International Breweries Gives Out N60 Million To 50 Entrepreneurs

Kickstart, an arm of International Breweries Plc, has awarded N60 million to 50 entrepreneurs chosen from across the country.

According to a statement, this was done during the company’s 7th Awards ceremony in Lagos, noting that the aim of the scheme is to promote and empower youths in Nigeria between the ages of 18 to 35 years to embrace entrepreneurship through intensive business training, mentorship, and the award of grants.

The Managing Director, International Breweries Plc, Hugo Rocha, said, “The idea behind Kickstart is to raise entrepreneurs with thriving businesses who will become employers of the labour themselves, thereby acting as agents for taking other people out of the unemployment market in the country.

“The success stories we have recorded inspire us to do more. Kickstart is an intervention that contributes to Goal 1 (no Poverty) and Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) of UNSDGs.”

Speaking, the Chairman of the Advisory Board, International Breweries Foundation, Peter Bankole, said, “We envision that Kickstart will be the nursery of innovation in business, where we plant, nurture, and transfer through training, granting, and mentoring.”

According to the statement, Babatunde Adebayo, who won the grand prize of N3 million said, “Winning the grand prize of N3 million gives me great joy.

"The funds will enable us at our company, an eco-circular solutions provider to automate the process of converting materials into buildings such as eco-ceiling tiles which are made from waste paper, rubber, plastic, and others. 

Senator Babafemi Ojudu, who represented the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, at the event added: “I encourage those who benefit from it because it is through entrepreneurial activities like Kickstart that Nigeria can become great.

“There is a limit to the jobs the government and its agencies can provide.

"Our youths can only be engaged through the collaboration of the private sector and the government to empower them for wealth creation and nation-building.”