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Folorunsho Alakija
Flourish Africa, the women empowerment movement founded by Folorunsho Alakija, said it has awarded business grants of up to N2m to 100 female entrepreneurs out of its N1bn fund earmarked to empower 2,500 female entrepreneurs in five years.
It said in a statement that a total of 500 female entrepreneurs graduated from Flourish Africa’s ‘Business and life skills training programme’ which was designed to provide business coaching and mentoring for female owned micro, small and medium enterprises. 100 of them received seed grants to grow their businesses.
Speaking at the event, Africa’s businesswoman and philanthropist, Folorunso Alakija said, “Our vision was clear from the onset. Understanding that economic inequality was still a major challenge for women in Africa, we set out to establish a platform that would allow us to empower women, who would then empower other women.
“In line with the popular saying, When you empower a woman, you empower the whole world” I am delighted to say that we are grooming the next generation of business leaders whose informed choices in business and life will positively impact their families, communities and in the long run contribute to the socio-economic development of Nigeria”
While delivering the keynote speech at the event, the Co-Founder, Sahel Consulting, Mrs Ndidi Nwuneli, said women hold the key to transforming not only Nigeria but the entire African continent.
She noted that it had become imperative for women to rise above any stumbling block by venturing into uncharted territories to realise their potentials.
She added that despite the challenging operating environment, some women had continued to shatter the glass ceilings to become great achievers and chief executive officers of many corporate organisations in the country.
Though these activities indicate progress, she said “That is not enough. Statistics of land ownership shows that only 10 per cent of women in Nigeria own lands and when you do not own land as an entrepreneur, it limits you from owning collateral and investing in long term assets like a factory. So women need to become owners of assets.”
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