African entrepreneurship is booming but its recent successes including half a dozen ‘unicorns’ valued at over $1 billion are only the tip of the iceberg. With a continental population of 1.5 billion, rapidly increasing mobile usage and broadband connectivity, and pressing developmental challenges waiting to be solved, Africa has the potential to be the focus of global entrepreneurial activity over the next few decades.
This potential is being actively supported by the International Breweries Foundation (IBF), the corporate-social-responsibility arm of International Breweries Plc (IB PLC), a subsidiary of the world’s foremost brewer, AB InBev), through Kickstart. This transformative initiative fosters enterprise growth and development amongst promising young entrepreneurs.
The IBF launched the Kickstart programme in Nigeria in 2016. IBF has partnered with the Enterprise Development Centre of the Pan Atlantic University to deliver essential skills and enhance participants’ leadership capabilities, with Nigeria’s Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (SMEDAN) for the bootcamp phase of the programme, and with Advapro, the programme’s implementation partner.
The Kickstart initiative’s primary goal is to encourage entrepreneurship among young people in Nigeria by providing financial and material support through training, grants and mentoring. Now, in its eighth year, the initiative has created a culture of entrepreneurship among young people. It has also helped many young entrepreneurs develop their business ideas or expand their existing businesses, thus creating socio-economic opportunities for them in a challenging and resource-constrained world.
Each year, successful applicants aged 18–35 are empowered through a holistic acceleration programme involving training, mentoring, and the award of grants to fuel their businesses. Participants receive comprehensive mentorship and training from experienced entrepreneurs during a two-day boot camp, equipping them with essential skills to excel in the entrepreneurial realm.
The core objective of Kickstart is to stimulate and facilitate the growth of youth-owned businesses. By providing entrepreneurs with essential training, funding, and mentorship, the programme aims to unleash a new wave of innovators ready to take on the business world. The broader benefits of this support activity are substantial, both for the entrepreneurs themselves and for the broader societies and economies in which they operate. Entrepreneurship is a significant driver of job creation, especially in developing economies. Supporting new ventures fosters innovation, drives technological progress, and creates competitive advantages for local industries.
Peter Bamkole, IBF Chairman, says “Entrepreneurship provides opportunities for young people to take control of their economic futures, develop valuable skills, and build confidence, empowering them to become agents of positive change in their communities. Local entrepreneurs have a deep understanding of the challenges and needs within their communities, and generate economic opportunities that align with social and environmental goals. These have been the fundamentals and impact of our Kickstart programme”
To fully realise these benefits, supporting young entrepreneurs in Africa requires a comprehensive approach, including access to funding, mentorship, business training, infrastructure development, and an enabling environment that encourages entrepreneurship and innovation. Kickstart exemplifies this holistic approach, as well as International Breweries Plc’s commitment to realising its vision of “Creating a Future with More Cheers.” What began as an entrepreneurship development programme has now evolved into a nationally acclaimed initiative, gaining widespread acceptance across Nigeria.
Kickstart has been supported by an impressive total investment sum exceeding ₦600 million over nine years. Since its inception, the programme has made a significant impact by providing comprehensive support to young entrepreneurs through training, mentoring, and seed capital ranging from ₦250,000 to ₦3 million each. Over nine years, the initiative has resulted in 425 grantees and 2,127 direct beneficiaries.
The entrepreneurs who received funding in the first three years of Kickstart have created over 500 jobs and continued to generate over ₦200 million in combined revenue. 97% of the entrepreneurs from 2016 to 2018 reported that their participation in the five-day Kickstart bootcamp significantly improved their ability to run any business, while 90% of them rated the mentorship programme as good, very good or excellent. These real-life testimonials validate the Kickstart initiative as a transformative model for entrepreneurship development in Nigeria.
Temitope Oguntokun, Corporate Affairs and Regulatory Director at IB PLC, says, “Our Kickstart initiative has benefited diverse businesses ranging from manufacturing, agriculture, retailing, technology, recycling, water stewardship to renewable energy. We have also been able to impact youths in more 30 states of the federation. The initiative has continued to contribute directly and indirectly to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 17, and AB InBev’s 2025 Goals. In line with our agenda to impact diverse group of people, the Initiative has also funded the businesses of people living with disabilities.”
2023 Kickstart Initiative impact: 4,838 applications received, 323 entrepreneurs received free online training, 73 entrepreneurs were selected for specialized training at the boot camp phase,Five People with Disabilities (PWDS) participated in the bootcamp phase, 50 young entrepreneurs received ₦60 million in business capital, 12 awardees were selected across IB PLC host communities, Three PWDs were part of the awardees,24 male and 26 female awardees
In recognition of its impact, Kickstart bagged two awards in the Best Company in Poverty Reduction and Social Enterprise of the year categories at the 2022 and 2023 Sustainability, Enterprise, and Responsibility Africa Awards (SERAS CSR).
One of the Kickstart participants, Eco Circular Solutions Provider Ltd., is an innovative Nigerian waste-to-wealth startup whose growth had been hampered by limited access to funding. The founders were also given training to boost their business acumen. The support provided by Kickstart allowed the company to employ an additional five workers, purchase a mixing machine and upgrade from B2C to B2B due to the increase in production capacity.
The mentorship programme, as part of the key aspects of Kickstart, ensures that the awardees are provided business guidance and advice which will assist them in running and upscaling their businesses.
The mentors are selected from different business sectors to cater to the different business categories of the awardees. This is also to ensure curated business guidance to the awardees specific to their business needs.
This year the International Breweries Foundation is presenting successful past winners of the Initiative to the Deputy Governors and community heads in states where the company operates which includes Anambra, Ogun, Rivers, and Osun States. The presentations of the winners will highlight the ripple effects of the Initiative on local communities. Beyond the winners’ successes, their stories will inspire hope and enterprise in their hometowns, creating jobs and encouraging more young people to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.
The Kickstart Initiative aims at rewarding awardees drawn from different business categories who have shown consistent growth through innovation and perseverance.
Elikene is a marketing communication expert
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