Seplat Energy Joint Venture has supported young entrepreneurs with financial grants through its Entrepreneurship Fellowship Programme in partnership with Conversation for Change, a non-governmental organisation.
Partners in the JV explained that the aim of the programme was to also develop participants’ leadership skills, social entrepreneurship, and business management abilities, through customised and targeted capacity building workshops.
At an event in Abuja, on Tuesday, to celebrate the past beneficiaries (fellows) of the programme, which began in 2019, Seplat reaffirmed its commitment with another N16.5m funding in seed money to the programme’s partners, C4C.
The Director of External Affairs and Sustainability, Seplat Energy, Dr Chioma Nwachuku, stated that through the Seplat JV/C4C partnership, the company had successfully trained and supported three batches of fellows.
This, she said, comprised about 55 young entrepreneurs, who were thriving, creating value and boosting Nigeria’s economy.
“Each beneficiary has shown resilience, creativity and innovation through the duration of the yearly programme and has now become our proof that we could truly make Nigeria better by investing in the youth population,” she stated.
A lecture with theme “Unleashing Nigeria’s Untapped Potential through Entrepreneurship and Sustainability” was delivered to the fellows to commemorate the occasion.
The lecture, which was given by a former Independent Non-Executive Director of Seplat Energy Plc, and scholar at Said Business School, University of Oxford, Ms Arunma Oteh, was to build more capacity and further equip the entrepreneurs.
Oteh commended Seplat Energy JV and its partner, C4C, for their strong commitment to youth empowerment in Nigeria, stating that their activities had helped reduce unemployment and ameliorate the poverty level in Nigeria.
