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R-L:
Mr. Muyiwa Akande, Corporate
Affairs Manager, SIFAX GROUP; Mr. Fela Ibidapo, Group Head, Corporate
Communications, Heritage
Bank Plc; Mrs. Marvis Marshal-Idio, winner of The Next Titan Season-3;
Executive Producer of the Next Titan, Mr. Mide Kunle-Akinlaja and
Commercial Manager, Aero Contractors Company of Nigeria Ltd, Rogers
Cookey
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The move by the bank is a consistent commitment to build the next generation of sustainable Nigerian businesses; young and budding entrepreneurs who will end up becoming ‘titans’ in their own disciplines whether in Technology, Inventions, Media, Real Estate, Fashion, Agriculture, or Productions, and so on.
Speaking at a press conference to flag off the season 4 of the
project in Lagos yesterday, the Group Head of Corporate Communication of the
Bank, Mr. Fela Ibidapo explained the reasons for the continued support of The
Next Titan project, stating that because it is associated with the
development of young people through small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs).
“We
decided to support The Next Titan project, because its scope resonate with what
our brand stand for which is the business of raising young people through SMEs
either through the Youth Innovative Entrepreneurship Programme (YIEDP), an
initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in conjunction with the Nigeria
Youth Service Corp (NYSC), in partnership with the Nigerian Youth Professional
Forum (NYPF) to support entrepreneurship and education in the country with N500
million Young Entrepreneurs and Students (YES) grant and the bank is also in
partnership with Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) empowered 100 aspiring
start-up entrepreneurs under the Young Entrepreneurship Business Training
Programme (YEBTP), among others,” he stated.
He
said the Bank has always being supporting SMES from the creative industry to
the agricultural sector of the economy among others.
He
said at the heart of management of the Bank is that one day ,“We would be able
to put people in front of the press to say that indeed this people came to us
about two, three years ago and now we are taking their companies to the stock
exchange for listing.”
The
show will also bring the reality of pains and gains of entrepreneurial journey
into the living rooms of millions of Nigerians, and viewers will be given
opportunity to vote for whom they believe has the composite of a successful
entrepreneur.
At
the audition holding in Abuja, Port Harcourt and Lagos from next week, 50 best
applicants would be chosen from thousands of young and ambitious entrepreneurs
that are willing to demonstrate their commercial insight, entrepreneurial
acumen, and street-smartness, pitch their business ideas, before selection of
the final 16 contestants who will tough it out over 10 weeks to see the crowned
Next Titan carting away the ultimate prize of N5million and a brand new car.
The
Executive Producer of the Next Titan, Mr. Mide Kunle-Akinlaja said the
importance of the Next Titan lied in igniting entrepreneurial spirit and showcasing
the possibility of entrepreneurship in transforming lives with just an idea
that could be scaled to greatness with a market and with Nigeria’s population.
He
said the show, by scouting for young talented people who have entrepreneurial
acumen, grooming them through a rigorous task and boardroom process and
eventually funding a winner’s idea, leading to an opportunity to create jobs
for themselves and others is indeed a big contributor to the socio-economic
development of Nigeria.
The
Executive Producer said the Next Titan was designed to sharpen and ignite the
entrepreneurial spirit in young Nigerians, and it represented opportunity and
more importantly recognize ordinary Nigerians that have determination, gusto
and can do attitude with some of the best ideas.
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