Mitsubishi Corporation partners with Fate Foundation to support 1,000 Young Entrepreneurs

FATE Foundat i o n with the support of Mitsubishi Corporation announced an expanded programme to support 1,000 Nigerian entrepreneurs in 2021. This support by Mitsubishi Corporation is enabled by grant from the 2020 Mitsubishi International Contributions programme which FATE Foundation has secured for a second year running.

The overarching theme for this programme is “Realizing an Inclusive Soc i e t y ” with the objective to aid income generation for the selected young and female Nigerian entrepreneurs while also facilitating their development of agribusiness products/ services which address societal challenges (like food safety, nutrition and post- harvest loss). In light of the current pandemic, the programme support will be focused on MSMES to help them build resilience during and beyond this period.

In 2019, Mitsubishi Corporation supported FATE Foundation in enabling 40 aspiring young entrepreneurs in the agribusiness to get business knowledge and growth support services which also included increasing their capacity to access funding and also registering/ formalising their businesses. One of the graduates from that programme, Ante Joseph, an entrepreneur who owns Lagos based Maatalous Nasah had this to say about his experience, “My Business was able to survive last year due to the knowledge and support we received from FATE Foundation and Mitsubishi Corporation for the Aspiring Entrepreneurs Agribusiness programme. I was able to grow my business by 28percent and with all I learnt, I am putting in structures in place for long term sustainability and impact.”

Commenting on the partnership, Adenike Adeyemi, the Executive Director of FATE Foundation noted that “We are elated about the positive outcomes of our last partnership engagement with Mitsubishi Corporation Nigeria and we remain committed to supporting young Nigerian entrepreneurs contribute to the economic recovery of our nation after the COVID-19 pandemic and are excited to continue working with Mitsubishi Corporation to reach more entrepreneurs this year”.