Nigerian businesswoman, philanthropist and founder of Flourish Africa, Apostle Folorunso Alakija, has announced the launch of a N1 billion fund to promote female-owned businesses in Africa.
Flourish Africa is a female empowerment platform designed to help women achieve their full potential. It is a place for both female millennials and adults to access information and the right networks that will enable them grow in their chosen careers and businesses while prioritizing health and wellness.
According to the statement announcing the fund, Apostle Alakija disclosed that the initiative would focus on supporting the entrepreneurial activities of at least 2500 female-owned businesses through funding and structured training over a period of 5 years.
In her announcement, she said
“I’m happy to launch the Flourish Africa 1 billion Naira fund on my 70th birthday as a gift to hardworking and enterprising women. This initiative will focus on empowering women economically and socially for the benefit of
their immediate families and the society.”
She further explained that a minimum of 500 female micro-entrepreneurs would be trained annually. After the training, 100 audacious entrepreneurs from the pool will be able to access grants to the tune of N2 million each for their businesses from an annual fund of 200 million Naira.
While expressing her enthusiasm about the initiative, she explained that she looks forward to empowering one woman at a time as she strongly believes that women are a crucial part of Africa’s development. She restated her commitment to empowering as many women as possible in Africa as one of the things she would want to be remembered for.
She added that the main objective of Flourish Africa is to create an enabling platform that provides skill development, mentoring, access to marketplace for female entrepreneurs.
This concept of empowerment stems from Apostle Alakija’s assertion that women have the potential to flourish if a community of like-minded individuals who share a common goal and purpose pool together and make an impact in every community they find themselves in.
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