Airtel reaffirms commitment to young entrepreneurs, SMEs

Leading telecommunications services provider, Airtel Nigeria, has restated its commitment to the growth and development of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria with the view of deepening the economy.

Speaking on its partnership with SME 100 Nigeria’s 25 Under 25 Entrepreneurs Awards, Airtel said that there is a growing recognition of the vital role that SMEs play in economic development, especially youth-run enterprises and it has become very important for all stakeholders to encourage and support youth entrepreneurs that are creating value.

“Over half of Nigeria’s population today are below age 30 and it is imperative to set the youth on the right track, acknowledging their skills, recognising creativity, hard work, courage, resilience and supporting their ideas in order to build a viable economy,” the telco noted.

The third edition of the Airtel-sponsored SME 100 Nigeria’s 25 Under 25 Entrepreneurs Awards held on Saturday, August 4 2018 at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Out of over 4,500 applicants across several sectors, the jury of the awards’ platform selected 25 entrepreneurs that have successfully made socio-economic impact since the establishment of their business.

The award categories spanned across different industries from information technology (IT), media and communications, energy, education, health care, e-commerce, fin-tech, arts and craft, agriculture, fashion, hospitality, manufacturing, sports, and music, among others.

According to Charles Odii, executive director, SME 100 Nigeria, “This award is beyond recognising innovative young entrepreneurs, it is a call to join a group of top-notch entrepreneurs, mentors and industrialists across a wide range of industry in the SME 100 community”.

The 25 Under 25 Entrepreneurs Awards is an annual award by SME 100 to recognise, celebrate and encourage some of Nigeria’s most innovative entrepreneurs under the age of 25 across various categories.

Ifeoma Okeke