Flourish Africa, a female empowerment Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) has announced plans to empower 500 female entrepreneurs in Nigeria with a N1 billion grant over the next five years.
According to the Founder, Flourish Africa, Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, the N1 billion fund for female entrepreneurs is a major step towards supporting the entrepreneurial activities of female-owned businesses in Africa while also helping them achieve their full potentials.
With the pilot phase to kick off in Lagos and Abuja, Alakija, lamented over the huge chunk of women currently being left behind, noting that women represent 49.6 per cent of the world population and must be carried along to drive inclusive economic growth and development.
Addressing a press briefing, the Founder said out of the N1 billion fund, a sum of N2 million would be disbursed to 100 women every year for five years after going through a vigorous selection process, adding that working with its partners, the beneficiaries would also like be exposed to business and life skills training programmes to help them grow their businesses sustainably.
“I launched the Flourish Africa 1 billion Naira Fund last year during my 70th birthday as a gift to hardworking and enterprising women. This initiative will focus on empowering women economically and socially for the benefit of their immediate families and the society,” she said.
She further explained that one of its training partners, Eloh Consulting Limited will train the female entrepreneurs in 10 modules of management development over three months, while Google will train the entrepreneurs to use the “Google My Business” app to create visibility and grow their businesses.
Also speaking, Partner – Eloh Consulting Limited, Mrs. Lilian Uwaeme, stated that the company is proud to be partnering with Flourish Africa because the vision to empower 500 female entrepreneurs this year is a laudable one that aligns with Eloh Consulting’s values of empowerment.
