GAIN, Afreximbank empowers young African entreprenuers 

From Fred Ezeh, Abuja

GAIN is a Pan-African non-governmental organization that is committed to helping African young men and women, between 15 and 35 years, to develop and harness their unique ideas, talents and abilities for success in education, entrepreneurship, innovation and employment.

It also train, empower and provide technical support to African young men and women by equipping them with digital, leadership, employability and entrepreneurial skills for self-sustenance.

Executive Director of GAIN, Chinwe Okoli, in a statement, explained that the empowerment programme was part of the Afreximbank’s effort to increase participation of African young entrepreneurs in cross border trade and expand trading activity under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) which is pivotal to the continent’s economic transformation and integration.

She said the program was designed to equip young African entrepreneurs who were selected from across Africa with skills to build and scale their businesses across borders, learn key insights that will help them identify opportunities in various African markets, expand their businesses, manage trade finance, form partnerships, grow income, leverage the opportunities of the AfCFTA, attract foreign direct investment and create employment for more youths.

She disclosed that the program received applications from 1,376 young African entrepreneurs from 29 African countries out of which 200 participants were selected based on the set criteria.

She added: “The program kicked-off on the August 8th, 2022, with a virtual opening ceremony which had the Senior Manager, AU/AfCFTA Relations and Trade Policy, Afreximbank, Mr. Babajide Sodipo, the High Commissioner of South Africa to Nigeria, His Excellency, Thami Mseleku, and the selected participants and members of the public in attendance.

“It was a three months programme that had intensive master class facilitated by global experts and leaders in various aspects of business who brought in class experience and mastery. The participants acquired knowledge from facilitators from Africa, America, and Europe who covered 15 broad topics which was followed by mentorship and business advisory sessions with experienced mentors and experts in various business sectors.”

She said that the expected outcome of the program include, increase in the number of properly structured businesses, rise in international business partnership deals between young entrepreneurs to promote intra-Africa trade, emergence of new breed of global entrepreneurs in Africa, creation of more job opportunities for Africa youths.

She confirmed that participants were equipped with skills and knowledge needed to build globally competitive businesses, record higher trade volumes, position, and expand their businesses to take advantage of the AfCFTA and contribute to economic development of Africa.

Some of the participants, in their assessment of the programme appreciated the organisers and confirmed that the programme exposed them to several toolkits to build a formidable and successful businesses that would have global impact.

A participant from Nigeria, Amina Onawo Mohammed, said, “This program is topnotch. It went beyond my imagination. I applied SWOT techniques to strategize my business which really helped out these three months”

A participant from Malawi, Robert Chikuse, said, “before I joined the program, my ideas were not structured and I was blind to the possibilities out there and how I could benefit from the ACFTA. This program introduced the idea of networking and the importance of having a clearly defined strategy and branding.

Another participant from Kenya, Kevin Maino, said, “The program is an important step towards opening up African opportunities and expanding youths engagement in the international trade and exports market”.