The governing committee of Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative has approved an allocation of $61.8m for the African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa programme.
We-Fi, established in October 2017 and hosted by the World Bank Group, is a partnership among 14 donor governments, eight multilateral development banks, and other public and private sector stakeholders.
“This substantial support from We-Fi will help us scale up our actions and achieve greater results for women entrepreneurs across the continent. Our ambition with AFAWA goes beyond regular assistance to women in business,” AfDB’s Director for Gender, Women and Civil Society, Vanessa Moungar, said in a statement.
With the We-Fi funding, AFAWA intends to improve access to finance for 40,000 women-owned/led small and medium enterprises in 21 African countries, mainly in low-income and fragile countries, where women entrepreneurs face greater challenges in accessing finance, markets, knowledge, and mentoring programmes.
Specifically, the programme’s activities will be implemented in Botswana, Burundi, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The activities funded by We-Fi will be aligned with AFAWA’s three-pronged approach to address the $42bn financing gap between women and male entrepreneurs.
According to the statement, the first AFAWA pillar aims to increase access to finance for women through innovative and tailored financial instruments, including guarantee mechanisms to back up women entrepreneurs.
It said, “In collaboration with strategic partners, the second pillar focuses on providing capacity-building services to women entrepreneurs, including access to mentoring and entrepreneurship training courses. AFAWA also helps financial institutions address the specific needs of women-owned/led businesses through tailored financial and non-financial products.
“The third pillar concentrates on improving the business environment for women by engaging in policy dialogue with central banks and other relevant authorities and stakeholders.”
The AfDB said the funding would reinforce initiatives of the bank and partners, such as United Nations Women and CARE International, in favour of women entrepreneurs in various sectors frequently overlooked by traditional financiers, donors and governments.
These special initiatives include Fashionomics Africa and the African women techpreneurs programme, according to the statement.
RAHEEMAH AROGUNDADE examines the participation of Nigerian women in the male-dominated technology sector and highlights some entrepreneurs who are solving problems through technology.
Globally, the gender gap that exists in the areas of science and technology is huge. In most societies in the world, the technology sector is male-dominated and there is an under-representation of women.
According to UNESCO Institute for Statistics, women in technology-related disciplines across the world constitute only 28 percent and about 30 percent in sub-Saharan Africa.
With growing concerns about the future and the need for more women in technology, efforts are being made by various organisations to bridge the gap, reduce gender segregation and empower more women to go into science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
Women participation in technology has not fared better in Nigeria. The National Bureau of Statistics revealed that an average of 22 percent of women make up the total number of engineering and information technology graduates universities produce each year.
According to the NBS, women make up roughly one-fifth of the total number of the workforce in Information and Communication Technology sector.
In Nigeria, there are no fewer than 39 initiatives aimed at accelerating female participation and empowerment in the field of technology, according to a research conducted by TechCabal.
In the last few years, the country has witnessed an increase in the involvement of women in innovation and technology. The innovative technology-based businesses established by some Nigerian women have broken barriers and produced creative solutions that meet the needs of many Nigerians.
One of such women is Odunayo Eweniyi, a co-founder of Piggy Bank.
In an interview with AWP Network, she described Piggy Bank as an automated savings platform that helps savers manage their finances by encouraging them to deposit small amounts of money on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, depending on their savings target.
Eweniyi and her colleagues wanted to help Nigerians inculcate a savings habit, and this they have been able to do through the establishment of Piggy Bank.
She noted that one of the major challenges they faced as a start-up fintech company was gaining the trust of their prospective customers.
Since the business has to do with money, it was difficult convincing Nigerians to give PiggyBank a trial. But they were able to get 53 customers who were willing to share their banking experiences with others, and this helped them attract more customers.
She said, “It is an exciting time to be a woman entrepreneur, especially in tech. There are not so many women in leadership roles within the Nigerian tech ecosystem, but this is slowly changing and there is a growing number of investors who value what female leaders are contributing to the economy and the society at large. I want to encourage women entrepreneurs to build their network and be their loudest cheerleaders – the more you talk to people about who you are and the problem you are solving, eventually the right investor will hear about you.
