A non-governmental organisation, Baywood Foundation has announced that it would train and empower 600 young people with relevant entrepreneurship and vocational skills with $98,925 grants from the Coca-Cola foundation in three local government of Enugu state in 2021.
The Country Director Baywood Foundation, Mr Chukwudi Ojielo, who announced this during a briefing on the activities of the foundation for year 2021, in Enugu, said would focus especially on young women.
Ojielo said the grant is to enable their foundation to implement the Youth ICT and Skills Acquisition Project (YISAP) in Enugu State which is designed to be implemented from January to December, 2021.
He said, “The project will empower 600 young people (especially young women) with relevant entrepreneurship and vocational skills such as ICT, Photography, Photo and video editing, Agro-business skills, Barbing, Digital marketing, Graphic design, Confectioneries, amongst others that young people can leverage on for a steady stream of income.
“The YISAP project will also provide seed funds to 100 participants to help start up their business. Additionally, it will provide mentorship and support on Branding and Packaging, Trademark and Business registration as well as empower beneficiaries with skills of business and financial management. It will also create partnership with institutions such as SME Agencies to provide market access, industry linkages and access to finance for innovative ideas and startups for young entrepreneurs leveraging on technology to scale their businesses.”
He also expressed their gratitude to Coca-Cola Foundation for the grant stressing that it would help them in their empowerment mantra in the state.
He said that the benefitting local governments are Udi local government for Enugu West Senatorial zone; Igboeze North LG for Enugu North Senatorial Zone and Enugu East Council for the Enugu East Senatorial zone.
Ojielo, however, explained that they are already “discussing with the local governments concerned to carry them along and leverage on their platforms so we can integrate them into the whole system.”
