40 Youth Entrepreneurs Receive N82m Seed Capital from Hero’s Foundation

Hero’s Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of Intafact Beverages has empowered

40 youth entrepreneurs with amounts ranging from N1million to N3million as seed capital to power their vision of becoming entrepreneurs.

The Foundation on Tuesday in Onitsha in the second phase of its kickstart programme doled out the cash, saying that its dream was to raise the next set of entrepreneurs that would employ others as a way of fighting unemployment in the society.

The foundation said the awardees were chosen after a one week rigorous training and mentoring sessions by seasoned business experts.

The beneficiaries, drawn from the five states of the South East, as well as Benue, Delta and Edo states were empowered in Cat fish farming, poultry, table water, palm oil, pigry, photography, theatre and entertainment, among others.

The chairman of the foundation and the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe said that the beneficiaries were selected from a total of 5,000 applications tendered to the foundation.

He said the foundation last year, empowered a total of 24 youths from 1,700 applicants, a sharp increase he described as a clear indication of the steady growth of teeming unemployed youths in Nigeria seeking for opportunities to nurture their God-given talents.

He however said the organisation has been filling that gap, expressing satisfaction that all the beneficiaries were making progress in their various areas of endeavours, urging them to double their efforts.

Achebe was also optimistic that the entrepreneurs, through their empowerment, would touch lives in many ways especially in this economic challenges bedeviling the nation.