“Piggybank.ng is built on tech. We have taken a well-known traditional concept and have automated it, using tech. We are using tech to cultivate a savings culture in Nigeria, and we are harnessing the power of Africa’s most popular tool, the mobile phone, to give access to financial empowerment. We can support and improve innovation in Africa by embracing tech. Africa has a young demographic who are tech-savvy; we have only just scratched the surface when it comes to how we are using tech to innovate.”
Threading the same line of creativity and innovation is Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, the Chief Executive Officer of Wecyclers, a social enterprise working towards revitalising waste products and helping communities realise the value of recycling wastes.
Bilikiss developed the idea for WeCyclers when she was conducting a research as a student at the MIT Sloan School of Management. The research centered around helping people at the bottom of the pyramid – people living on less than $2 a day. To achieve this, she decided to focus on waste and its uses, collection and processing. After completing the project, she saw the potential in waste recycling and decided to localise the idea.
“After the project was completed, I did some research and saw the huge potential in the waste recycling sector in Nigeria, especially among the manufacturing plants that are hungry for a cheaper and easily available source of raw materials due to local and foreign demand for end products. I then decided to move the idea forward and Wecyclers was born,” she said in an interview with Girls in Tech, Nigeria.
Bilikiss mentioned that the two main challenges she faced were funding and the wrong perception of people towards waste management.
She said, “In terms of trying to change the perception of the people, we have been able to educate people about recycling. We have had outreaches, educational lectures, and other awareness programmes about proper waste management, disposal and the financial and environmental benefits of recycling.
Photo Credit: African Women in Technology (AWIT)
“Being a woman is actually an advantage. I realised this very early in life. There are very few women in the technology field. I’ve benefitted from the fact that I’m usually the only woman in a sea of men. People want to hear more stories of women in tech and they have always encouraged me. I also think by nature, women are very good leaders. We are good multi-taskers; we are detail-oriented and we rarely give up. I’m happy to be a woman and I would love to see more women step up and seize the many opportunities available.”
Bilikiss advised younger social entrepreneurs to discover their passion and match it to an existing need in the society.
She stressed the importance of being selfless, insightful, bold and tenacious.
Temie Giwa-Tubosun is another woman making impact through technology. She founded Life Bank, a health tech company utilising digital channels such as web and mobile to make essential medical products available to people and institutions in Africa.
“Becoming an entrepreneur was never something I aspired to. In fact, I didn’t have any particular interest in technology either. I started LifeBank out of sheer necessity because the problem of people dying from lack of access to blood in Nigeria was worsening every day and no one was focusing on solving it,” she said in an interview with Eunice Baguma Ball.
Temie had a good job in health management and in spite of making attempts to try to solve this existing challenge of lack of medical supplies increasing the mortality rate, she realised eventually that she had to give up her job if she really wanted to effect change and this, she did.
At some point, Temie realised she needed to quit her job and focus on solving the problem she had identified.
“The catalyst was when someone very close to me lost their dad who bled to death in a small town in eastern Nigeria. When she told me her story, I knew I just couldn’t look away any longer. I believed the most sustainable way to solve this problem would be to set up a venture rather than a non-profit. And I also knew that I would need technology to overcome many of the inefficiencies relating to cost and infrastructure. That’s how I ended up setting up a health-tech company. It wasn’t something I had initially planned in terms of my career path” she explained.
Millennials have been dubbed the most ‘impatient generation’ in the workplace, with over 90 per cent wanting ‘rapid career progression’.
Almost 70 per cent of employers believe that this level of ambition and desire is the leading cause of conflict between generations – with a third of Generation X (34 per cent) and a quarter of baby boomers (24 per cent) and millennials (24 per cent) agreeing with this.
