Onitsha: Tuesday, July 25, 2016: 120 applicants out of the over 1,700 that applied for the maiden edition of the SABMiller Hero’s Foundation Kickstart programme have been shortlisted for the training and evaluation phase. The training, which will last for a week, will commence on August 7, 2016.

The programme, which is a Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiative of Intafact Beverages Limited, is aimed at developing a local culture of entrepreneurship among young people in the South East geopolitical zone of Nigeria and helping them bring their business ideas to reality.

The Corporate Affairs Manager of Intafact Beverages Limited, Mr. Chuma Umunna, who announced this, said a number of criteria including innovativeness, creativity, business expansion, new business/start-up, sustainability amongst others, were considered in shortlisting the applicants.

The initiative was officially launched in March, 2016 with over 1700 applicants the five states in the zone proposing business ideas that span furniture, welding/fabrication, agriculture, video/photography/media, fine and visual arts, event planning, transportation, education, waste management etc.

The 120 applicants were shortlisted by the Chike Okoli Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, who are managing the training and evaluation phase of the programme on behalf of the SABMiller Hero’s Foundation.

Prof. Alex Ikeme, a renowned teacher, coach and social entrepreneur, will facilitate the training along with the Director of Chike Okoli Foundation Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies, Prof. Ngozika Anyikwa.

Prof. Ikeme is currently the Provost at the Sinai College of Education and Entrepreneurship Studies and former African Coordinator, International Train to Success Business Project. Also, he was the founding Director, UMM Entrepreneurship Study Centre at University of Mkar, Mkar; founding Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship and Development Research, University of Nigeria Nsukka; and founding Director, Entrepreneurship Development Centre, (Central Bank of Nigeria Initiative) South-East Zone.

He is also the Founder and CEO, United Aid International – a non-governmental organisation focused on development of a new generation of entrepreneurs and innovators.

The modules of the training include Introduction to Entrepreneurship; Generating Business Ideas (Opportunities, Identification and Selection); Marketing Strategies; Financial Strategies; Organisational Strategies; Risk Analysis/Why Businesses Fail; Networking; Coaching and Mentoring and How to write a Winning Business Plan.

After their training, a panel of five seasoned and experienced judges will take the shortlisted applicants through a practical evaluation process.

According to the General Manager, Intafact Beverages Limited, Lukas Daniel Van-Deventer, the main objective of this programme is to ensure that “the teeming youth in the South East with bright business ideas to turn these ideas into reality and this will in turn reduce undergraduate unemployment by engaging them meaningfully through an entrepreneurship programme that will encourage them to bring their dreams to life.”