OGRepublic August Edition

INDUSTRY NEWS
Shell LiveWIRE Beneficiaries Receive N48 million Grant to
Set up Business
Social Performance and Social
Investment Manager, The Shell
Petroleum Development Company
of Nigeria Limited, Dr. Gloria Udoh
(middle), presents a N48 million cheque to
representatives of the 117 beneficiaries of
the Shell Nigeria LiveWIRE programme at a
graduation ceremony in Port Harcourt… on
Friday
Social Performance and Social Investment
M a n a g e r, T h e S h e l l P e t r o l e u m
Development Company of Nigeria Limited,
Dr. Gloria Udoh presented a N48 million
cheque to representatives of the 117
beneficiaries of the Shell Nigeria LiveWIRE
programme at a graduation ceremony held
in Port Harcourt over the weekend
117 young entrepreneurs from the Niger
Delta have graduated from the Shell
Nigeria LiveWIRE programme and have
been awarded this money as a grant to
either establish or expand their
businesses.
This brings to 7,913 the total number of
beneficiaries of the youth enterprise
development programme since inception
in 2003.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony,
Shell’s Country Head of Corporate
Relations, Igo Weli, restated the
commitment of SPDC to the development
of Niger Delta youths and providing them
alternative livelihood opportunities
t h r o u g h L i v e W I R E a n d o t h e r
empowerment programmes in the wider
social investment portfolio of the
company.
Weli said, “This is one opportunity to set
you on the path of self-reliance and to be
employers of labour as we have seen with
previous beneficiaries of the programme
many of whom are now employers with
several others having also taken up the
opportunity to play in SPDC’s supply chain
as vendors.”
Explaining the criteria for the selection of
the beneficiaries from across the Niger
Delta, Dr. Udoh, said the selection was
from a pool of graduates from university or
its equivalent who have credible business
ideas and were able to produce a business
plan.
“The 117 beneficiaries were selected from
a large pool of participants who went
through the entrepreneurship training; wrote
their business plans and successfully pitched
their business ideas. The expectation is that
they will be able to successfully establish or
expand their businesses and also enjoy the
many linkage opportunities offered by SPDC,”
Udoh said.
Previous beneficiaries, who now run successful
businesses, also inspired the graduates with
their own stories towards success. Yolo
Bakumor Smith, the Chief Executive Officer of
De-Rabacon Plastics, described the training as
priceless. “It was instrumental to using the
limited resources to improvise and
implementing a plan that has led me to still
making profit.”
Executive Director, Centre for Information and
Development, Mrs. Belema Ogbuigwe,
inducted the new graduates into the Shell
LiveWire Alumni group, which further enables
the young entrepreneurs to enjoy mentorship
from previous beneficiaries.
In the last 10 years, five Shell Nigeria LiveWIRE
beneficiaries have won the LiveWIRE
International “Go and Trade Enterprise Linkage
Award” which enabled them to make
international trade visits to the United
Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and Ghana.
LiveWIRE beneficiaries are also able to join
thousands of young entrepreneurs from all over
the world who compete for the Global Shell
LiveWIRE Top Ten Innovators Award which
comes with huge benefits and rewards.
Shell LiveWIRE Nigeria is the flagship of our
youth enterprise development programmes.
The initiative was launched in Nigeria on March
27, 2003, to provide access to entrepreneurship
training, business development services as well as
business start-up capital for youth-owned
businesses. The programme also provides
opportunity for beneficiaries to access fund from
financial institutions. To date, 6,580 youths have
been trained and 3373 have received business
start-up grants. Most of whom are now employers
of labour.
The objectives for the LiveWIRE Programme in
Nigeria are to;
3Provide intensive entrepreneurship training
3Raise business awareness amongst final year
university students to encourage them to see
starting a business as a valid career option.
3Support youths to discover and develop business
'ideas' through Bright Ideas workshops.
3Make available to youths, business planning and
management guidelines and skills through the
‘Become A Successful Owner Manager Course’
(BSOM).
3Provide business start-up grant for candidates
with the best business plan
3Run awards for best business plans, of which the
prize gives access to micro-credit facilities, through
third parties like banks, NGOs and allied financial
institutions.
3Support young entrepreneurs to formalise their
businesses
3Run an award for young people who have
sustained a business for 1 to 3 years and continue
the award on an annual basis.
3Provide a volunteer mentoring programme for
those who have completed the training course and
decide to pursue starting their own business.
3Mentors can be drawn from oil and gas, banking,
social voluntary sectors, etc.
3Provide opportunity for young people to
participate in global award programmes
3Provides automatic membership of LiveWIRE
alumni
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