The company stated this at the just concluded 2013 Nigeria Leadership Summit, which held in Lagos.
The 3-day summit was organized by Anabel Leadership Academy, in conjunction with Etisalat Nigeria, tagged “Let’s get to work”, for the youth and entrepreneurs.
The summit ended with a grand finale that was attended by prominent Nigerians, including Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Commonwealth Secretary General and renowned diplomat, who led the launch of the ‘Empower Nigeria Initiative’ and ‘One Million Jobs for Nigeria Project.’
Speaking on the Empower Nigeria Initiative, Head, Business Segment, Etisalat Nigeria, Bidemi Ladipo, said that Etisalat has always supported youth entrepreneurship programmes across the country, citing examples of the annual Market Access and EasyBusiness Millionaire Hunt, a scheme designed to provide grants of up to N20 million in support of SMEs, as some of the ways Etisalat supports entrepreneurship development.
He said: “In support of the Empower Nigeria Initiative, Etisalat is giving out free EasyBusiness lines to all registered members of the Empower Nigeria Initiative. The Etisalat SIM cards will be given to every small business owner, irrespective of the number of staff they have. With these lines, members of the initiative can communicate via phone at no cost; calls made to anyone within the network will be charged at no cost. We are also giving out N2 million each to the top 10 best business ideas to support them in their chosen line of business.”
Mrs. Chima, a business owner and one of the motivated participants, mentioned that her determination was renewed by this gesture.
“I must say that this is one of the best news I have heard today. Most times we are afraid to go seeking for loans from commercial banks because of the high interest rates out there. What Etisalat has done by giving us the opportunity to win N2 million is very remarkable,” she said.
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