Winners of the Enterprise Challenge Meet Sir Richard Branson
The winners of the 2016 Enterprise Challenge, Keturah Ovio Onoweya and Sophia Ike Onu met Sir Richard Branson, the Founder and Chairman of the Virgin Group on Wednesday 29 June in Oxford United Kingdom for a mentoring session. At the mentoring session, He gave ideas and advice on how to run a sustainable and profitable business in this current economic environment. He also shared some personal business experiences during the meeting.
After the session, Keturah and Sophia joined a
number of promising entrepreneurs from the Virgin StartUp and Virgin Media
Business’ VOOM competition for Lunch and Networking. They also attended this
year’s Sunday Times Fast Track 100 event and awards.
Sophia founder of The5kshop said “The Enterprise
Challenge has been an incredible journey; mentally tough in so many ways but
also incredibly stimulating and enjoyable. Meeting Sir Richard Branson was so
surreal! Moments before he walked into the room, I was a bit anxious but the
minute he came in and we got chatting, it really felt like talking to an old
friend. It was impressive how well he understood my business as he casually
shared intelligent advice and tips. Richard is definitely that lecturer that can
make the toughest subject seem so easy. He answered all our questions with
details.
“It's so easy to understand why he's referred to as
the Godfather of Entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom. Thank you Richard for being you, continue to
inspire”
Keturah founder of Qeturah Dot Com said: “Meeting
Richard Branson was a once in a lifetime experience. He is probably best known
as one of the first ‘positive disruptors’ in business and has always been a
real inspiration to me. Talking to him made me believe that everything is
possible – you just have to make it possible, and I look forward to seeing how
I can apply his words of wisdom and encouragement to my life and business going
forward.”
More than 10,800 young Nigerian entrepreneurs
entered the competition, which was conceived and organised by British Council
and Virgin Atlantic in partnership with Zenith Bank and Samsung, in order to
help talented young Nigerians develop their entrepreneurial skills.
Adrian Bird, Head of Nigeria for Virgin Atlantic, said:
“Virgin Atlantic is delighted to support the Enterprise Challenge once again.
We are a company built on entrepreneurship and are proud to support this
initiative which enables young business people to let their dreams fly. It has been exciting to see so many young
Nigerians come up with new and innovative ideas that attempt to tackle the most
pressing challenges facing the country. Keturah and Sophia have shown
incredible skill, talent and dedication and we believe they have a very bright
future ahead of them.
Lucy Pearson, Acting Country Director of British
Council Nigeria comments: “The work of the British Council in education and the
wider society helps transform not only national education systems, but builds
more inclusive, open societies and increases young people’s opportunities for a
better future. The Enterprise Challenge fits perfectly into this remit,
effectively helping to develop the flourishing talent within Nigeria. After
all, entrepreneurs make a difference not only to their immediate families and
communities, but as the business leaders and employers of the future.”
Sola Oladipo Executive Director Zenith Bank Plc
says: “One of the biggest hurdles in business – particularly for young
entrepreneurs – is connecting with those who ‘know’, and have already
succeeded, and finance. The Enterprise Challenge addresses both these and we’re
proud to be a partner.”
A representative for Samsung Electronics West
Africa, said: “We at Samsung deeply understand the importance of encouraging
the average Nigerian youth to innovate and create products, as well as become
wealth generators for themselves. To this end, we strongly support this
initiative by British Council and Virgin Atlantic and are throwing our complete
weight behind this project. We challenge Nigerian youth to explore their
capabilities and talents to create products and services that will grow into
big and deeply rooted brands in the near future.”
The winners have since received a financial grant
worth N2m each and will all benefit from continued support from the
initiative’s partners. In addition, Enterprise Challenge winners will receive a
fully-funded scholarship to attend a five-day entrepreneurship foundation
course at the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship in South Africa.
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