Founder &Chief Executive, Ginger Box, Adekunle Jinadu, is a computer expert turned food tech entrepreneur.He has created an online platform for Nigerians to discover delicious food, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Founder & Chief Executive,Ginger Box, Adekunle Jinadu, is an entrepreneur by choice.

He is a serial entrepreneur with random business ideas that never stop.

He doesn’t have culinary backgrounds, but he knows how to get a startup off the ground.

After graduating from Covenant University, in Computer Science in 2007, he took up appointment as a service engineer with Ericsson Nigeria.

Demonstrating great skills and dexterity, he was promoted technical consultant, Revenue Assurance / Data Analytics and Migration and was involved in the MTN Revenue Assurance project. He was performing diverse assignments.

His love for computer work turned into a big time responsibility while making big time money.

But he was a visionary, always imagining how he is running a multi-million naira business.

He was still a teenager when he realised that he had the talent and skills to be a successful businessman.

His success all started with his affection for good food. He thought about fresh food delivery business. Eventually, he founded   Ginger Box, out of the   vision to establish an online marketplace that connects eaters with the nation’s fresh food.

Starting Ginger Box took some vibrant startup energy to inject it into Lagos  food scene. He didn’t have any background in nutrition or the sale of fruit and vegetables. However, he had founded Jaramall, a daily needs online shop that was selling everything from cleaning supplies to packed food and fresh farm produce.

Gingerbox, which was formally known as Jaramall.com,  delivers foods  such as  fruits and, vegetables as well as chicken, to consumers at their offices or homes.

According to Jinadu, Gingerbox was created to help people deal with the challenge of buying affordable healthy food items.

Organisations sign up to receive fresh fruit boxes. There are a number to choose from. Once the selection is made and confirmed, it is delivered promptly. The business  isn’t delivering to individuals at this point in time but to corporates only.

Today, Ginger Box is a success story. They are explorers of food and  on a mission to discover all things delicious and fresh. The care and craftsmanship that go into transporting the food after order, bring in them great inspiration.

Added to this, special care is taken right from preparing, packaging and   transportation after order to ensure the customer enjoy freshness, quality to create a unique and memorable food experience.

To use the service, customers visit the platform, select the items they want and  the company packs it and delivers it to the office address using its refrigerated van.

His organisation works with a number of high-profile customers with a presence in Lagos metropolis.

Jinadu  said  he is on a mission to make  food  services more flexible and cost-effective for businesses and individuals. So far, the business has grown.The demand for fresh  produce is increasing  and  people want great food delivered.

Getting the demand has been easy but developing the technology to handle logistics has been very challenging. At the moment they are Lagos-based.

Notwithstanding, they are working on super-fast delivery. The focus remains on bringing customers an even better selection of on-demand produce, delivered as fast as possible.

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The Innovative Entrepreneurs Network (iVEN), a network of entrepreneurs says it is set to effect digital transformation to support business owners explore opportunities provided by the online market place.

Event Director, Dr. Rebecca Olofin noted that thebusiness sector has seen a rapid growth especially with the adoption of new technologies which are making it more reachable and efficient.

According to her, digital business transformation is generating new prospects across every industry and it was a critical challenge for businesses without  robust infrastructure to attain business efficiencies.

To this end, iVEN is bringing all online  services to the smartphone to effect the massive digital transformation and  to put business  processes on auto pilot mode for maximum efficiency and transparency.

For any business owner, Dr.  Olofin  said digital strategy holds the key to achieving  success.

These include digital marketing activities  such as  content marketing, search engine optimisation (SEO), social media, email marketing among others.

iVEN, according to her, aimed to strengthen the entrepreneurship ecosystem and foster high growth enterprises.

She added that her organisation wants to help entrepreneurs take advantage of digital strength, by using online messages to convert their online audience into higher paying customers.

Consequently, iVEN is hosting client attraction and conversion summit traffic on  October 17. The programme is billed for  Four Point Sheraton Hotel, Lekki, Lagos.

The event, according to her, is an opportunity for business owners to network and listen to some of the industry’s experts as well as to get new ideas and advice on overcoming digital marketing challenges.

The programme, she explained, would help business owners use the newfound inspiration to help develop their own businesses and achieve greater success.

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Start-ups show promise at maiden founders’ conference in Lagos, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

The kickoff of the inaugural Founders Conference in Lagos, gathered 250 innovative startups. The event was attended by key stakeholders in the entrepreneurship ecosystem– policy makers, international development organisations, angel investors and successful entrepreneurs.

The panelists included the founder, Wecyclers, Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola; founder, SmartBCamp, John Obidi  and founder, Printivo.com, OluyomiOjo.

In his welcome address, the Chief Executive, Venture Starter Nigeria, Bunmi Jembola said the forum was meant to bring together venture capitalists and startups looking to present business ideas.

Jembola, who is also the convener, Founders Conference, said the platform  was created for young local entrepreneurs to get an opportunity to voice their ideas and link them to expert partners for guidance.

He  stressed the need for young people to create jobs and business opportunities for themselves by developing solutions that would address the nation’s problems.

He said his organisation received over  1000 applications from prospective business founders out of which 250 were chosen.

During the event, shortlisted entrepreneurs pitched business ideas before the audience.

Selected entrepreneurs got four minutes to pitch ideas and another session to get feedback on their performance from the judges.

Several business ideas were pitched, including online marketplaces, a text message-based support network and a platform for cheaper online education. They also represented logistics, agriculture technology, retail, and media technology. The startups drew enthusiastic applause when they detailed their services, strategies to secure customers and solid user bases.

The founder of TechSmart.ng, Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata said the economy has a place for innovators that are ready to solve issues.

According to him, tech entrepreneurs can do a lot to make Nigeria a Silicon Valley with indigenous solutions that consider the peculiarities of the nation’s economic challenges.

He encouraged young innovators to come forward with ideas to tackle emerging challenges, adding that the forum will provide them the opportunity to help the start up to receive help and advice from the judges.

He believed advice and support from the panel of successful entrepreneurs will offer the applicants a boost to their startups.

Academic Director, Owner-Manager Programme, Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, Dr Henrietta Onwuegbuzie said entrepreneurship plays a critical role in tackling youth unemployment and catalysing economic recovery and development.

For this reason, she called for significant investments in entrepreneurship.

She urged the young people to “dream big dreams,” and create synergies and partnerships that will generate income for their communities and employment for others.

Dr Onwuegbuzie noted that through Pan-Atlantic University  training, LBS seeks to promote entrepreneurship, self-employment and increase the number of youth-owned and -managed businesses.

She said LBS has delivered the much needed support to thousands of entrepreneurs and build an effective network supporting entrepreneurs.

She reiterated the readiness of the school to help train budding entrepreneurs to promote business and economic sustainability.

Founder, SmartBCamp, John Obidi urged the entrepreneurs to acquire essential knowledge and skills required to start and run a successful, sustainable business.

According to him, the quality of pitches, proved the capacities of young Nigerians to focus their efforts to develop creative and innovative solutions.

