By Judith Obaze
LEAP Africa has trained 19 young entrepreneurs on social innovators program (SIP).
The initiative was part of efforts by the organisation to empower and equip new set of African leaders by providing the skills and tools for personal, organisational and community transformation.
Speaking to journalists in Lagos, on the development, the organisation’s Manager, Corporate Communications, Kehinde Ayeni, told journalist that LEAP Africa’s SIP supports creative and young Nigerians with ideas and initiatives that proffer effective solutions to identified challenges in local communities across the country.
She said the program is a one-year fellowship that culminates in an award ceremony to celebrate entrepreneurs that are highly creative, championing social enterprises and improving their personal lives and the communities around them.
Ayeni, who noted that each participant, having been inducted, is expected to be exposed to various pool of resources to better their lives after graduating from the programme.
According to her, “We work with them through different models to ensure that we achieve our objectives and that of our partners, collaborating with them so that problems that have been identify or they have at this program would be solved.
“The SIP is one of the platforms we work with social entrepreneurs in Nigeria to scale up the impact of their initiatives and ventures, we work with them to strengthened their ventures and ensure that the move into a sustainability model that allows them to increase the work that they do horizontally.
“We have three principal touch points with them – where they are linked up with mentors to clock about 60 hours between two months and also we have virtual learning program to support the gap that has been identified.
“Today is the beginning of 2019 fellowship for 19 entrepreneurs that has been selected across the country and the fellowship over the time has graduated over 100,” she said.
The organisation has inspired about 50,000 youths, teachers, civil society organisations (CSOs), business owners and social entrepreneurs, to lead ethically while implementing initiatives that contribute to national development.
The Executives Director, Leap Africa, Femi Taiwo, said the organisation has been empowering youths across the country for five years.
“Basically we give them access to partners, resources and others networks that are useful to their lives, so specifically with this class we want to help them strengthen their organisation.
“Many of them have moved from just running initiatives to making it an organisation and an institution; that means many things, thinking of their system, structures within their organisation, funding raising, keeping books right, legal entity and filling taxes rightly,” he said.
