One of the major challenges aspiring entrepreneurs and start-ups in the country are often faced with is the lack of access to capital.
In this article, I will be outlining the top five places in Nigeria where you can apply for business grants.
It is important to note that unlike business loans where loan repayment is a must and interest is paid on the borrowed sum, grants are more or less free money. Yes you heard me right, with grants, there is no need to worry about interest rates or repayments.
So without further ado, here are the top five places to apply for a business grant in Nigeria:
1.TONY ELUMELU FOUNDATION (TEF) ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMME:
launched in 2015 and named after its founder, CEO and business tycoon Tony Elumelu, The TEF Entrepreneurship programme is by far the largest philanthropic initiative in the continent. It is a Pan-African programme and open to business ideas from all the 54 African countries from which the best business ideas are selected yearly into the programme. The selected participants are then trained, mentored and provided with seed funding of $5,000 each.Currently in its fourth year running, the TEF entrepreneurship programme have till date invested $25million in about 7520 businesses.
Applications are submitted online and in 2019 alone 216,025 applications were received.The portal is opened every year from the first of January to the 1st of March. To be considered for this opportunity, applicants must be 18 years old and must not be considered a minor in their country of residence. Also all businesses must be business ideas or an early stage company, in the range of 0 to 3 years old.
Furthermore, due to the success story of the programme, international partnerships have been made to further consolidate on the gains made and increase the number of grants to be awarded.
2. TEF-UNDP Youth Entrepreneurship Programme
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) have launched the TEF – UNDP Youth Entrepreneurship Programme to empower an additional 100,000 young African entrepreneurs over the next 10 years with seed capital, business management training and mentoring.
This Programme is borne out of the Foundation’s tried and tested approach to philanthropy which prioritises African entrepreneurs as the key enablers of economic development.
The first phase of this partnership titled the “TEF-UNDP Sahel Youth Entrepreneurship Programme” will be implemented this year (2019) and will empower 2,000 entrepreneurs from the following countries in the Sahel and Lake Chad region: Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Nigeria.
Please note that this is different from The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Programme.
You must be an African entrepreneur residing in any of these listed countries in the Sahel and Lake Chad region: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroun, Mauritania, Mali and Burkina Faso. Your business must not be more than 3yearsinexistence. Businesses at the idea/concept stage are also encouraged.
The focus on Sahel countries is only for the pilot phase where an initial group of 2,000 entrepreneurs from the Sahel and Lake Chad region will be empowered.
You cannot apply if you have been a beneficiary of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme. This is open to entrepreneurs who have not been beneficiaries of TEF entrepreneurship programme.
African entrepreneurs will gain non-refundable seed capital, access to a 12-week business training and mentoring. They will also receive visibility and numerous business networking opportunities.
The deadline for the 2019 applications is August 5, 2019.Interested entrepreneurs can apply on www.tefconnect.com or visit the nearest United Bank for Africa (UBA) branch in their country.
3.INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES Foundation KICKSTART NIGERIA PROGRAM For Start-ups
The International Breweries foundation, an arm of International Breweries Plc and a member of the AB InBev Family is delivering an impactful, developmental and sustainable project tagged Kickstart Nigeria. This is an initiative of the International Breweries Foundation that focuses on enterprise growth and development for young entrepreneurs.
Kickstart, an African initiative of the AB InBev group has been successfully implemented in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Tanzania. In Nigeria, the program started in 2016 and has run three editions in the South West and South East region of the country.
The programme supports youth-owned businesses through business training, seed capital to the tune of NGN 2,000,000 and post-investment support (mentoring and coaching).
It is aimed at instilling a culture of entrepreneurship among Nigerian youths by encouraging them to develop their big ideas into sustainable businesses or expand their existing businesses through the provision of material and financial support which include:
Eligibility Criteria:
- Applicants must be from 18 years to 35 years
- They must be able to communicate in English language (read, write and speak).
- They must reside in and have their business operations in Nigeria.
- Their business must be within the following areas: Agriculture Circular Packaging (e.g. recycling) Climate Action Water Stewardship ICT, Education, Manufacturing/Production Crafts Healthcare & Others
- For existing business, businesses must not be more than 3 years.
The deadline for the 2019 applications is July 31st, 2019.
4. ACCESS BANK PLC Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton 2019
As part of efforts to provide financial and business skills to female entrepreneurs, Access Bank Plc has announced the launch of its Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton 2019, a capacity building initiative which will provide financial grants as well as mini-MBA trainings in conjunction with the International Finance Corporation (IFC, a member of the World Bank Group) for fifty winners.
The Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton is targeted at women above the age of 18 who have been in business for at least one year.
The Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton 2019 will provide up to N10 million in financial grants and a unique capacity building program aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs. The Pitch-A-Ton is designed as a 3-month programme incorporating pitching sessions and 3 weeks of mini-MBA trainings in collaboration with the IFC.
Interested persons who meet the criteria are required to fill an online application. The five hundred candidates selected from this pool will then send in a sixty seconds video pitch which will be screened by a credible panel of business experts to select fifty finalists.”
As part of the graduation requirements, the fifty finalists will pitch their businesses, infusing learnings from the training and the winner will stand an opportunity to win N5 million in financial grants.
The Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton is the first women-in-business support initiative of its kind in the industry.
Application Deadline: August 9th, 2019
- First prize is N5 million
- Second prize is N3 million
- Third prize is N1 million
The top 50 applicants will receive a 2 weeks mini MBA training from the International Finance Corporation. The training will take place in Lagos. All successful applicants will be responsible for their transportation and logistics to the training venue.
5.YOUTH EMPOWERED NIGERIA
The #YouthEmpowered programme by Coca‑Cola Hellenic Bottling Company(CCHBC) is designed to give young people access to the life and business skills they need to transition into work.
It is a free CCHBC empowerment initiative that is aimed at supporting youth (aged 18-30) across its markets. The key focus is on individuals who are out of school, employment or those that need access to the right training, skills or confidence necessary to aim high and realize their goals.
Participants are trained with an extensive curriculum at the live workshops which run for 3 days. Topics covered range from project and time management to business planning, negotiation, financial literacy skills, communication and sales skills and so on.
During the workshop, participants are rounded up in groups with mentors to brainstorm and come up with business ideas that they will be pitching before a live audience for a chance to win a grant prize of N500,000.
In Nigeria, over 4,000 people have attended the live workshops with more than 8,000 registered on the Digital Hub. This July, Youth Empowered Workshop was live at Calabar, Cross River state with over 500 youths in attendance. Next stop is Abuja between October 8-10,2019.
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