Folorunso Alakija launches Flourish Africa to help women entrepreneurs

Folorunso Alakija launched the non-governmental group Flourish Africa, which has given 100 recipients N2 million seed funds for their enterprises and equipped 501 female entrepreneurs with a variety of skills after they won a business pitch competition.

In Lagos, the Flourish Africa Business and Life Skills Training Programme was designed to develop the next wave of economically independent women on the continent. Over the course of the four-month training, subjects including financial management, marketing, branding, leadership, and business planning were addressed.

The program's creator, Folorunso Alakija, congratulated the second group of entrepreneurs on finishing the course and gave them advice on how to apply the information and abilities they had learned. She also exhorted the award recipients to improve their areas of influence and support the expansion of the Nigerian economy.

Alakija highlighted her joy at the lasting influence Flourish Africa has had on thousands of women, as seen by the way their businesses have developed into well-known enterprises that benefit their local communities. According to her, Flourish Africa's goal is to support the entrepreneurial endeavours of at least 2,500 women entrepreneurs by giving them the capital and organised training they need over a five-year period, enabling them to build profitable enterprises and equipping them with managerial skills.

She also thanked each and every partner for their assistance to date and urged additional organisations and public-spirited people to help this admirable cause by providing funds, mentoring, training, and advisory services. Such acts, according to her, would greatly help in expanding its operations throughout Africa and beyond, not just in Nigeria.

Among the partners who spoke at the event was Ms. Em Ekong, the West Africa Regional Director of Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs, who praised Alakija for her outstanding initiative and her crucial role in giving female entrepreneurs access to the capital and business skills they need to grow their companies. She also urged the entrepreneurs who were graduating to make the most of the chances offered by the Flourish Africa network by making sure they apply the information they had acquired for the benefit of society as a whole.

In the presence of Adebola Oruma, Group Head, Gender Business Group, Large Enterprises Directorate, Dr. Kings Jack, Regional Director of Bank of Industry (BOI), Nigeria, pointed out that BOI provides a number of avenues for women to get appropriate support, including financial resources. He said that BOI is fervently dedicated to assisting structured enterprises in the areas of lobbying, financing access, and business advisory services in order to industrialise Nigeria.

Speaking on behalf of the 501 female entrepreneurs, one of the recipients, Kikelomo Fola-Ogunniya, expressed her sincere gratitude to Flourish Africa for giving women a forum to learn important lessons about the complexities of operating a profitable business. She said that even though they have an effect on other women's life, they are now able to make a significant economic contribution to the country.