Some of the works, according to him, represent examples of the high calibre of innovative, game-changing businesses and the ability of young Nigerians to create smart solutions to help meet the demands of the future.

During this event, promising entrepreneurs were  able to get real guidance and support by simply presenting an idea.

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With export opportunities opening globally, a Lagos- based entrepreneur, Gordon Ogoro, is mounting a campaign to get more agri-entrepreneurs explore foreign markets and earn foreign exchange.

Exporting is a key route to strong and sustainable growth in the farming and food sector.

Improved export growth, according to a Lagos- based entrepreneur, Gordon Ogoro, can deliver tangible results to assist in unlocking the nation’s agricultural potential for economic growth and food security.

Ogoro who is the Chief Executive, Ufoma Exports/Imports Agencies Limited,said markets are openings  to export fruit and vegetables.  These include popular foods such as okra,  peppers, mangoes, green beans, melons, tropical products and oil seeds such as sesame, cashew and cocoa.   He operates an export agent.  He  has helped many Nigerians carry out successful export business  which resulted in good profits.

Ogoro provides assistance to enable Nigerians comply with  documentations to export fresh fruit and vegetables to Europe and the United States. Ogoro wants to work with groups to guide them toward successful horticultural entrepreneurship. He is ready to partner and encourage budding entrepreneurs to explore the sector by exporting  quality certified  producer   for profit.  He said it is a win-win deal for young people seeking a reliable source of income and for local smallfarmers.

While food exports business is a longer-term opportunity with high value at stake, he said there are challenging implementation requirements.

To increase exports, he said Nigerians  needed  to maintain reputation for safe food,and trusted market assurances.

With the European Union (EU) thoroughness and obsession with quality standards, he said businesses need to stay ahead of international certifications to ensure its products are confidently received in export markets.

According to him, growing an international export business requires mastery of processes, strategic planning, quality standards and partnerships.   This assistance, he is ready to provide to would-be entrepreneurs.

He  wants to  help exporters maintain and grow access to international markets by ensuring they meet the requirements of importing countries. It has to do with packing and ensuring that the produce is quality-checked, sorted, washed,  pre-cooled and packed in cartons.  According to him, exporting fresh produce requires maintaining an uninterrupted transportation chain to guarantee food quality and safety.  If safely transported and quality maintained, the produce commands a premium price in EU markets.

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Simpa’s creations have spawned a thriving bakery business. Here’s how it started and where it’s going next, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Making is now Mrs Ify Simpa’s   full-time job. A wife, mother and a baker, she is the Chief Executive, Cakes a’laParties Limited, Port Harcourt. She is a self-taught baker. But she didn’t start from the food industry. She is a fine arts graduate of University of Port Harcourt(UNIPORT).  She said:: “It all started with a cake job that I had to help my sister decorate seven years ago.”After years of skirting around the culinary world,she decided to dive in, spending hours  trying out ideas for baked goods and desserts.  “It had a lot to do with my passion for art. Being a graduate of Fine Art department, Uniport, it came natural to me,” she said. This is her sixth year in the cake making. But she started small. She recalled: “I could remember buying a N7000 kenwood mixer and a few other tools. I had to bake in my kitchen oven. So, roughly N50,000, if I  were to put a figure to it, and my flare for creativity got me started.”

To start, it wasn’t much. She baked everything herself. With no store, she worked out of her kitchen. She delivered products to catering events and to individual customers. She was entering a saturated industry. Seven years later, her one-woman show has transformed into a small empire. Today, the business is worth several thousands and counting. She has five workers.

One major thing happened to encourage her: “It has do with my Cable News Network (CNN) entrepreneur start-up feature and most definitely my interview withKonnectAfrica. It gives me the push to keep going on despite the numerous challenges.”

Now, she had truly wonderful responses from people when she bakes on order, and now the same reputation is helping her run the business successfully.She has plenty of repeat customers.

After accounting for her expenses, there is money left over to pay her a regular salary.  Her little oven has been working around the clock. It’s a sign that business has really picked up.

Nevertheless, she  has had challenges. “Having dedicated workers can be very challenging, but my knowledge of my business surpasses all that. Then the high cost of production is a huge challenge, but the need to retain a great brand can’t be compromised. So taking all that into consideration. I’ve been able to stay focused despite all odds, because I have to be on my toes in order to run a successful business. I realise that at the end of the day a great brand is better than several agitated sales in the long run,” she said.

To achieve success, she has had to forsake many things. “I’ve had to skip parties, travelling and shopping.” Despite the  success so far recorded, she undertakes a reality check every once in a while.

She offers cupcakes that are constantly available.She specialises in producing cakes, cookies,pastries, muffins and breads.She believes her brand has had success because the products  are delicious and unique. She has been running the bakery and confectionery business for the past six  years. According to her,  there is a lot of scope for the people to start similar business.

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Women are increasingly proving that financial independence can be achieved through self-employment and entrepreneurship. One example is in the fitness industry, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Chief Executive, Afrifitness, Rachael Okesola, is creating a successful fitness business. She runs an online personal training fitness class, afrifitness.com, providing innovative health and fitness services to help people transform their lives through intelligent nutrition and exercise.

Okesola is a  nutritionist, pilates expert and entrepreneur.

Born in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, she  moved to the United Kingdom  (UK) with her  family when she was four. She studied Business Administration at the University of Hertfordshire and graduated in 2008.

On graduation, she started working as a data analyst, but found the job wasn’t suited to her creative streak.  She decided to pursue a career in digital marketing. She was hired by Grant Thornton, one of the top accountancy firms in England, as a digital marketing executive.

Later on, she went  to work for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). She also worked with BT, Microsoft and Accenture.

After an eight -year career in marketing, she decided to trade-in the corporate life for a more active and adventurous lifestyle back home. After graduating, she realised that her health had suffered due to her lifestyle in the university.  She gained weight and that bothered her immensely. One day she had a conversation with her eldest brother who had embarked on fitness journey. That inspired her to take on her  own fitness journey. As she embarked on her weight loss journey, people started to ask about what she was doing to lose weight. So she decided to start helping people by training to be a fitness dance instructor, and then started Afrifitness in 2014.

She started the business in the UK  with little  capital from home, using her website and the social media platform. Posters, social media and promotional events helped her gain clientele. With very little overheads, her training and qualifications, Okesola attracted a lot of clients through online classes, private and group sessions.  From satisfied clients, word went around. She put a lot of energy and enthusiasm into every class. With time, people trusted her. Her  multi-faceted approach to fitness training saw her use vlogging (video blogging), Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Snapchat as well as Instagram. She now has  followers. She  has  a big social media presence and established a   franchise to grow the  business. Operating from her online platform, Okesola  can take on clients all around the world.  Though successful in the UK, returning back to Nigeria was something on her mind. In February this year, she came in to hold a fitness event. It was only supposed to last two weeks. After a successful event, she started seeing more opportunities and networked with other fitness professionals. Since then, Okesola decided to relocate permanently,despite the operational challenges she met. When she settled down, setting up the business  was a challenge at the beginning but it is now rewarding.  Discussing the initial struggles, she explained that  it was really tough to get the business off the ground. But she keep doing the right things, using the social media to show case her products. Today, she has  caught the attention of A-listers. So far, she has worked with a wide range of clientele from professional women , post rehab, people with special needs and individuals to everyday people looking to live healthier lifestyles.

