By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Over N100 million has been invested over the past five years in the Corpreneurship Challenge, an entrepreneurship development initiative of Unity Bank Plc.
Launched in 2019 with pilots in four states of Lagos, Edo, Ogun, and Abuja and scaled to 10 states in 2020, the scheme is promoted in partnership with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED).
The initiative features a business pitch presentation where participants, who are mostly fresh graduates participating in the one-year compulsory NYSC service, get the opportunity to present their business plans and stand a chance to win business grants.
Recently, no fewer than 400 fresh graduates benefited from the challenge, reflecting the bank’s commitment to driving economic growth by supporting the next generation of Nigerian entrepreneurs.
The prize money was increased to N16 million per stream, allowing participants who emerge winners in the business pitch to win N800,000, N500,000, and N300,000 business grants for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd positions, respectively as against the previous editions in which the sum of N500,000; N300,000 and N200,000 were handed out to respective winners.
“The Corpreneurship Challenge has proved to be a viable enterprise development and empowerment initiative due to its high level of success in supporting budding entrepreneurs in the target demographic, as well as the size of the problem it is designed to solve for the Nigerian economy,” the Divisional Head of Digital Banking and Fintech Partnerships at Unity Bank, Mr Olufunwa Akinmade, who led the pioneer team that designed the initiative and launched the pilot, said.
He expressed satisfaction with Corpreneurship Challenge’s rising profile as one of the leading sector-agnostic business incubators in Nigeria and said the Bank is committed to sustaining the programme to attain even greater impact required to boost job creation, with young entrepreneurs leading the charge.
Also speaking, the Divisional Head of Retail and SME Banking, Mrs Adenike Ambimbola, said, “We have seen the positive impact of the Corpreneurship Challenge over the past five years because of its innovative approach to youth empowerment and job creation, including a holistic strategy of supporting budding entrepreneurs with mentorship, and skills development, besides the financial backing.”
Since its launch, the Corpreneurship Challenge train has crisscrossed the length and breadth of Nigeria, making a stop in 10 States per stream to turn the dreams of fresh graduates and aspiring entrepreneurs into reality, thus supporting the growth of the SME sector in Nigeria.
The latest edition was held across 10 states, including Taraba, Kogi, FCT, Lagos, Yobe, Ogun, Ebonyi, Enugu, Adamawa, and Imo State, with three winners emerging in each State to make up 30 winners for the edition.