The Spark Magazine (Jan 2018)

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The Spark | Ignite/Connect/Achieve www.thesparkng.com 10. CDC For over 60 years, CDC has been supporting businesses that have the highest impact in Africa and South-East Asia. They have a strict adherence to responsible investing, so they only invest in enterprises that would not make them lose money. Therefore, they expect their investment to achieve results that are proportional to the risks and opportunities in the specific market. CDC’s focus is centred on but not limited to infrastructure, manufacturing, health, education, food-processing and construction. You can be a beneficiary by submitting a proposal and after review, you stand the chance of being offered monetary support. If you want to get in touch with them, you can through their contact page at http://www.cdcgroup. com/Get-in-touch/Contact/. 13. African Development Bank Founded in 1964, the organisation was established to alleviate poverty and improve living conditions in Africa. The African Development Bank consists of three entities; the African Development Bank, the African Development Fund and the Nigerian Trust Fund. Based on the economic recession that Nigeria faced, focus have been shifted to entrepreneurship in the sectors of agro-business, manufacturing and mining. The bank is therefore tasked with providing funding for budding entrepreneurs with creative economic ideas, especially in the sectors listed above. You can contact them at African Development Bank Group, 1521 Cadastral Zone A0, Off Memorial Close, Central Business District, Abuja or call them on 234 94621030-59. 11. Ford Foundation Ford Foundation is a New York based private organisation aimed at advancing welfare worldwide. They believe in harnessing the opportunities provided by the West African political circumstances to address inequality in the region. Therefore, the Ford Foundation provides grants to ideas that would ultimately improve economic equality. If you are interested in applying for their grant, you can submit an application at https://www. fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/idea-submission/ and they will get back to you in 45 days. 14. Startpreneur Startpreneur is a Nigeria startup accelerator that helps small and medium enterprises in the country start up and grow their business. The organisation, through an efficient team, does not only provide financial support but also hands-on guidance to help the budding entrepreneur develop. The organisation takes the entrepreneurs through a threemonth accelerator program to make them investment-ready as well as to ensure success of the business. You can apply to be a part by sending an email, which should include your executive business summary, to them at entrepreneurs@startpreneurs.com.ng. 12. YouWin YouWin is an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Finance aimed at supporting young entrepreneurs to grow their business. To be able to apply for YouWin, you have to be a Nigerian and resident in Nigeria, must have post-secondary school education, have to be between the ages of 18 and 40 and must not be in the civil service. Their focus is mainly on agriculture/agro-processing, ICT, retail, construction, and manufacturing among others. Application is done through their website at www. youwinconnect.org.ng. 15. Wennovation Hub With focus on social impact sectors, such as agriculture, education, healthcare and infrastructure, Wennovation Hub is a Nigerian innovation accelerator that empowers entrepreneurs in order to achieve sustainable development for Africa. The organisation does this by providing services such as investing, management training, consulting, co-creation and providing co-working spaces among others. You can contact them by sending an email to them at info@wennovationhub.org. It is obvious that the issue with starting up a business in Nigeria has more to do with lack of information than unavailability of funds. With the right information at your disposal and harnessing that information, you are on your way to having the business of your dreams. 22 @thesparkng
Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development There will always be problems that need to be solved. While the Government has its role to play in making these problems go away, it has become evident that if sustainability is what we want, social entrepreneurship is a viable solution. This is how we can create the change we seek. - By Damilola Oyewusi “ Sourcing for grants and donations gets worse for young people who have a heart for doing social good. “ Outside of the public sector, Non-Governmental Organizations and other not-for-profit bodies have also contributed their quota. However, sourcing for grants and donations to keep up with social good is not the easiest venture. It gets even worse for young people who have a heart for doing social good. While those with connections are able to encourage traditional corporate organizations to fund good causes as Corporate Social Responsibility, the focus is usually on the ROI, be it in terms of goodwill (tax rebate) or preferably, figures. In addition to the financial challenges and ingrained in the problem of ill-structured projects, is the fear of maintaining the circle of an aid-dependent generation. While the ‘haves’ may have some moral responsibility to be of help to the ‘have nots’, it is also important to avoid encouraging a sense of helplessness laced in an entitlement mentality. No society can sustain a top to bottom approach of providing solutions to problems that fester beyond the wallets and pots to the mindset of people. The solutions have to be more holistic, combining features that would solve these two major problems of funding and inclusivity. To have a chance at achieving the SDG goals, we must find a way to include the stakeholders directly affected by each problem in the development of their respective solutions, in a way that can be sustained on the resources immediately within their reach. This is a key offering of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship (let’s call it S.I.E. hereafter). And to see more and more young people take up the challenge of creating social enterprises is not only heartwarming but most welcome. S.I.E. can provide an integrated solution to the root causes of many social problems across the state. In its true form, the horizontal engagement of stakeholders not only spurs a culture of responsibility, it is also a way to erode the entitlement mentality. Social innovation will put a spotlight on opportunities hidden within social and economic problems and empower everyday individuals to be their own wind keepers with the key goal being sustainability. This does not render the public sector’s role redundant in socio-economic development. Rather, it gives the citizens the right tools to know, the right questions to ask and the type of support to demand. Grooming a citizenry that is informed, genuinely concerned and actively involved in improving their own standard of living will turn out to be the most effective way of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
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The Spark Magazine (Jan 2018)

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