Encomium
| Entrepreneurs seem to agree that growing and scaling a business is tasking. Fortunately, the availability of finances helps to drive business growth. Some business owners get financial aid from friends and family, while others receive funding from investors. Businessowners can also access funds through grants and loans. Unlike loans, grants are non-repayable and usually seen as gifts to the business. Several organisations across the world, Nigeria inclusive, provide a range of grant opportunities and initiatives for business owners. Recently, MTN Foundation provided an equipment grant worth 40 million to 200 young entrepreneurs, following a four-week-long training on ICT and Business skills. The entrepreneurs were awarded their grants on Friday, 27 May 2022, at the closing ceremony held virtually. Even via the virtual platform, you could easily sense the excitement as recipients turned on their cameras to express their joy. Speaking during the training, one of the winners of the grants, Abigael Obaro, spoke on the impact of the training and how she hopes to use the grant to establish her business. “The training has been an opportunity for me to learn how to upgrade my business, and I will be exploring everything I have learnt during the training. Thank you to all the partners for investing their time and thank you to MTN Foundation for the training and the grant,” she said. The fifth phase of MTN Foundation’s ICT and Business skills training programme was in partnership with Google, Microsoft and Meta. The training was designed for 3000 young entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 -35, across six Nigerian states; Lagos, Cross River, Anambra, Kogi, Jigawa and Adamawa. |
