Chidi Nwaogu, a Nigerian entrepreneur, has been named a winner of the Migration Entrepreneurship prize by the Human Security Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
This announcement was made during the first online edition of the annual Seedstars Summit, where Nwaogu emerged a winner alongside 10 others in that category. The Seedstars Summit, which was held online from 31 March to 3 April in response to the coronavirus pandemic, had according to organisers, more than 1,000 online attendees. The event was also said to have reached and engaged more people than ever before, especially in emerging markets.
When a call for start-ups was announced, it was indicated that the aim of the project is to support socially driven business models in countries and regions prone to strong migration movements. Entrepreneurship by and for migrants and refugees has the potential to create shared benefits for the foreign born and local communities alike by contributing to livelihoods and social cohesion. The ultimate objective is to improve human security for the individual by promoting freedom from fear and a life in dignity in a sustainable manner.
The eligible ventures must create promising business opportunities locally and offer innovative solutions alleviating the pressure for people to take dangerous routes leaving their homes. The solution can be aimed for society at large thus aimed at migrant and the local population, and be implemented in the origin, host and transitory countries.
Migration entrepreneurship prize was awarded to entrepreneurs with social business models in countries and regions prone to strong migration movements, offering innovative solutions that reduce the vulnerability of migrants.
Chidi Nwaogu, a tech entrepreneur and software developer is the co-founder and CEO of Publiseer, a digital platform that says it has helped nearly 5,000 independent and underserved African writers, musicians, and filmmakers, earn above the minimum wage and live above the poverty line from the sales of their creative works.
For his contributions to the growth of the tech ecosystem in Nigeria, Nwaogu has won the 2018 African Entrepreneurship Award, the 2019 Africa 35.35 Award for Entrepreneurship, the 2019 Young Leaders Award for Media and Entertainment, and the 2019 Bizz Business Excellence Award. He also made the shortlist for the 2019 Unilever Young Entrepreneurs Award.
30 year old Nwaogu is an Acumen Fellow 2020 (West Africa), Halcyon Incubator Fellow 2019 (Washington DC), Westerwelle Fellow 2019 (Berlin), AfricanPLP Fellow 2019 (Cairo), and Yunus&Youth Global Fellow 2019 (New York).
CALEB OJEWALE