The findings come from a Robert Walters whitepaper, which surveyed over 2,000 respondents to find out what it takes to retain millennial professionals.
Nic Sephton-Poultney, Managing Director at Robert Walters South Africa, says,
“According to our survey almost 60 per cent of workers have experienced intergenerational conflict in the workplace. As millennials make up a growing part of the workforce, finding a way for members of different generations to work together effectively is an increasingly high priority.”
“Making sure that managers understand what motivates workers from different generations, how they like to communicate, and identifying common sources of conflict is essential to creating a strong team of varied generations and diversity of opinions.”
Sources of inter-generational conflict in the workplace
Workplace Culture
According to the Robert Walters report, three quarters of professionals (73 per cent) have left a job because of poor company culture. Over half of millennials reported that poor company culture was a source of disappointment in a new job, with 90 per cent claiming that they research the culture in advance of taking an opportunity.
Whilst a third of millennials felt that meeting their colleagues in a social setting was important, this contrasts with just 15 per cent of Generation X and less than one per cent of boomers who value social outings with colleagues.
Technology
Millennials widely perceive technology to be at the root of workplace conflicts; 34 per cent reported that older workers not understanding new technology was the chief cause of these conflicts, followed by younger workers becoming frustrated at using outdated technology (33 per cent).
Millennial professionals are also distinct from their older colleagues in their attitudes towards social media. Almost 40 per cent of millennials felt that employers should actively encourage workers to incorporate social media into their work, compared to less than a quarter (24 per cent) of Generation X and just 10 per cent of Baby Boomers.
Tailored approach
Employers and employees from Generation X and baby boomers believe that millennials are far more pampered than was ever the norm in the workplace – with their demands for time and a tailored approach way out of line with general expectations.
Whilst only 15 per cent of employers believe personalised training programs to be necessary, over a third of millennials rank this as one of the most important factors in retention. In fact, 53 per cent of millennials have been disappointed by the lack of a properly implemented personal development plan or training program when starting a new job.
The demand of senior managements time is further exasperated by an overwhelming 91 per cent of millennials who would like to receive formal feedback at least every six months, with 60 per cent stating that they would like this as often as every one to three months.
Experience
Given that millennials have the most formal education of any generation in history, being likely to hold at least a bachelor’s degree already, the chance to earn qualifications on the job is their lowest priority – unlike fellow colleagues from older generations.
When asked what they believed employers value most in potential workers, 59 per cent of millennials gave personality fit with the team or company culture as a top priority. In contrast, 53 per cent of employers felt that hard technical skills were highly important in potential employees.
International Aspirations
Over half (52 per cent) of millennials said that the opportunity to develop their career abroad was important to them, compared to less than a third (31 per cent) of Generation X and 15 per cent of Boomers.
Nic states:
“One of the side effects of growing up in the digital age is that millennials often see themselves as ‘citizens of the world’, having grown up in an environment where access to the internet means that geographical boundaries are far less important than they had been in the past.
Photo Credit: Noisey Vice
What do millennials expect from their employer?
Salary
A competitive salary was rated important by all generations, but particularly for ambitious millennials where salary is largely seen as a reflection of their status and success. In fact, 96 per cent of millennials rated a competitive pay and bonus system as important, and 25 per cent stated that this would be the number one reason they would change jobs.
Nic Sephton-Poultney adds:
“It’s important to note that during the down turn, over half (53 per cent) of millennials took a job with a lower salary than expected. As such, employers should be mindful that this may be a contributing factor as to why salary and remuneration are so important to millennials.
“It also means that as we move out of economic uncertainty they will expect their salaries to catch up to their expectations.”
Progression
Millennials want more than just a job – they want a career, with 69 per cent citing a clear path for progression in the business as the most important factor in keeping them engaged.
Nic adds:
“It is perhaps unsurprising that for Millennials at the outset of their careers, a clear path to progression is the most effective motivator. However, this reflects not just the youth but also the ambition of this generation.
