From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
The Connak Foundation, an NGO, has said it was soon going to disburse $5,000 grant to each of the successful youths currently undergoing entrepreneurship training in her facilities.
The lead facilitator for Connak Foundation Entrepreneurship Initiative (COFEI), Dr Emeka Unachukwu made this known during the “Five thousand dollars grant challenge” Bootcamp held in Umuahia, Abia State as part of the activities to mark the foundation’s 10th anniversary.
Dr Unachukwu said the Initiative is the second biggest Entrepreneurship Initiative in Nigeria, pointing out that the whole process is not an Abia State affair, but a National initiative targeted at empowering young minds across Nigeria.
According to Dr Unachukwu, “the Initiative recruited eight thousand people with eleven weeks of online training in which an assessment was done and four hundred and fifty participants were selected, which represents the Eastern, Northern, and Southern parts of Nigeria”.
He noted that the Abia State Bootcamp is the centre that accommodates Eastern Nigeria.
He said after the capacity-building training, the participants will be allowed to present their business plans, after which the successful ones will be empowered with a $5,000 grant each to start up their businesses.
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The CEO of the Foundation, Mrs Carole E Sunday, said entrepreneurial development is the major avenue to create wealth for economic development.
Mrs Sunday advised participants of the Connak Foundation Entrepreneurship Initiative Bootcamp to take the program seriously so as to be successful and better their lots in society.
She described Connak Foundation as a non-profit organization established in 2012 with a vision to tackle youth unemployment, which she said has resulted in social malice reduction.
She disclosed that the Foundation has created opportunities for economic empowerment and growth in Nigeria, adding that the NGO is poised to strengthen the economic capacities of youths and women to become agents of change in their communities.
She expressed gratitude that the foundation has succeeded in sensitizing the youth not to any longer depend on white-collar jobs and develop themselves to contribute to the economic development of Nigeria and the world at large.