While she runs online classes, she also hosts real classes  in Victoria Island, Lagos and  has provided everyone with a platform that makes it simple and practical to plan healthy meals, incorporate an exercise routine, and achieve balance in their lives.

To make it a difference, she offers  30-day nutrition plan, 30- day training plan  to target stomach fat,  exercises to retain  and build curves, accountability sessions and daily motivation and    email support.

Her Shred- It- Nutrition Plan incorporates a lot of the foods  known and loved.

She believes starting and running successful business requires a lot of belief, determination and a strict routine.

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The Chief Executive, Akin Jobs Limited, Mr. Wole Famuyiwa, has carved a niche for himself in delivery. His entrepreneurial passion and drive are reference points for young Nigerians seeking to become successful business owners, writes Fatimah Soremekun.

Mr. Wole Famuyiwa, Chief Executive, Akin Jobs Limited, is gradually building a thriving delivery services busniess from scratch. From using bikes to deliver items to Nigerians, he has become the toast of Nigerians seeking fast and efficient delivery services.

Famuyiwa,  a graduate of  Political Science from University of Lagos,  took advantage of the huge demand for fast, efficient and reliable delivery  services and he is gradually building an empire around the vocation.

He said although there were already a couple of delivery services outfits. Complaints over  bad services were many hence he decided to fill that vacuum. He quickly assembled a few energetic employees to help him meet the increasing orders for delivery services.

Today, by sheer dint of hard work and perseverance, Akin Jobs Limited is a success story. Already, the firm has established many branches to cater for its ever increasing clientel. Some of the  subsidiaries under it include 1- stop Logistics, Style Playground, Hey Foodie and Blendwithimah.

Famuyiwa manages 1-stop Logistics that  dispatches, picks-and-delivers for individuals or companies.

He started the business with his saving,  his family and friends.

Narating how he started, Akin said: “We started with two bikes, which cost  about N500,000. Let’s just say its around N600,000 because we had to buy helmets, boots, to secure the box with bikes and register it with the local government. With roughly 600,000 we were able to start the company.”

Apparently to encourage aspiring entrepreneurs, Famuyiwa told The Nation that from his experience, delivery business does not  require much money. He said: “Logistics doesn’t really need a lot of funding.With less than a million naira, you can set up a logistics firm. You don’t have to have a lot of cash. With one or two bikes you can start. It depends on your expertise, which is the key thing. You have to be sure you have the expertise and the knowledge.”

Encouraged by his initial success, Famuyiwa has expanded his logistics business to include printing .

Despite the current economic situation, he maintained that there is market for logistics business in Nigeria particularly Lagos.  Perhaps, to back his claim, he said: “From what we have invested in the company, we have break even, because since we started this company, I have not used my personal cash to settle salaries or any other bill. The company has been running itself.  It’s a very viable business; all you have to do is to offer good customer services.”

He said that his winning strategy was his ability  to offer effective and efficient services to his clients. “Be honest with your clients; they appreciate when you are straight with them. Most  companies don’t do that because they want to make more money which in turn causes a lot of confusion and poor delivery. This leads to an unsatisfied customer which may affect business,” he counselled

While admitting that the business is highly rewarding, Famuyiwa said it demands commitment and time. “You must maintain a very flexible schedule.Just follow your passion, don’t go for the business because of the love of money,” he advised.

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Fate Foundation, a Lagos-based entrepreneurship promotion organisation, has intensified efforts at fostering wealth and job creation. Through its Aspiring Entrepreneur Programmme (AEP), the organisation is horning the entrepreneurial skills of Nigerians to help them turn ideas into successful businesses. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

ate Foundation, a Lagos-based entrepreneurship promotion organisation, is poised to turn the dreams of  startup companies and existing entrepreneurs in the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs’) sector into reality. Already, one of the country’s leading entrepreneurs and thinkers, Sharon Akinroye, is benefiting from the organisation’s capacity building programme.

Sharon is the  Founder/Executive Director, Juste Lunch,said the outfit is   a professional catering services company.  She  participated in the 34th class of Fate Foundation’s Aspiring Entrepreneur Programmme (AEP) where she came first in the Business Plan Competition and got free branding from USP Branding.

Juste Lunch, which she founded in 2010 to provide lunch to school children, is now the toast of schools around the country. By attending the Fate Aspiring Entrepreneurs’ Programme, she has been able to refine her business idea and also build a business with the required structures and systems.

Despite not studying food sciences or catering, Sharon, a 1998 graduate of Geograpgy from University of Ilorin, Kwara State, has been able to build a successful business.

She started at age 18 while in her first year in the university. Narating how the journey started, Sharon recalled that her school was on strike and students were compelled to go home. While she was at home doing her routine reading in a bookstore, she said she noticed a lady walked into the shop and bought lots of books.

Being an inquisitive person, she said she inquired from the lady why she bought such large number of books. She said it was then she  discovered that the lady was also an undergraduate, and was taking the books to school to sell.

According to Sharon, this discovery was an inspiring and eye opening experience. Thereafter, she  used all her pocket money from home to buy books, which she sold to students when her school resumed later that year.

Sharon even went a little further by adding other retail items to the busniess, such as eggs,  christmas cards and daily devotional, among others, to students in her school throughout her undergraduate days.

Despite admitting that the experience has been fulfilling and financially rewarding, she said she  could not tell her parent about her entrepreneurial adventure because no one in her family had ever ventured into business. So, she wasn’t sure of how they would react.

After graduation,  she was posted to Anambra State for the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) as a teacher in a Federal Government College. While serving, her entreprenurial instinct again opened her eyes to an opportunity to provide school books to students in her school.

Upon the completion of her national youth service, she returned home to continue trading, often visiting Onitsha Market in Anambra State, to buy commodities for sale in Akure, Ondo State.

Sometime in June, 2003, while attending a Parents Teachers’ Association meeting in her child’s school, she got an offer to make and supply school lunch to the pupils. This was where the caterinmg busniess took off.

Sharon said she met a professional cook through the Funmi Iyanda’s programme on National Television Authority (NTA). It was through the professional cook platform she learnt the business of catering. She also got the  strength to start a structured business, which was a step ahead of the trading she had been doing.

Within three  years, Akinroye expanded her school lunch catering business to two more schools.

However, in 2006, she decided to sell her business to a friend when her family had to relocate to Johannesburg, South Africa where they stayed for four years before returning to Nigeria.

While in Johannesburg, she continued to provide Nigerian meals, especially Ofada rice, as lunch to corporate offices and her Nigerian friends.

According to her,  living in South Africa provided her the opportunity to build a strong network of business-minded friends, some of whom later contributed part of the capital she used to expand her business when she returned to Nigeria in 2010.