“Millennials have grown up being told they are capable of achieving anything and this confidence means that they crave responsibility early in their careers.”
In fact, 54 per cent of millennials state that having the opportunity to ‘exercise influence’ in the workplace is a key way to keep them engaged and remain with their current employer.
Transparency
Millennials do not shy away from responsibility, and they want to know what needs to be done to earn it. Of all generations surveyed, millennials placed the highest value on transparency over how they could achieve progress in their career.
71 per cent of millennials strongly agreed that their employer should provide clear guidelines over earning bonuses or promotions. However, 40 per cent of employers do not currently do this.
Fulfilment
During the recession many Millennials struggled to find jobs that met their expectations. 31 per cent reported that they had taken work in a sector that they did not wish to work in. Now, as the economic outlook improves, many are ready to change jobs to find a new role that better suits their ambitions.
Nic advises:
“Employers looking to retain millennial employees should consider giving them the option to move around the business to find a position that better suits their desired career path, particularly given that 70 per cent of millennials consider job rotation within the business one of the most important aspects of their job.”
With a large number of Nigerians still financially excluded, predominantly in rural areas, many industry stakeholders have recognised the need to put in place incentives in order to bring more people into the financial space.
In 2016, 58.4 per cent of the nation’s 96.4 million adults were financially served, compared to a target of 69.5 per cent – leaving 41.6 per cent (about 40.9 million adults) financially excluded, according to latest data from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The exposure draft of the ‘National Financial Inclusion Strategy Refresh’ report, released recently by the apex bank, showed that only 36.9 million adults were banked in 2016 while over 59 million were unbanked.
That was four years after the CBN, in collaboration with stakeholders, launched the National Financial Inclusion Strategy with the aim of reducing financial exclusion rate to 20 per cent by 2020 from 46.3 per cent.
Specifically, adult Nigerians with access to payment services is to increase from 21.6 per cent in 2010 to 70 per cent in 2020. Those with access to savings should increase from 24 per cent to 60 per cent; and credit from two per cent to 40 per cent; insurance from one per cent to 40 per cent, and pensions from five per cent to 40 per cent, within the same period.
Xpress Payment Solutions Limited, a financial technology solution firm, has identified as a major constraint to financial inclusion the lack of adequate products and services that will attract the unbanked and underbanked to financial services providers.
“Most of the licensed mobile money companies lack attractive products and services on their platforms. This reduces the interest for agent network providers,” the company’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Oluwadare Owolabi, tells our correspondent.
Photo Credit: Xpress Payments
The International Finance Corporation and Mastercard Foundation, in a report titled ‘Digital access: The future of financial inclusion in Africa,’ highlighted the need in the broader financial services industry across the continent to shift to the next generation of digital products.
“A broader, more multi-faceted market is asking for more sophisticated and relevant products beyond person-to-person payments. There are evident opportunities to develop digital banking, savings and credit products as well as the digitisation of value chain financing and merchant payments. This can significantly improve customer benefits and usage, as well as long-term sustainability for providers,” the IFC Head, Financial Institutions Group Advisory, Sub-Saharan Africa, Riadh Naouar, says.
Describing the customer as “the new boss in town,” Naouar says, “As the lines between providers are becoming increasingly blurred, users don’t necessarily care about who or what kind of entity the provider is, as long as they can access the services they desire. Understanding mass market customer needs will be the key to success.”
According to the Xpress Payments boss, other major constraints to financial inclusion in Nigeria include poor network coverage, inadequate agency networks, high cost of setting up agents, and lack of adequate of adequate awareness.
Owolabi says, “The poor network coverage greatly hinders the provision of basic agent banking services in rural areas. It becomes very difficult to carry out transactions in these areas.
“While the CBN has issued the mobile money licenses to a number of organisations, not all of them are actively running/selling the services in the areas where people are financially excluded. This is due to the inability of the business to generate enough revenue that encourages these operators to sell their products and services in these regions.”
He, however, noted that increasing the visibility of agent branch network as well as opening additional or new branches were affected by high setup costs.
