International Breweries Plc. (IBPLC) has in partnership with the Enterprise Development Centre of the Pan-Atlantic University started the training of over 500 young entrepreneurs.
The training, which was organised to empower young business owners between 18 and 35 years old, was the 2021 edition of the Kickstart Entrepreneurship Programme that support the Federal Government’s employment agenda.
Temitope Oguntokun, legal and corporate affairs director, International Breweries PLC, said the entrepreneurs will undergo rigorous training sessions on the minimum requirements needed to run a successful business.
“This is the first time we are having online training and reaching a critical mass. The outbreak of Covid-19 has made us more innovative in our approach such that we are leveraging technology to increase the pool of applicants who will attend the training,” he said.
According to Oguntokun, the desire of International Breweries Plc is to expand the opportunity the 2021 Kickstart offers to young people to grow their businesses.
She said that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) states that Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose to 33.3 percent in the last quarter of 2020, which signifies the need for urgent intervention.
“In line with our vision of ‘Bringing People Together for a Better World’, we are poised to continue to support the government by impacting the lives of more young people, and by extension, their communities and Nigeria as a whole through the tripartite strategies of training, award of grants, and mentorship to effectively address the challenge of unemployment and poverty while driving economic growth,” Oguntokun said.
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Peter Bamkole, director, Enterprise Development Centre, said the Enterprise Development Centre of the Pan-Atlantic University is excited to partner with International Breweries Foundation on the 2021 Kickstart Nigeria Entrepreneurship Training.
“The participants of the programme are expected to gain skills and knowledge in business management areas including Customer Service, Marketing Management, and Business Plan writing among others. We are confident that this will help them navigate the entrepreneurial journey,” Bamkole said.
The next phase of the Programme is an intensive boot camp where 100 people who have been successful in the online training will be trained on presentation skills and business proposal writing in preparation for the pitchfest before the panel of judges who will decide on the final awardees.
With over 6,000 applications received from the six geopolitical zones of the country, Nigerian youths are embracing entrepreneurship and taking advantage of the opportunity the Kickstart Entrepreneurship Programme provides.
The selection process considered the following criteria: sustainability of the business, innovativeness, shared value, impact on community and experience. The list drew about 100 beneficiaries from IBPLC’s host communities, across the various locations where its plants are located.
Over the last five years, Kickstart has invested over N325 million in the social investment scheme, recording 274 grantees, 708 direct beneficiaries and 2,832 indirect beneficiaries, and generating 571 new jobs in the process.
