu, to facilitate the training of technicians abroad.

CAPDAN’s President, Mr Ojikutu Adeniyi made the call during the working and courtesy visit of the Minister to CAPDAN’s office and the Computer Village business community.

Adeniyi said that the training would make the technicians in Computer Village attain international standard in the execution of their works.

He appealed to the ministry to collaborate with CAPDAN to build incubation centres for more training of the technicians.

According to him, the ministry needs to include in its programme recognition for the informal sector like the Computer Village.

“We need to drive content in the ICT sector so as to develop more Made in Nigeria products.

“The ministry should help us facilitate provision of free broadband in Computer Village, through Nigeria Satellite which is under the ministry.

“We are also requesting for fund for ICT research, to develop Nigeria-based software,” he said.

Adeniyi said the Computer Village was a large gathering of hardworking, young and old Nigerians who were driven by passion for trade and technology development.

He said that Computer Village had successfully grown the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector in Nigeria for the past 20 years.

According to him, the hub has the large number of graduate and it contributes immensely to job creation, technical skills acquisition and entrepreneurship development in Nigeria.

“Computer Village has over N1.5 billion turn over everyday online and offline and 3,500 small businesses with brick and mortal.

“Our hub is referred to as the hardware capital of Africa, based on the qualities of hardware solutions we provide,” he said.

Responding, Shittu said that the ministry was aware of the valuable contributions the hub was making toward creating awareness in ICT and Telecommunications to Nigerians.

He said the ministry would do all within its power to ensure local production of computer and telecommunications devices, so that Nigeria would not continue to remain a dumping ground.

According to him, incubation centres are being established annually in many zones and states of the country.

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