TOTAL heralds emergence of new entrepreneurs
After five months of unveiling the TOTAL “Startupper of the year challenge” by Total Nigeria Plc and Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria on November 1, 2015, the winners have emerged.
A total number of 1,934 projects were submitted and evaluated to get the top 30. The process was conducted, in accordance with the contest rules, by the first level reviewers who comprised of carefully selected professionals, business experts, professors and senior lecturers in Nigeria.
Thereafter there was a second level evaluation by a jury of professionals who reviewed and selected the top ten projects based on specific criteria which include innovation, originality, audacity and potential to impact on socio-economic development of the Nigerian society and its people. These finalists received high impact one-on-one coaching engagements with top business technocrats who served as mentors.
The three best projects were awarded at the official awards ceremony which took place on recently at Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island Lagos. The winners are Opeyemi Owosho of Fitco Tech Integrated Venture, who took first place position, Uzoma Eleke of Zeta Prime Alternative Technologies, who came second and Emeka Nwachinemere of Kitovu Ltd. who took third place in the challenge.
Ibukun Awosika, the head of the jury said that |when you look at the solutions all the three winners tend to solve with their projects, you will agree that they are solutions that will solve problems of millions of Nigerians and with the support of Total and all the education and mentoring they received during the process, they can build a viable business that can also employ other Nigerians”
These winners received the Startupper 2016 Award by Total, as well as financial assistance and guidance from Total in Nigeria. The top three projects were selected from the ten finalists at a pitch event on April 6, 2016 in Oriental Hotel, Lagos. This was after evaluation of their project presentations by the honourable ten-man Jury for the “Startupper of the year” Challenge in Nigeria.
Alexis Vovk, Managing Director, Total Nigeria Plc said that “the Challenge is to support young Nigerian entrepreneurs by not only giving them financial support but also customized coaching, an impactful and rewarding label, and visibility” adding that Total identified that young entrepreneurs are not only interested in financial support but are also looking for empowerment and visibility.
“When I saw the three winners going on stage with the confidence they have, I felt happy that Total has supported this idea that has enabled the emergence of new ideas for some young Nigerians who want to create jobs. What is more important is to make sure that those projects are actualized. Now is the time to help them turn the ideas to real businesses. We have asked our managers in Total Group to support and monitor them so that those ideas can become proper companies”, Vovk said.
The overall winner, Opeyemi Owosho of Fitco Tech Integrated Venture, will represent Nigeria in the African contest. His project is on intelligent gas cooker with pre-installed safety regulator in case of any leakage said that the award will enable him move from producing 50 units per month to 1,000 units per month.
Owosho said that sourcing for fund for his project was most challenging. “Before now, I thought that banks will run after me when I perfected my patent but that never happened”, he said.
The challenge which was initiated simultaneously by the Total Group in 34 countries in Africa aimed to identify, reward and provide support to the best business creation and business development projects under two years of existence in Nigeria by Nigerians aged thirty-five years and below.
The Challenge, “Startupper of the Year by Total” stemmed from the Corporate Social Responsibility policy of Total to support the socio-economic development of all countries where the Group operates worldwide. It is an initiative with a very concrete response towards strengthening the industrial fabric and improving employment locally.
Total is achieving this by providing support to these bold and highly innovative entrepreneurs to successfully develop and grow their projects. This is in line with the values of the Total Group to support new initiatives that will improve the lives of communities across continents.
FRANK UZUEGBUNAM