International Breweries Foundation through its Kickstart Initiative has empowered 50 entrepreneurs with N60m.
The scheme which was set up by the corporate social responsibility arm of International Breweries Plc, seeks to promote youth entrepreneurship through business training, mentorship, and the award of grants.
About 400 young business owners applied (Application deadline was July 22, 2022) and 70 entrepreneurs proceeded to the bootcamp phase. At the end of the intense training, 50 persons were selected and awarded with the grant. Thus far, the Kickstart initiative has recorded over 1608 beneficiaries.
“The idea behind Kickstart is to raise entrepreneurs with thriving businesses who will become employers of the labour themselves, thereby acting as agents for taking other people out of the unemployment market in the country.
“The success stories we have recorded inspire us to do more. Kickstart is an intervention that contributes to Goal 1 (no Poverty) and Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) of UNSDGs.” says Managing Director, International Breweries Plc, Hugo Rocha
The International Breweries Foundation is an arm of International Breweries Plc, with the objective of delivering impactful, developmental, and sustainable projects. Kickstart is an initiative of the Foundation and focuses on enterprise growth and development for young entrepreneurs. The programme supports youth-owned businesses through the provision of training, access to capital (grants) and mentoring.
The Kickstart Initiative is also available within other countries in Africa. The program hitherto has been successfully implemented in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Tanzania. In Nigeria, the program started in 2016 and has run three editions in the South West and South East region. With effect from 2019, Kickstart has become a national intervention in Nigeria, now open to youths in the six geo-political zones of the country.