It was in 2010 Sharon   participated in the Fate Foundation’s AEP that gave  her the extra mileage. She continued to run her business until 2012 when she had an unfortunate gas accident that kept her in the hospital for about six weeks. This made her unable to proceed to the second stage of the YouWin grant fund that year.

However, shortly after that, a big break came in 2014 when she landed her biggest catering job ever. She has never looked back since then, as the offer continued to open more doors for bigger opportunities. For instance, that year, she led a team of 50 staff to provide catering services to over 2,000 guests at a funeral event in Osun staff.

Again in 2015, the budding entrepreneur participated in the Women Entrepreneurial Leadership  (WELA) Programme.  On the strength of the programme,  she attended the China Europe International Business School in 2016. Through this programme, she got access to a business loan to expand her business and visited China to buy customised catering materials for her business.

Today, Sharon provides school lunch to many schools across Lagos, including Corona Schools. She also operates a restaurant in Lekki, Lagos. With a staff strength of about 10 and over 50 contract staff, her business generates an annual revenue of about N25 million.

However, Sharon is not the only budding entrepreneur benefiting from the foundation’s skills development programme. The Chief Executive, StreSERT Services Limited,  Mrs Roselyn Onalaja, is also counting herself lucky to be part of the programme.

StreSERT Services Limited is a human resources consulting firm that specialises in recruitment, outsourcing, training and expatriate management.

Onalaja, a 1986 graduate of Linquistics from University of Benin, is an alumnus of the foundation’s  entrepreneurship programme. She  attended Fate Foundation’s Emerging Entrepreneurs Programme (EEP) in 2006. This was still in the early days of her business and the programme equipped her with the skills needed to establish and run an organisation efficiently.

The training was strategic for her, as it helped her focus and develop the organisation for improved performance

Since inception, StreSERT has recruited, trained and seconded over 1000 personnel to various client organisations. With about 22 core staff members, the company serves over 30 corporate clients, with  annual revenues of N240 million

Onalaja has always had the desire to impact and prepare others for success in whatever fields they  chose.

Her prior work experience working with diverse people/teams and also stakeholders also further developed her natural gift and motivated her and her team of co-founders to take a bold step in 2006 to start StreSERT.

The founding team led by Onalaja  leveraged on their experience and acquired skills from previously working with consulting firms to build the foundation of the company.

With their personal savings and a loan of about N3 million, they were able to raise fund to start  the business. With this initial capital, they were able to take care of some of the startup expenses such as company registration, business plan, business cards as well as a two-year rent for an office space.

With this method of raising capital, Onalaja  came to appreciate better the importance of partnership and networking, as these have provided her team with divergence and flexibility of skills, competencies and expertise. These in turn resulted in quick growth, and has helped to expand her business relationships and opportunity for knowledge sharing.

Executive Director, Fate Foundation, Mrs Adenike Adeyemi, said the organisation was determined to help entrepreneurs  develop an idea into innovation. She also said the foundation plans to help propel startups into real businesses and also scale it up to create meaningful impacts on society.

She explained that one idea that emerged from the foundation’s recent efforts was the creation of an innovation and entrepreneurship concentration. In addition to training, she said the foundation offers aspiring entrepreneurs access to intelligent peers and mentors, and a risk-free testing ground for their ideas.

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The Lagos  State Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mr Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti, has called on young entrepreneurs to  build alliances  that will  position them  as  most important agents of economic growth.

Speaking at a workshop of the Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneur (C.A.Y.E), West Africa,  held in Lagos, Durosinmi–Etti said young entrepreneurs  could create jobs and  support innovation, urging them to  come up with strategies for building a regional young entrepreneurs’ alliance that will promote entrepreneurship and trade within the region and beyond.

He added that governance is being redefined, as the government of Lagos State is creating an enabling environment in the state for businesses to strive, urging entrepreneurs to come up with  new businesses.

Durosinmi-Etti said government is working across the sector to create  access to finance and market and called for micro chambers  of commerce and businesses to emerge  and collaborate  to deal with the issues confronting business owners and  proffer solutions to such concerns.

The Director, Youth, Commonwealth Secretariat, Katherine Ellis said  entrepreneurship  among the young people is a key driver to developing human capital necessary for the future,  adding that unleashing of the economic potential of youth is important in building sustainable growth and poverty reduction.

For most youth-owned businesses, she said that access to finance, a united voice to seek support together, and ease of doing business among the respective countries, are still challenging and bureaucratic.

She added that as numbers of  young entrepreneurs grow, there was  a need for a bigger voice to articulate their need and  concerns which is not present in most African countries.

This, according to her, has made the Youth Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat to support formation of alliances of youth entrepreneurs in order to ensure a bigger voice on issues that concerns them most and provide additional opportunities for learning and trade.

Ellis said the workshop would focus on bringing potential stakeholders together, exploring the concept and viability of an alliance of young entrepreneurs in the region.

The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment, Mr Abdul Ahmed Mustapha, told the young entrepreneurs from the West African region that the ministry is putting in place incentives that will make young businesses grow in the area of health, education and agriculture. Capital will be made available for the young business owners with innovative and creative business ideas via the Employment Trust Fund.

He reiterated the commitment of the state government to create an enabling environment for the growth of businesses.

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology( MIT) President Rafael Reif has  announced the creation of The Engine, a new kind of enterprise designed to support startup companies working on scientific and technological innovation with the potential for transformative societal impact.

Reif made the announcement at an evening event at The Engine’s Central Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, headquarters attended by entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors, and members of the MIT community. The Engine is designed to meet an underserved need. In Kendall Square and Greater Boston, many breakthrough innovations cannot effectively leave the lab because companies pursuing capital- and time-intensive technologies have difficulty finding stable support and access to the resources they need. MIT’s new venture, The Engine, will provide funding, space, and expertise — powering a network of innovation networks. “If we hope for serious solutions to the world’s great challenges, we need to make sure the innovators working on those problems see a realistic pathway to the marketplace,” President Reif says. “The Engine can provide that pathway by prioritising breakthrough ideas over early profit, helping to shorten the time it takes these startups to become ‘VC-ready,’ providing comprehensive support in the meantime, and creating an enthusiastic community of inventors and supporters who share a focus on making a better world. We believe this approach can offer exponential growth to regions that pursue it successfully — and we want Greater Boston to lead the way.”

To fuel The Engine, MIT will seek to attract hundreds of millions of dollars of support and to make available, for entrepreneurs, hundreds of thousands of square feet of space in Kendall Square and nearby communities.

It will also introduce startups to their entrepreneurial peers and to established companies, in innovation clusters across the region and around the world: It seeks to power a network of innovation networks.

“The Engine builds on work MIT has undertaken in recent years to stoke innovation on and near our campus — including starting up the MIT Innovation Initiative in 2014,” says MIT Provost Martin Schmidt. “Our faculty, alumni, and student entrepreneurs directly serve the institute’s mission of using science and technology to make a better world, because the problems they pursue tend to be the hardest ones they can find.”