According to him, trust is also a major constraint as the target markets are not ready to adapt to the changes in payments methods and will rather go back to the conservative methods of keeping money at home.
Owolabi adds, “The Know Your Customers requirements are also seen as limiting, as the target audiences do not always have the appropriate requirements to be agents and completely puts them off the initiative.”
On the need to boost awareness, he says, “In some countries, the government laid more emphasis on this initiative by directing people to get their salary payments from the mobile money platforms. Our government must also push some payments unto the platform. This worked, but it turned out that the usage by the people was only once a month when salaries are paid. Although it created awareness but usage was limited.”
He stresses the need for more education and sensitisation on financial inclusion in a bid to reduce the number of those who are financially excluded, for instance farmers in rural areas.
“It is also important that products are provided that meet the needs of these farmers, e.g. microloans and micro insurance policies that create opportunities for the farmers,” Owolabi says.
He says the reduction of account opening requirements, removal of minimum deposits for these people, readily available access to the agency-banking network, among others, will make it less cumbersome for people to open accounts.
Photo Credit: premiumtimesng.com
According to him, the basic and key role telecommunications companies can play in deepening financial inclusion is the provision of a wider and more accessible network coverage in remote areas.
He also says the quality of network provided should be high and guaranteed, adding, “This will go a long way in boosting activities of agent banking operators in rural areas.”
The Xpress Payments MD describes Kenya’s Mpesa as one of the biggest success stories from Africa in terms of mobile payments and agent banking.
He says, “One key lesson learnt is that Mpesa facilitates a variety of services through the mobile phone. Of importance is the fact that Mpesa user can transfer money to registered and non-registered users of the platform. This greatly increases the spread of users. A non-registered receiver of money through this platform is forced to register to access his/her funds.”
Owolabi says policymakers in Nigeria should also focus on increasing the number of services and products available, besides the cash in and cash out options.
He says, “Loans, insurance schemes, and lending could be introduced to encourage the financially excluded to take up these services. They can also encourage more players and aggregators to sign up through the provision of grants and long-term loans at very low and minimal interest rates.
“We should also understand that we are phased with a peculiar situation in Nigeria. The bank’s network in Kenya was limited before Mpesa. In Nigeria, we were of age when mobile payment was introduced, with about 8,000 to 10,000 branches in existence. Nevertheless, attractive products and services will determine performance in this sector. Policymakers should take time to invest in research that will strategically develop and build peculiar products for our people.”
He says Xpress Payments’ products and services include Unstructured Supplementary Service Data payment channels for carrying out transactions, micro finances, micro savings, microloans, and loyalty rewards.
Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum, AWIEF, has announced that its annual conference and awards will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, South Africa, on October 29 and 30.
The AWIEF disclosed in a statement on Thursday that it would celebrate its fifth anniversary this year.
With ‘Enhancing impact: Digitalisation, investment and intra-African trade’ as the conference theme, the two-day event aims at promoting the growth of women-owned and women-led businesses for Africa’s inclusive economic growth.
AWIEF is a platform that sees global thought leaders, industry experts, policymakers, academics, development organisations and investors gather to dialogue, connect, network, share, collaborate and transact in a combined effort to boost Africa’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.
“The digital economy is driving business and enhancing the impact of our work. Investment in women-owned businesses is needed across the continent of Africa,” said the founder and Chief Executive Officer, AWIEF, Irene Ochem.
“It is important for Africa to trade among itself, to collaborate and cooperate. What we need to look at is the critical roles that women have in this integration process,” Ochem added.
AWIEF is a pan-African non-profit organisation with offices in Nigeria and South Africa, including the annual conference, awards and expo, as well as events all year round and programmes to mentor, fund and grow women entrepreneurs on the continent.
A former Director of Partnerships and Evaluation, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, has assumed her new role as the foundation’s Chief Executive Officer.
With the assumption of her new role on April 1, Ifeyinwa becomes the third CEO and the first African to head the foundation.
