Peter Uzoho
TotalEnergies Nigeria has announced the commencement of the third edition of its Startupper of the Year Challenge, an initiative designed to support young entrepreneurs in Nigeria and Africa to grow their businesses.
Three winners are expected to emerge from the three categories of the competition in each country and each winners will be rewarded with a N5-million cash price as seed fund and quality business coaching.
The Executive General Manager, TotalEnergies Country Services, Mrs Olubunmi Popoola-Mordi, announced this at a press conference in Lagos, recently, saying the Startupper Challenge was designed to support and reward young entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 35, who had created a company in the past two years.
She said the projects submitted by the applicants would be assessed based on their innovative character, feasibility and development potential and as well as how they relate to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as defined by the United Nations.
According to her, the 2021/2022 Startupper Challenge will take place in 33 African countries and was a reaffirmation of TotalEnergies commitment to the socio-economic development of the continent.
Popoola-Mordi said: “For Nigeria and in other countries, there will be winners in three categories. Best Business Creation Project, Best Startup under three years old; and Best Female Entrepreneur.
“Each winner will be given N5 million financial support, personalised coaching and mentoring, networking opportunities as well as media visibility.”
She said the winners for Nigeria would thereafter compete with their peers from other African countries for the three grand prizes of Grand Winner, Best Business Creation, Grand Winner, Best Startup Under three years old and Grand Winner, and Best Female Entrepreneur.
She said entry applications for the competition would begin on November 4 , 2021 while the winners would be announced in April 2022.
Giving further insights into the programme, TotalEnergies Country Communication Manager, Dr Charles Ebereonwu, said beyond the cash wins, the winners would be given quality post-competition business coaching and technical supports.
He said part of the challenges faced by business start-ups in Nigeria and Africa was the lack of mentorship and proper hand-holding, adding that the programme was essentially designed to empower the youth, create employment and tackle poverty in Africa.
Sharing his experience at the competition, the winner of the first edition of the Startupper Challenge, Mr. Opeyemi Owosho, said the opportunity had helped him to grow his company to a bigger brand.
He said apart from the financial reward, the training and mentoring by TotalEnergies had helped the company to develop a more sustainable business model in the last few years.