The business outfit whose launch has been led by MIT Executive Vice President and Treasurer Israel Ruiz, will offer startups “patient” capital; affordable workspaces; access to specialised equipment; streamlined business services; and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs.

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Catfish business is helping young Nigerians to earn extra income and put more food on the table, as typified by Abiodun Eniola, who runs a fishery business, raising catfish. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

If there is an entrepreneur recording success in fisheries business, Abiodun Eniola is one. Life has changed dramatically for him since he took up fish farming. Staying focused, he has grown his aquaculture business in the same way nature grows a tree.

He studied Urban and Regional Planning from the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, where he obtained in HND (distinction).

“ I did my Post-Graduate Diploma in the same course at Yaba College of Technology in 2011. I got into agribusiness (catfish farming specifically) six months after my National Youth Service around June 2008.”

Going into fish farming was not his first preference as a vocation. Like any other youth of his age, Eniola had dreamt of securing a job. Despite his good result, he could not bag any. Instead of losing patience, he tried his luck in fish farming.

His words: “    The idea came through my inability to secure a white collar job after my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). I was offered a job in a poultry and catfish farm as a poultry attendant. I discovered that I was more passionate taking care of catfish more than laying birds in our farm. My passion led me to seek for more knowledge outside what I was taught an our farm. I worked in that farm for more than six years and my highest salary ever was N25,000, probably because I was not a professional in the field of agriculture. Yet I needed to earn more to meet my rising expenditure.”

He  started with N200,000, being his entire life savings.   He felt confident that he could get back the investment within two years. Today, the business is big with three direct and up to seven other indirect staff. He has 15 ponds.He is happy, working hard to take care of the fish so they grow quickly from baby fish into large fish that people can eat.

With more than eight  years’ experience in the business, Eniola said fish farming business is profitable.

”I was also privileged to get information on expenditure and Income of the farm. I concluded that catfish farming is more profitable than poultry, easier to set up and requires minimum fixed capital.”

He is proud of his accomplishment so far. He said: ‘’I remember when there was bountiful harvest in crop farming. I was able to get my input at cheaper rate and I was able to make around 140 per cent in one season (six months).” To be a successful fish farmer, he gave the business  all it required.  ” I work extremely hard….I work 365 days every year. My work is also a way of relaxation for me’’.

Besides being a successful entrepreneur, he has become an inspiration to other fish farmers. People come to him for expertise and assistance, both in terms of technique and finance.

But the success story has not been without challenges. He recalled: “   I could remember when I was in a hurry to stock my ponds; I ended up with poor quality juvenile from an unknown supplier. I paid dearly for my impatience. I will rather wait for months to have quality seed than wasting the whole season raising fishes that will not do well.”

Like small scale entrepreneurs,, he faced significant barriers in entering new markets, such as securing financing and learning how to responsibly grow the business.

A major challenge he faced was the high cost of fish-feed, which takes up nearly 60 per cent of the production cost in fish farming.

In 10 years’ time, he sees the business going international… beyond the nation’s border. His is passionate about feeding people who are hungry and giving people who do not have an opportunity to have a job or create a business that could support their families.

His hard work, enthusiasm to learn the new technologies, and the interest to share his experience with novices inching to enter into the aqua culture, make him differ from other farmers. He advises young entrepreneurs to pursue their passion because that is the key to their success.

He also runs training to impart his knowledge on aqua culture to other farmers, especially starters to the sector. The corporate package he offers  includes giving initial advice to the farmer, constructing the ponds, managing the ponds, harvesting and marketing the fish. They realised that many farmers fail because they lack professional guidance and proper management.

One of  his mentees is Bamidele Onibalusi, a frontline writing consultant.

His words: “I first got into catfish farming in 2014 when my teacher,Mr. Abiodun Eniola, told me about the prospects of catfish farming and how profitable it has been for him. I was looking for businesses with good profit potential, and that I can easily scale, at the time so I was naturally excited when he recorded as much as 100 per cent profit in a season (usually six months), several times since starting his catfish farming business. I got into catfish farming because I could see returns within a relatively short time (six months), and I can gradually scale my business to succeed without much supervision from me. I started my catfish farming with about 11,000 fishes. I made some mistakes and recorded some losses in the early stage, but I’ve since learned from my losses and things have been better.”

He said  catfish farming is profitable. “ Yes, catfish farming is a sustainable business. Even though I had a loss during my first attempt, I learned from experience — by getting good juveniles, carefully monitoring feed I give my fishes, and ensuring my fishes are properly cared for. As a result, baring any uncontrollable disasters (such as flood or disease outbreak), my business has been profitable. I’m gradually expanding my catfish farming business, and my farm currently employs about four to five people at any given time. If one can understand the system, especially how to use locally available ingredients instead of expensive imported materials, catfish farming can be a very profitable and sustainable business. ”

He rears up to 20,000 fishes, which grow up to one to two kilogramme before harvest.

He wants to enlighten farmers that they could make money from the trade as well as improve their diet as fish is highly nutritious.

The post Young entrepreneur strikes gold in fish farming appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

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Domestic sale of comic books is rising, driving entrepreneurs to explore the industry with new works, to create income opportunities, Managing Director, House of Treasures Comics, Mrs. Aderonke Adeyemo, says. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

The number of comic business shops has grown in recent years. This is attributed to growth in both print and digital comics. The readership is expanding especially among children and comic books interest  has become a hobby among adults. This has created an opportunity for the Managing Director, House of Treasures Comics, Mrs. Aderonke Adeyemo. She is benefitting   from the publication of children comic books. Mrs Aderonke and her husband have written and published lots of story books on health, African folktales and biographies, as well as bible stories in a comic style towards providing a learning and entertainment reading adventure for children. Their goal is to educate, entertain and encourage a reading culture in children towards helping them grow to be morally upright and responsible adults and leaders in the community.

She studied English and Social Studies from a college of education and went on to study English Language at the University of Benin. Before beginning their business, Mrs. Aderonke and her husband were primary school teachers, a profession they are passionate about. However, they soon discovered the poor reading habits in children as they could see the difference between the few students who were readers and those who were not. The challenge they identified was that the Nigerian primary school curriculum didn’t have enough indigenous and entertaining story books that were specifically designed for primary school students. Therefore, in order to tackle this challenge,  they started their publishing business in 2008, by providing indigenous and entertaining comic books for primary school pupils.

With a new generation of children being comics fans, Mrs Adeyemo spotted a huge opportunity to  expose more people to comics.

The early stage of the business had husband and wife as the only available hands. While her  husband focused on writing of stories, she  was in charge of sales and marketing of the comic books. They started the business with a laptop which they saved to buy and operated from their home, while they worked with external illustrators and printers that they paid from their family savings.

Then, they sold the books at the roadsides. However, they soon realised that selling their comic books by the roadside was not going to be sustainable for the business. Today, selling through schools, bookstores, book fairs and  mainstream retailers has allowed  her to reach more Nigerians.