In December 2018, the foundation, African philanthropy committed to empowering African entrepreneurs, announced Ugochukwu’s appointment as CEO and the transition of her predecessor, Parminder Vir, OBE to the Advisory Board of the foundation.
In her role, Ugochukwu will focus on scaling the impact of the 10-year $100m Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme and strengthening relationships between the African and the global entrepreneurship ecosystem to empower African entrepreneurs with the aim of creating jobs and wealth on the continent.
She will also take responsibility for positioning TEFConnect – the digital networking platform for African entrepreneurs – as the go-to hub for forging business relationships, sharing experiences and distributing knowledge across Africa.
According to a statement, Ugochukwu brings almost two decades of corporate experience, including her most recent role as the director of partnerships and evaluation, to her new position.
She was described as a proven leader with business vision, emotional intelligence and the ability to bring people together.
Speaking on behalf of the Board of Trustees, founder, TEF, Tony Elumelu, said, “We are confident that Ifeyinwa is the right person to launch the Foundation into its new growth phase.
“Her appointment as CEO strengthens our resolve to scale the impact of our commitment and unlock opportunities in the entrepreneurship ecosystem across the continent. I have always said that no one but us will develop the African continent, and this is a further demonstration of this resolve.”
Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited, an Information and Communications Technology company, says it is working with more than 40 universities to boost digital inclusion in Nigeria.
Its Managing Director, Zhang Lulu, said on Thursday in Lagos that the company was working with the universities in establishing Huawei Authorised Information and Network Academy.
Lulu said through the academy, Huawei was providing industrially recognised ICT certification in subjects, including Networks, Routing and Switching.
He said, ”Apart from increased connectivity, Huawei is also committed to building skills at all levels of the society by working with universities and other partners to foster ICT talents and training ICT practitioners.
”The company has trained more than 20,000 ICT engineers, who have become the main workforce, to guarantee the network running of the country.”
The managing director was quoted in a statement as saying that the company was committed to achieving a fully connected and digitally inclusive Nigeria.
He said the company was focused on enhancing availability, accessibility and affordability of ICT services in Nigeria.
Lulu said Huawei was boosting ICT infrastructure with quality and innovative solutions, tailored to local needs.
He said the ICT company was equipping the youths with ICT knowledge and skills, as exploring talents among Nigerians with great potential led to the development in the country.
According to him, the ICT industry contributes more than 10 percent to the total Gross Domestic Product of the country, Africa’s largest economy.
”As a leading global ICT solutions provider, Huawei has been witnessing, participating and being a part of what has happened in the ICT development in Nigeria.
”Since starting operations in Nigeria in 1999, Huawei has been working with local operators to providing safe, stable and high-quality communication networks in the country, currently covering about half of the population,” he said.
Lulu said reports showed that the adoption of communication technology had grown all over Nigeria, with over 80 percent of the citizens already covered by communication networks.
He said communication technology had facilitated better lives and given rise to broader economic activities.
”Huawei remains committed to working with carriers and local partners to reach the remaining unconnected areas, especially remote rural areas in the coming years,” he added.
Experts have urged women entrepreneurs to create unique brands for their businesses in order to attract the right customers.
They spoke during the 100 Women’s International Day Conference 2019 and Mentorship series with the theme ‘Breaking Frontiers’.
The event was held in Lagos by SME 100 Africa to commemorate the 2019 International Women’s Day, which was marked on March 8.
SME 100 Africa inspires, empowers, equips young entrepreneurs and small and medium-scale enterprises in Africa by providing access to finance, market and network, among others.
The Chief Executive Officer, House of Tara, Mrs Tara Fela-Durotoye, said that it was necessary to create a unique brand in order to carve a niche in a very competitive market.
Fela-Durotoye noted that a lack of brand value could downplay a new business and also make the probability of attracting consumers very low.“
She said, “Sadly, branding is a core business activity that is often neglected by new businesses and entrepreneurs.
