Virgin Atlantic partner Zenith Bank, others on Enterprise Challenge

Virgin Atlantic Airways has partnered Zenith Bank Plc, for the second year on the promotion of entrepreneurship among Nigerian youths with the launch of ‘The Enterprise Challenge’, a competition to promote entrepreneurship among young Nigerians.

Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos which coincided with the opening of a 3-day Boot camp to horn the entrepreneurship skills of the 20 shortlisted participants of the competition, Justin Bell, Airport Manager, Virgin Atlantic Airways, said the competition was organized to test the business skills of young Nigerians aged 18 – 35 years.

She disclosed that the 20 participants were drawn from over 11,000 entries from the heavily advertised competition across 22 states of the federation. The shortlisted candidates are partaking in a 3-day Boot Camp under the mentorship of trainers/resource persons from the Richard Branson Centre in South Africa, with the first three finalists to be sent to London where they will meet with the maverick Richard Branson for further mentorship.

Explaining Zenith Bank’s involvement in the competition, Sola Oladipo, Executive Director of the Bank, said it was part of the bank’s strategic vision to partner with any initiative that is targeted at developing the Nigerian youths.

Throwing more light, Oladipo said that the bank already has a number of initiatives targeting the Nigerian youths and as such they, at Zenith Bank, were only too happy to sponsor the competition since it was aimed at positively channeling the energies and talents of the Nigerian youths towards nation building.

He explained further that for a country like Nigeria that is struggling with worsening unemployment, The Enterprise Challenge is an initiative that should be encouraged as it has the potential to address graduate unemployment.

IFEOMA OKEKE