Her turning point for her publishing business was her participation in the FATE Foundation’s Aspiring Entrepreneurs’ Programme. During the training, she learnt about business structures and processes and the need to have a proper accounting system.

Before attending the training at FATE, she wasn’t even sure of how much sales that her business was generating due to a lack of proper book keeping and accounting system.

It was during  the training that she learnt about creating a business plan. She also added that an important impactful session in the training was how to raise funds; a skill that she has used to turn her business around.

After the initial family savings with which she started the business, she has been able to access microfinance loans to expand her business.

From the new knowledge and skills she learnt from FATE’s Aspiring Entrepreneurs’ Programme, she was able to identify that primary schools were her target markets thereby repositioning her business to directly supply her published comic story books to private primary schools in Lagos and Ogun states. This significant strategic move alone, boosted her sales from an annual turnover in thousands to millions.

In 2012, Aderonke was one of the beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s Youwin fund with which she expanded her business. With this fund, she has been able to secure her own printing press and illustrators. The business presently prints and publishes all their books.

She highlighted some of the challenges faced by the publishing industry to include, lack of access to funds to procure the heavy machineries that were needed for quality print.  Others are the epileptic power situation in the country and the lack of trained, skilled and reliable human resources.

The post Income opportunity through comic books’ sale appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Joblessness drove her into shoe making. Since she did, woman entrepreneur and Aeesha Shoes Chief Executive Officer Aishat Raufu Ayowunmi hasn’t looked back. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Chief Executive,  Aeesha Shoes, Miss. Aishat Raufu Ayowunmi is a shoemaker extraordinaire who took it upon herself to distinguish her products in a crowded  industry. Like other women entrepreneurs, hers  is a compelling story of personal setbacks and successes.

After graduating in Public Administration, Asihat was expecting a job, but this didn’t happen. Entrepreneurship was not the idea, but she decided to give shoe making a trial. She went through the training  to learn the technicalities of shoe making. She started Aeesha Shoes five and half years ago.

With no start-up capital, she has been  able to turn her shoe business into a  big enterprise. She’s  has been able  to prove to the world that she made the right decision in taking to shoe making. Today, she is doing well.  She started small  and doing most jobs  by hand, eventually, she found the right formula and the right materials to produce sturdy pair of shoes with professional finishing.

The business has grown to the extent of having a studio space and a team of skilled staff. It takes courage to start business, especially when one has inadequate capital. Her secret is in the quality of the products she puts on the market, Miss Ayowunmi told The Nation. These include casual shoes, children’s school shoes, women and men’s sandals, wallets, bags and belts, among others.

Today, her  production capacity has increased and has provided a secured means of livelihood for her. She  now boasts of various kinds of tools and machines which she uses to produce beautiful shoes and sandals. Maintaining quality of the products has helped her  to stay afloat on the market  with  many other small-scale players.

Despite her early success, the business faced challenges. There is much expense involved in manufacturing shoes. These include leather, threads and all other materials which self-funding may not adequately provide.  There was need for outside funding which she couldn’t get. She gave up several times and took to salary jobs. Somehow, she made a u-turn and returned to the business.

However, due to her love for what she is doing, she has kept faith with the business and made success of it through the years. Her persistence began to open doors despite the initial hiccup. Her confidence has been boosted with the shoes she has built.

So far, she has not only learned how to make good shoes, but also how to save money on shoe production.

Recession is a big advantage, now that the demand for imported shoes has decreased.

Nigerians are now ready to work with small designers resulting in increasing patronage and business opportunities for local producers like Aishat. Right now, she is delivering shoes to some very happy customers and looking forward to expanding to other ones. It goes from casual to dressy ones.

Apart from her office, Aishat has a website to market her  footwears. She is deploying promotional techniques to get Nigerians to see and buy  her shoes.

With  the efforts she is putting into the business, she’s on the way to becoming the next shoe superstar.

Moving forward, she is happy to help other Nigerians create new jobs; a mission that is likely to keep them occupied for a significant amount of time.

Besides this, her goal is to establish Nigeria as a major hub  of fine quality leather shoes  and this will demand a special effort in the days ahead given what she and other producers  have achieved so far.

One project on her mind is a training school for kids on how to make shoes during the summer holidays.

With several years of experience in the industry, she realised that without access to the heavy machinery, making footwear would prove difficult.

She is looking at bringing in machines from Italy and China to further assist the brand in the production of shoes. This is because the industry is going wider every day and she wants to reduce manual shoe production.

With more machines, she can produce more in terms of quality, quantity and perfection.

Her journey has shown that if one does what one wants to do and follow one’s  gut and instincts, one can be successful.

The post Shoes with a story appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

The Chief Executive, Simply Green, Shola Ladoja, is an entrepreneur whose natural juices success story has become a source of inspiration to start-ups, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

With national demand for juices on the rise, Chief  Executive, Simply Green, Shola Ladoja is a diligent producer.

He started the business with N250, 000 in  May 2014.

Little by little, the business began to grow and turnover increased.

The company is one of the fastest growing fruit juice companies in a fiercely competitive environment, it is now worth millions.

Ladoja started the firm primarily because he wanted to drink juice not knowing it was going to be a successful business.

Before moving back to Lagos from New York, he drank green juice almost everyday.

But upon returning to Nigeria, he couldn’t find any good quality juice, so he created one to cater for his needs and that of other people like him.

Simply Green Juices is Nigeria’s first farm-to-bottle organic cold-pressed juice company promoting healthy living and sustainable agriculture at the same time.  The juice it produces is 100 per cent  natural and additives-free.

Starting from Lagos, the  juice product without preservatives is being sold in major cities in the country. He said the  company would like to increase its reach to consumers in other states.

To achieve this, he said the company is working hard to implement last-mile distribution models that bring juice to  the doorsteps of consumers at an affordable price.

He said he gets his raw materials from the company’s farms and other partner farmers and  keeps everything local from bottles to labels.

The produce, fresh from the farm field, is taken to the factory where it is first inspected and sorted. The workers wash the fruits and vegetables with a bubble washer to get rid of impurities.

After washing, produce is disinfected to kill harmful bacteria, germs and parasites then they spin out the water left on the produce from washing and disinfecting using a high speed centrifuge. When fruits and vegetable are completely dried, it goes through the cold pressed machine which extracts the juice from fruit and vegetable in the absence of heat, retaining almost all the nutrients found in the whole fruits and vegetables without the fibre.

After extraction, a three-mesh filter is used to make sure that all the pulp and fibre before bottling are removed and rapidly cooled to four degree celsius to stop the growth of any bacteria.

With the market growing at a healthy rate and with changing lifestyles and rising levels of health consciousness among consumers, the demand for healthier  natural products such  packaged fruit juice is only going to increase in times to come.

According to him, Nigerians are aware of the importance of healthy, high-quality foods.

So far, his business has grown through  enthusiasm and determination, and he has increased the number of his employees.

In addition to large farms, providing him 60 per cent of the raw materials, Ladoja has built a processing facility.