“If all brands are the same, customers would be confused; so, it is necessary to be unique to differentiate yourself from others.”
The Head, Retail Solutions Division, at AXA Mansard, Mrs Rashidat Adebisi, stressed the need for entrepreneurs to have passion for what they do.
According to her, entrepreneurs who have passion for their businesses are more likely to have long-term goals that would help reflect their views and know their place in the world of business.
She said, “Entrepreneurs who are new in the business world also need to understand the market before delving into it.
“They need to know the key factors in the industry so as to be able to make a difference by knowing what is trending. Entrepreneurs should be at the edge of creativity, learn and educate themselves at every chance they get.”
The Founder of Sapphire Event, Mrs Funke Bucknor-Obruthe, said it was essential for entrepreneurs to let their personality reflect in their brands.
She added that understanding oneself as an entrepreneur and having confidence would help eliminate the fear of extinction.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation, African philanthropy committed to empowering African entrepreneurs, has announced 3,050 African entrepreneurs, drawn from all 54 African countries, selected to join the 5th cycle of its $100m TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.
According to a statement, this year, over 216,000 applications were received, an increase from last year’s 151,000.
It said nearly 90,000 were submitted by female entrepreneurs, an increase of 45 percent, illustrating the foundation’s strategy to achieve greater gender balance.
The selected entrepreneurs would each receive non- refundable $5,000 of seed capital, access to mentors, and a 12-week business training programme, directly focused on the needs of African entrepreneurs.
On July 26 to 27 2019, they will gather at the TEF Entrepreneurship Forum, the largest annual gathering of African entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurship ecosystem on the continent, according to the statement.
TEF Founder, Mr Tony Elumelu, said, “Every year, we face an almost impossible task – to select 1,000 entrepreneurs, from the hundreds of thousands that apply. Our entrepreneurs are hungry to effect change.
“We know we are only scratching the surface, we see the depth of entrepreneurial talent, that all of us – government, business indeed African society, must harness to transform our economies and livelihoods. We must rally together to empower them and accelerate the change we want on the continent.”
In her speech, the wife of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mrs Aisha Buhari, commended the programme’s impact on the continent, charging the selected entrepreneurs to contribute to the advancement of the African continent.
“Indeed, I am confident that these Tony Elumelu entrepreneurs will inspire deep confidence and be of immense value not just to Nigeria but to the entire continent,” she said.
Speaking on the announcement, the incoming Chief Executive Officer, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, said, “The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme has successfully empowered 7,520 entrepreneurs in its first five years of the 10- year programme.
“Marking the fifth anniversary of the 10-year programme, this year’s selection includes 2,050 entrepreneurs, supported by the foundation’s partners in addition to the foundation’s annual commitment of 1,000, bringing the total number of entrepreneurs empowered by the Foundation to date to 7,520.”
According to the statement, the foundation’s list of partners includes the International
Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations Development Programme, the Federal Republic of Benin (Seme City), the Anambra State Government, Indorama, the Government of Botswana and the African Development Bank.
For a list of the selected 2018 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs and information on our applicants, please visit http://bit.ly/TEF2019.
Many small business owners sell on credit in a bid to attract and retain customers but this has sounded the dealth knell for some of them, WILLIAMS BABALOLA writes
Many small businesses have sprung up in Nigeria and have disappeared from the business climate, leaving no trace except the debts owed by people who consumed their goods or services on credit. On the list of debtors are close relatives, friends, associates, acquaintances, among others.
Some entrepreneurs, who spoke with Africana Entrepreneur in separate interviews, lamented the impact selling products or providing services on credit has had on their businesses.
They said no fewer than 40 per cent of customers patronised them with the intention to buy on credit. For them, the fear of a strained relationship has made it difficult not to satisfy the customers, even though it is taking a toll on their businesses.
A foodstuff vendor, Mrs Modupe Lawal, was emotional all through while sharing her experience with Africana Entrepreneur in her shop at Ogba, Ikeja.
