170 young business owners qualified for Kwara’s non-interest loan under the banner of Kwapreneurs, a statement by Mohammed Brimah, Ag. General Manager, KWASSIP has revealed.
The business pitches of the 170 successful applicants were adjudged viable following rounds of drilling by a panel of experts which assessed some 375 business prospects that turned up for the interview sessions.
Brimah said in the statement that each of the 170 pitches had been recommended to get between N150,000 and N3m.
He however explained that businesses selected for the prized loan of N3m would be invited to pitch to another set of judges at the grand finale at a date to be announced soon.
The total loans awarded by the panel stand at N101,450,000 in line with the recommendations of the committee.
“While we had targeted to give loans to up to 300 beneficiaries, we made sure to let the process guide us, as our utmost priority was to ensure that deserving business owners and startups that have the capacity to repay got the loans,” he added.
The KWASSIP boss also announced plans by the social investment office to organise training for applicants on business management and strategies to facilitate their growth, as part of its efforts to build a set of young business leaders from the largest demographics in the state.
“We are not just going to give people money. We are organising training for applicants. We are looking to provide other necessary support to businesses who were not qualified enough to get the loans. We are going to make sure that at least 300 businesses as promised will be provided the physical training by Fidelity Bank and the online trainings by Wootlab, in partnership with Microsoft,” according to him.
“We will also make the E-learning portal available with access to entrepreneurship, product development and other courses with Microsoft certifications accessible to all the 7, 200 applicants for their self-training at their own convenience. This will prepare and position them for future opportunities.”
The statement directed successful applicants to proceed with the documentation process from Thursday, 3rd of June, 2021 to Wednesday, 9th of June 2021.
Applicants are to produce means of identification that must include their Utility Bill; Bank Verification Number; CAC Certificate (for registered businesses); and 2 Passport photographs, it added.
