THE NEED

Everyone is selling something nowadays; either physically in marketplaces or on social media. Worldwide, there are about 300 million persons trying to start about 150 million businesses. About one third will be launched, so you can assume 50 million new firm births per year. Or about 137,000 per day.

In Nigeria alone, 0.76 businesses are registered per 1000 people aged 15 to 64 in 2016, according to CEIC. In 2020, the number of online buyers in Nigeria was at about 76.7 million. Nigeria is the 35th largest market for eCommerce with a revenue of US$5 billion in 2020, placing it ahead of the Czech Republic and behind Israel. With an increase of 42%, the Nigerian eCommerce market contributed to the worldwide growth rate of 26% in 2020. Currently, the e-commerce market in Nigeria is worth over $13 billion, according to a report by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Experts in the Nigerian financial service sector have also estimated that Nigeria’s e-commerce market value could rise to $50 billion over the next decade.

Nigeria is at the forefront of the business and startup rush, according to a poll performed by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. 35 Nigerian adults out of every 100 are active in some form of entrepreneurship, says the report. Nigeria’s global entrepreneurship index was 20.8 in 2019, up from 19.75 the previous year, representing a 5.33 percent increase.

But, why the rush to business?

Unemployment in the world over is increasing by the day, and so is the rate of people getting laid off from work. No one wants to leave his fate hanging since there is no more job security. That’s why every Tom, Dick and Harry is in business.

This prompted Ngbale Jude David to embark on a project titled “Passion to Business Empire” under DO-Take Action to enlighten youths on how to turn their passion into a profitable business. He is a social agent passionate about training and equipping youths with the skills to build profitable businesses.

The project is under Decent Work, Economic Growth And Trade; a program designed to empower Out-of-School Youths with specific skills i.e (Finance, Marketing & promotion, Strategy, Operations Management, Supply chain, Distribution, Customer service, Fundraising, and Raising Capital) which they will need to grow their business or hustle.

David carried out the project at Karewa GRA, Jimeta Yola, and it entailed the following details;

•         Introduction, meet and greet
•         A keynote presentation on functional steps on how to start and grow a business into an empire
•         An interactive Q/A session where participants asked questions and were given informed answers
•         Practical training sessions on some vocational skills

In the course of the project, over 10 young entrepreneurs got trained on functional steps on how to start and grow a business into an empire. The participants pledged to recruit and create opportunities for out-of-school youths within their community. A minimum of 3 GDCs recruited from the participants to organize a Passion to Business Empire outreach in their community.