The Afterschool Graduate Development Centre (AGDC), a Lagos-based social enterprise geared towards improving Nigeria’s youth and workforce through human capital development, in collaboration with the Lagos State government, is boosting entrepreneurship in the country by training 1,100 Nigerian university graduates on the latest business skills.
These young entrepreneurs will also receive training on the best possible way to develop innovative business models and proposals. These Nigerian graduates will also be empowered with a start-up seed capital of N100, 000 each, that will enable them commence and further expand their business plans in the next one year.
Funmi Adeyemi, director, AGDC, said the training and empowerment became necessary to help government address the unemployment challenge in the country.
According to her, AGDC has been involved in training of Nigerian graduates in various entrepreneurial skills, with a passion to promote skills development in the country.
To her, AGDC has created a customised and scalable business execution curriculum for this year’s training programme called ‘Ignite Ideas’ entrepreneurs, and has established a fellowship network, through LinkedIn, a social media platform. It has also recruited volunteer business experts to provide socialised mentorship for targeted demographics industries and business stages.
Adeyemi explained that AGDC advertised online and received and received a total of 2,490 applications, out of which, 1,121 were completed applications. The applicants were screened and 541 were selected for the first batch of training and mentorship.
The number of women-owned businesses that applied, was 284, Adeyemi said, adding that the business ideas, range from Technology, Media services, Art, Fashion and Design, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Agriculture and Farming, among others.
Commending the AGDC for the initiative, Babatunde Fashola, governor, Lagos State, encouraged the trainees to make better use of the opportunity given to them through the AGDC mentorship programme and to also make better use of the seed funds made available to them. According to Fashola, the Nigerian economy has an urgent need for services, as “we have a young population. We really do not have need for unemployment.”
The governor, who said the older generation, had erroneous belief that university graduates were not meant to do dirty jobs, said in today’s world, the money spinning businesses are from dirty jobs.
Fashola, who categorised farming as dirty job, said young university graduates could go into farming and make the best out of it, if adequate training and mentorship were provided, encouraging young school leavers to come up with business ideas that will not only fetch them good money, but will also make them employers of labour.
Meanwhile, mentorship and training programmes are ongoing. A total of 245 entrepreneurs have been trained in the months of March, April, and May this year, and 174, among the trained entrepreneurs have submitted their detailed business plan and are ready to begin their own business, with the support of the seed funds provided by AGDC.
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