Ladoja said price is a challenge because of the high cost of packaging fresh juice in a manner that can compete with foreign brands.

But he didn’t cut his entrepreneurial teeth from the food industry.

He runs two different firms – Real Livestock, a company which focuses on the commercial cultivation of grains and meat production and Simply Green Limited, which owns a farm and produces four flavours of Simply Green Juices.

The post ‘I started business with N250,000’ appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Policy makers need to do more in creating an enabling environment for enterprising individuals who apply business practices to solve societal problems as well as make profits.This was the consensus of participants at the Africa CEO Roundtable on corporate sustainability and responsibility organised by Thistle Praxis Consulting Limited in Lagos, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are not doing well in turnover, workforce growth, job creation and innovation.

These were the concerns of business leaders and small business owners who gathered in Lagos for a one-dayAfrica CEO Roundtable and conference on corporate sustainability and responsibility organised by Thistle Praxis Consulting Limited in Lagos.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer CEO), Accion Microfinance Bank, Mrs. Bunmi Lawson, said a lot of SMEs were not growing because access to financing,manpower operators should go for and materials had become a huge challenge.

While acknowledging that access to credit is critical, she said bank loans should not be first consideration; rather  operators should go for equity capital and other investor funds where small business owners  are not expected to pay back in the short term.

She maintained that it was vital that smaller businesses understand and have confidence in the growing choice of finance available to help them succeed.

To address funding, Mrs Lawson said SME leaders needed to have good management skills, adding that it has become important that they get trusted and reliable to explore finance options.

She said the rising level of non-performing loans in the banking industry was a worrisome issue for banks and financial institutions, arguing that it does not mean the microfinance bank will slow down on SMEs loans.

She said the bank was still looking for SMEs with good management and business fundamentals to support.

Many SMEs, she explained, simply do not have the capacity to stay competitive, stressing that it explained why the economy had a lot of matured start-ups that are not growing.

Mrs Lawson added that getting the right advice is crucial, especially as the landscape and sources of finances have changed so significantly.

She explained that making a company profitable and successful was important, adding that most entrepreneurs needed a sense of purpose that went beyond naira and kobo.

Associate Director, Leapfrog Investments, Mrs Adenike Kuti, advised SMEs and entrepreneurs to do thorough due diligence, sensible deal structuring and realistic exit plans before committing  to business angels and other investors.

The push towards venture capital loans, according to her,  comes  with the challenge for small  business owners to  access  such offers  in a more enlightened way.

She advised small businesses to be more cautious when taking up financing offers.

Chief Executive, Prinsult, Mrs Raliat Oyetunde, noted that SMEs are vital to the economy and needed investors and banks, support to be able to  secure their market positions.

SMEs, according to her, are still thriving and can expand with enough resources to grow in a high-cost environment.

Chief Executive, TechPreneur Africa, Bolaji Finnih, noted that business growth across the country doesn’t come easily. He added that  for continued expansion, the conditions needed to be right and correct decisions had to be made. Without these, he said a business won’t see the desired level of growth.

Finnih said many entrepreneurs are still wary of external funding, and there is feeling of distrust towards venture capital funding.

He believes that the mindset can possibly take a generation to change.

Finnih said small businesses have had difficulty scaling up due to lack of infrastructure.

He said businesses have enormous potential to provide important services– but they needed to scale up in order to meet these needs.

In his contribution, the Director, Sustainable Business Initiative, University of Edinburgh Business School, Prof Kenneth Amaeshi said the economy was in need of small businesses providing real answers to  social and environmental problemsfacing the country.

According to him, Nigeria needed businesses  that create economic growth and jobs whilst also operating fairly and helping the people and communities in need.

Co-founder, Co-Creation Hub, Femi Longe said the economy needed profitable social enterprises and start-ups to solve social problems more efficiently.

According to him, social entrepreneurs should see opportunities in societal challenges, spot the problem, use  technology  and business methods and create wealth to solve them.

He said  Co-Creation Hub has made it part of its agenda to embrace start-ups, and other groups should follow.

According to him,  Co-Creation Hub focuses on businesses that bring social impact at the grassroots levels.

He said the place was started because of the need to fill the gap, work and help businesses that create impact in society.

He said  Co-Creation Hub helps social entrepreneurs build their businesses and make it viable, without losing focus on social impact.

Longe  said social businesses – those with a socially beneficial objective– can play an important role in developing countries in addressing needs such as healthcare and  education. He lamented that such businesses have faced a difficult time scaling up to significant size and reach.

Longe said meeting these needs through affordable and sustainable solutions offers businesses a vast opportunity for future growth.

Fate Foundation Executive Director, Adenike Adeyemi, said the foundation trains people in programmes lasting three to four months on entrepreneurship.

She said the foundation helps businesses that seek to grow to plan systematically for growth, and to be prepared for the specific challenges associated with growth.

According to her, the group provides mentorships, business training, development of skills in managing, marketing and things, such as book keeping.

Thistle Praxis Consulting Limited Lead Consultant/CEO, Mrs Ini Onuk-Abimbola, said the conference was intended to provide businesses with inspiration, ideas and practical skills, which will enable them to grow and be more sustainable.

She said businesses have to make corporate social responsibility (CSR) a major part of what makes them successful. This is because customers want to reward companies that live their values.

According to her, embracing inclusive business has a big economic and social impact, creating jobs and boosting the economy.

Promasidor Nigeria Chairman, Chief Keith Richards, Chief Keith Richards, said government policy is the  starting point for growing SMEs.

He said businesses are vital to the success of the economy as they drive growth, seeking out new markets and creating jobs as well as spearheading innovation. Therefore, they ought to be encouraged to grow.

He said Chairman, Promasidor Nigeria, Chief Keith Richards has had incredible growth and profitability.

He said customers know that Promasidor Nigeria stood for something and that it informed their interactions with the company every time they walk into a location.

He said CSR is going to become an ever-more crucial part of keeping companies.

The post How SMEs can make profit appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

The  German government,  in partnership with the  organised private sector, has trained another set of youths in industrial mechanical  skills. The training is under the   German Dual Vocational Training Partnership With Nigeria (G-DVTPW-N).The partnering organisations include Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigerian German Business Association (NGBA), Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture from Abuja and Ogun States (ABUCCIMA and OGUNCCIMA),  and Delegation of German Industry and Commerce (DGIC/AHK Lagos), Nigeria.

According to the programme Coordinator, Kehinde Awoyele, G-DVTPW-N is an initiative of  German government and is geared towards raising the employability bar of Nigerian youths and reducing poverty in the country.

It is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and conducted by sequagGmbH. It’s steered by the CCI Giessen-Friedberg as the German project partner.

Speaking during the graduation ceremony and presentation of certificates to 29 trained apprentices, the Head of Training, Industrial Training Fund/ Industrial Skills Training Center (ITF/ISTC), Ibrahim Balogun, said the  programme is important and relevant now that the country is grappling with recession.

