Government dignitaries, heads of agencies, and captains of industries were in attendance at the sixth edition of the youth enterprise empowerment scheme, Kickstart Initiative Awards Ceremony which heldin Lagos recently.
The corporate social investment scheme initiated by the International Breweries Foundation, the CSR arm of International Breweries Plc, a proud part of the world’s largest brewers – AB InBev gave out grants totalling 60 million nairacash to 50 young entrepreneurs across Nigeria as well as training, mentoring and ancillary costs worth another 40 million naira to other teeming youths.
Kickstart Initiative empowers young entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 35 and has been activated in the South-Western and South-Eastern parts of Nigeria since 2015 before evolving into a full-scale national programme in 2019.
With agriculture, circular packaging (recycling), water stewardship, renewable energy, retailing and others as this year’s focus areas, individual winners received grants ranging from 400,000 naira to 3 million naira, and for the first time, the people living with disabilities category was introduced to the list of awardees.