Lawal told her correspondent that selling on credit had killed the businesses of many entrepreneurs.
According to her, most debtors do not pay on time, thereby making it difficult for the entrepreneurs to restock or pay their service providers and make further investment to grow their businesses.
She said, “It (selling on credit) has ruined so many businesses. When you always sell on credit, you will always find it difficult to reinforce and buy new goods when you have little or nothing left in your store. So, it is tantamount to retrogression.
“Most people buy on credit and will refuse to patronise you for a long time; they start buying from other shops. The reality is that customers don’t always pay on time; it has happened to me several times.”
Lawal said some people would ride on a wave of friendship or familiarity to buy on credit and then would not pay their debts on time or at all.
“The proper way to address buying on credit is to call it a societal attack. Some customers are very difficult when it comes to money matters. They buy on credit but they don’t want to be asked to pay their debts. Selling on credit to such individuals can lead to a strained relationship. And because of the environment we are in, we try to stay away from having strained relationships,” she added.
A fashion designer, Ms Sarah Oluchukwu, bemoaned the situation of things in the country.
According to her, many small business owners tolerate indebted customers mainly because of the fear that they will lose the customers to their competitors.
She said, “I don’t have an another business; I am a full-time tailor. How do you expect me to react to a customer that owes me? At times, I still find myself begging a debtor to bring her materials; we are only hoping things get better.
“Even as tailors, we need money to keep our businesses afloat. When you are in debt or owed by a customer, how do you grow your business? It’s not new; we have seen potentially great businesses liquidate. Have you ever wondered why? Mostly, it boils down to the customers’ continued inability to pay for the service rendered to them.
“Unfortunately, this same debt will make you lose the good customers you have. Whenever you can’t deliver when necessary, probably because of the trauma you are going through, they switch to the next person.”
Oluchukwu added that it would be difficult for an entrepreneur to access new opportunities when in debt.
“When there’s no good cash flow and financial management, you run into debt. Most times, market conditions change and you can’t flow with the tide because of the debts owed. This, therefore, put your competitors ahead of you and, sadly, you remain at a spot,” she added.
Mr Adewale Desco, who owns a barber shop in Ogba, Lagos, condemned the act of selling on credit, saying, “Ahough it is difficult to resist in this part of the world, it is a killer of businesses.”
He said many businesses had closed shop as a result of debts owed by customers.
He said, “Some persons are too close and that has made it difficult to refuse to render services to them on credit. It is a direct way to kill a business. They are killing our businesses by believing they are very good customers or too close to pay at the time of purchase.”
Desco, who decried the poor electricity situation in the country, said, “How do business owners like me cope if we still have to render services on credit.”
He said, “I own a barber shop; I need light for everything I do here. Can I also buy fuel on credit so as to satisfy a customer who wants to have his hair cut on credit? Apart from buying fuel, there are so many other things we need to keep the business running. All these things can’t be purchased on credit. Never!
“There was this certain day I didn’t have anything on me because I just paid my rent. I reserved the little fuel I had so I could use it for two customers and get fuel to continue the business for the day. After rendering the service, the two customers started telling me stories. That was the end of business for that day. How was I expected to get fuel?”
He said sometimes, the people who came without money were people he could not refuse to attend to.
“I have customers who have had their hair cut for four consecutive times without paying. In this part of the world, entrepreneurs are blackmailed with cordial relationship,” he added.
The Vice President, Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria, Mr Kayode Okarende, likened buying on credit from small businesses to taking loans from them.
He said, “It is a barrier for Small and Medium Enterprises. One of the biggest problems of SMEs is capital. So, buying on credit is like an indirect loan for him. And unfortunately, in this country, everything is ‘cash and carry.’ And most times, a small business owner will have to sell on credit particularly to corporate bodies.
“So, when he is not able to get goods on credit but he has to sell on credit, his capital will be totally messed up at this point. It leaves him with either a struggling business or a dying business.”
