The objective of the project is to unlock the potential of
African youths and transform job seekers into sustainable job creators to help
in bridging the unemployment gap and reduce the failure rate of startups.
In her remarks, the Associate Dean, Lagos Business School,
Prof. Yinka David-West, said “As the Nigerian and African economies digitise,
we are excited to be a part of this network creating and building a new crop of
digital entrepreneurs that will focus on Africa’s social and institutional
problems. With the Nexus Project, it is our vision that Africa’s crop of tech venture builders
will be better positioned to gain the best form of support, coaching and
mentoring to become entrepreneurs worthy of emulation from other Africans
across sectors.”.
In the first phase of the project, a total of 30 African
techpreneurs representing 15 projects/business ventures with great
entrepreneurial ideas will be trained, mentored, and supported to transform
their ideas into investable and sustainable ventures.
The beneficiaries who are selected for the training will
undergo a 6-month (April to August 2022) management programme which delivers
specialist knowledge transfer, education, coaching, and mentoring to propel
their venture ideas to investment readiness and connect them to a nexus of
investors.
Speaking at the formal launch of the project which was held
virtually on March 30, 2022, the Project Director and LBS Faculty, Dr Adun
Okupe said; “The Nexus project provides the opportunity for management
education to address the emerging need for entrepreneurship development in
Africa and a chance to improve the success rates of startups in Africa.”
Jean-Pierre Choulet, Vice-Dean Africa, Henley Business
School stated that; “There is a critical need to provide the required platform
for African youths to jumpstart their entrepreneurial journey while providing
them with adequate support to scale their businesses. Through this partnership,
we believe that the beneficiaries will have requisite coaching, mentoring
support as well as access to relevant information to enable them to make
informed decisions while connecting them to a pool of investors who can propel
their ideas to the next level.”
Speaking on Semicolon’s participation on the project, the
CEO of Semicolon Africa, Mr Sam Immanuel stated that; “We are pleased to
collaborate with the Lagos Business School (LBS) and Henley Business School on
this initiative that sets to increase the success stories of African youths who
are boisterous, creative, and desirous of building sustainable businesses to
last a lifetime.”
Meanwhile, five MBA Alumni of Lagos Business School have
been on-boarded onto the coaching and mentorship programme to provide technical
skills support to the participants. The mentors are CEO, Sustmark Consult,
Oluwafemi Adeniba; Founder, Truss Empowerment Foundation, Azukaego Chukwuelue;
CEO, BPI Advisory, Deji Agboade; Founder, Brickstone Africa, Femi Awofala and
CEOr, Julie Harrison Pharmacy Ltd, Ada Okorie.
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