“What makes a developed country developed is vocation through the engagement of skilled artisans and craftsmen by industries for manufacturing. The programme is a booster to vocational training in Nigeria and  will ensure (that) our unemployed youths are taken back from the streets and engaged in skillful trade, so that they can be self-employed and as well become employers of labour,” he added.

The Head, Business Education Services and Training (BEST) Unit, LCCI, Foluke Oloniyo, expressed that,  with the present state of economy and level of unemployment , vocational empowerment is the best way to go.

“There are few items in the system, and a lot of money to be made. If you can get people to create their own jobs, you can address recession,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director, FAE Limited, Princess Layo Okeowo, said the training is capable of preventing breakdowns in the industry and increasing output.

In a comparison, she said: “Vocational training is the in thing-China today is achieving much because of focus on crafts and technology. If  the Federal Government can do more to invest in vocational empowerment, it will boost manufacturing and export to increase the GDP (gross domestic product).”

The post Germany trains youths in mechanical skills appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

General Manager Human Resources at Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc,Alero Onosode has  urged  Small and medium enterprises (SMEs)  to adopt  effective  human capital strategies to manage their skilled workforce if they intend to sustain their competitiveness. Mrs Onosode spoke at  FATE Foundation maiden Alumni Conference in Lagos.

She stressed that human capital management was essential for any organisation looking to gain a competitive advantage and advised   SMEs  to devise a reward  system  that will make their  operating  environment  an ideal ground for talents who desire a faster pace of change and role empowerment.

Principal Consultant, Habiba Balogun Consulting, Mrs Habiba Balogun added that  SMEs needed to develop a conducive workplace culture and environment to attract new talents and encourage existing employees to grow with their companies.

She noted that it was time managers and workers worked together to maintain employment levels as businesses struggled through tough times.

Executive Director, FATE Foundation, Mrs. Adenike Adeyemi, said, the  event was  organised for  Alumni to learn from entrepreneurial leaders and influencers,  share knowledge about key topical areas to grow and thrive as entrepreneurs while also giving them an opportunity to network.

The post HR key to unlocking SMEs success appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Chief Executive, Psaltry International Company Limited, Mrs Oluyemisi Iranloye’s patience, persistence and belief in cassava farming were the foundations of her rise from a humble farmer to a successful food entrepreneur, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

They say a momentous occurs when there’s a confluence of the right time, right place and right reasons. For Psaltry International Company Limited (PIL) Chief Executive,Mrs Oluyemisi Iranloye, the time came when she started  her starch production business.

What  she started in 2005 is now a  success story. She started small but today, initially PIL established to market cassava produce, has expanded to include farm development and production of food grade starch from cassava. Today, PIL’s asset base as at December last year was about $5million comprising the factory, farm land and equipment.  Last year alone, PIL generated up to $3.5million as revenue and has saved more than $7million in foreign exchange.

Located at  Alayide-Wasimi Village, Ado-Awaye, Oyo State, PIL uses between 150 to 250 tonnes of cassava daily to produce the 50 tonnes per day plant capacity. The company produces high quality food grade cassava starch and laundry starch.It employs over 300 people comprises 200 permanent staff and 100 temporary workers.

Right now, she runs a 400-hectare(ha) cassava nucleus farm and a cassava processing factory set up in the middle of a cassava production area of over 10,000 ha in Oyo State.

The company has created a supply chain involving up to 5,000 farm families which include more than 2,000 registered and unregistered outgrower farm families, marketers, labourers, traders, transporters,  and  input suppliers. Many farmers have been pulled  out of poverty by  her sharing best practices in agriculture activities. She uses the model of connecting local farmers to new markets and technologies. Mrs Iranloye’s  local sourcing for cassava is  benefiting local farmers, the local market and the supply chain.

Speaking on the partnership that has helped her grow, she mentioned Nigerian Breweries (NB) and Nestle Nigeria for supporting her  to  expand her  local business activities and  involvement in the local procurement of cassava-based inputs from her country.

According to her, NB identified Psaltry, a local cassava processor, as a supplier of high-quality cassava starch.  Mrs Iranloye said the starch industry is profitable provided all the production cost variables are in sync.

The post From farming to starch production appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Lagos State Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment has partnered with some young professionals from multiple development organisations for a ‘techpreneurship’ training in Lagos, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

As a student, Tejumola Longe, an Electrical/Electronics Engineering graduate of the University of Lagos dreamt big – to finish his education, work with a large organisation and, perhaps, earn a good wage. After graduating, he is thinking of doing something on his own that would earn him income.

He was fired to do something after attending an 11-week Lagos Study Programme organised by the Lagos Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment, Andela  and other partners.

He said as a result of the training provided by the programme, he got all it takes to start a job.

Same with Wofai Ibiang, a Supply Chain Management graduate from East Anglia University, United Kingdom. She applied for the programme to learn to build apps to solve problems. She has already identified and expressed satisfaction with what she got from the training.She believes she has got the skills to enable her achieve her dreams. They were among prospective entrepreneurs under the Lagos Study programme pursuing ideas to transform the world. With the rise in graduate unemployment, more and more young Nigerians  are reassessing their career options and looking for more entrepreneurial career paths.

The Lagos State Commissioner Wealth Creation and Employment, Mr. Babatunde Durosimi-Etti said the future is looking bright for young and tech-savvy entrepreneurs looking to start their own business.

He said the purpose of the programme was  to provide youths with skills that allow them to move into jobs and opportunities in the technology sector.

Speaking through a Director Accounts, Mrs Bisi Boco, the Commissioner said demand for skilled technology talent and digital knowledge is on the rise, adding that the programme provided the opportunity for graduates to try their hand at entrepreneurship.

According to him, inspiring young minds and training the next generation of technology leaders is exactly the kind of environment the state government is attempting to achieve.

He encouraged  the young people to take advantage of the training  to  establish small businesses.

The state has also entered into partnerships with private organisations led by  Audax Solutions  to help train young people to set up  tech businesses. Participants learn how to create animations, build programing blocks with Scratch, as well as HTML (the Hypertext Markup Language) and CSS (cascading Style Sheets) which are core technologies for building web pages.

Chief Executive Officer, Audax Solutions,Emeka Onyenwe said  there are  opportunities  for young people  to use coding skills and empower the society.

A Master of Science (MSc), Technology Entrepreneurship holder from  the University College, London,  Onyenwe believes  with the continued emergence of new technologies and new business needs, young  Nigerians  needs such skills to succeed.

He said his organisation is working to inspire and support young people who have ideas, and encourage them to start up businesses in the future.

Head of Branding, Sterling Bank Plc, Mrs PejuI bekwe said the bank will involve participants of the programme in its business  plan competition.

She maintained that the bank is happy to support the programme that encourages entrepreneurship. Project Coordinator Vivian Ubochi, noted the training will increase job opportunities for the participants.

She assured that Audax is ready to work with the government and other private organisations in order to make the country achieve its aims in technology.

During the closing ceremony, the participants presented various projects which they built during the course of the training and thereafter, certificates of participation were issued to them by the company.

The post Empowering youths to create jobs appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.