Henley supports young Nigerian entrepreneurs with British Council-funded programme

Henley, working with Lagos Business School and Semicolon Africa have launched aprogramme – The Nexus Project - designed to tackle youth unemployment in Nigeria and beyond.

The project is designed to support young entrepreneurs building sustainable businesses. It aims to improve the conversion rate of job seekers into job creators and reducing the failure rate of start-ups. In the first phase of the project, a total of 30 African techpreneurs representing 15 projects or 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 six-month management programme from April to August 2022 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.

The project also sees the creation of ‘The Nexus’, a virtual platform that connects young entrepreneurs to an ecosystem of knowledge intervention and technical support services.

The Nexus platform is developing a range of features, including personalised mapping of enrolled entrepreneurs’ learner journeys, tailored management education from Henley and Lagos Business Schools, dedicated personal development and wellbeing opportunities, and a comprehensive coaching and mentoring programme. There will also be an investment hub designed to showcase investors the equipped and trained entrepreneurs, and their business ideas.

Speaking about the launch of the project, Jean-Pierre Choulet, Vice-Dean of Henley Africa, said:

“Through this partnership, 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.”

With funding provided by the British Council, this project represents a long-term investment from all stakeholders.