In line with the commitment of Lagos Business School (LBS) to develop responsible entrepreneurs and promote business sustainability, the institution has partnered with Semicolon Africa and Henley Business School on the Nexus Project, funded by the British Council.
The objective of the project is to unlock the potential of African youths and transform job seekers into sustainable job creators to help in bridging the unemployment gap and reduce the failure rate of startups.
In her remarks, the Associate Dean, Lagos Business School, Prof. Yinka David-West, said “As the Nigerian and African economies digitise, we are excited to be a part of this network creating and building a new crop of digital entrepreneurs that will focus on Africa’s social and institutional problems. With the Nexus Project, it is our vision that Africa’s crop of tech venture builders will be better positioned to gain the best form of support, coaching and mentoring to become entrepreneurs worthy of emulation from other Africans across sectors.”.
In the first phase of the project, a total of 30 African techpreneurs representing 15 projects/business ventures with great entrepreneurial ideas will be trained, mentored, and supported to transform their ideas into investable and sustainable ventures.
The beneficiaries who are selected for the training will undergo a 6-month (April to August 2022) management programme which delivers specialist knowledge transfer, education, coaching, and mentoring to propel their venture ideas to investment readiness and connect them to a nexus of investors.
Speaking at the formal launch of the project which was held virtually on March 30, 2022, the Project Director and LBS Faculty, Dr Adun Okupe said; “The Nexus project provides the opportunity for management education to address the emerging need for entrepreneurship development in Africa and a chance to improve the success rates of startups in Africa.”
Jean-Pierre Choulet, Vice-Dean Africa, Henley Business School stated that; “There is a critical need to provide the required platform for African youths to jumpstart their entrepreneurial journey while providing them with adequate support to scale their businesses. Through this partnership, we believe that the beneficiaries will have requisite coaching, mentoring support as well as access to relevant information to enable them to make informed decisions while connecting them to a pool of investors who can propel their ideas to the next level.”
Speaking on Semicolon’s participation on the project, the CEO of Semicolon Africa, Mr Sam Immanuel stated that; “We are pleased to collaborate with the Lagos Business School (LBS) and Henley Business School on this initiative that sets to increase the success stories of African youths who are boisterous, creative, and desirous of building sustainable businesses to last a lifetime.”
Meanwhile, five MBA Alumni of Lagos Business School have been on-boarded onto the coaching and mentorship programme to provide technical skills support to the participants. The mentors are CEO, Sustmark Consult, Oluwafemi Adeniba; Founder, Truss Empowerment Foundation, Azukaego Chukwuelue; CEO, BPI Advisory, Deji Agboade; Founder, Brickstone Africa, Femi Awofala and CEOr, Julie Harrison Pharmacy Ltd, Ada Okorie.
