Nigeria endowed with hardworking, entrepreneurial youths, says U.S. official

By Busayo Onijala

Lagos, June 16, 2021

Jennifer Foltz, the Deputy Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Consulate in Lagos, says that Nigeria is blessed and endowed with hardworking and entrepreneurial youths.

She said that they only needed  encouragement from the society and conducive environment for them to excel in their chosen careers.

Foltz  said  this at a webinar organised by the United States Mission in Nigeria  to support Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) alumni, with insights to actualise their business development goals.

The webinar’s  theme was: “Taking Your Organisation to the Next Level.”

Foltz said, “There is no shortage of hardworking and entrepreneurial youths in Nigeria.

“Whether you have a business, work in a private company or you are an avid community volunteer, you can be a leader who can make positive changes.

“These changes can go as far as improving your organisation and also your professional development.”

She  said that one of the major global challenges that is also affecting Nigeria is unemployment.

According to her, one way to address unemployment is to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation among youths.

Also Maya Famodu, the Founder and  the Managing Director, Ingressive Capital, spoke at the webinar.

She  urged business owners to focus on quantitative metrics for scaling impact, to achieve their  short and long term goals and guarantee the happiness of employees.

She said that this should include paying attention to month-over-month revenue growth, customer growth and customer retention.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ingressive Capital, is a $10million Venture Capital (VC) fund, targeting early-stage startups across the Sub-Saharan Africa.

Famodu stressed that business owners should define their metrics and pay close attention to them because “you cannot hit a target if you have not defined where it exists.”

According to her, when building a business, it is important to stay committed to the end goal, but to also be flexible in the journey.

“Find your purpose and stay committed to it.

“When you’re starting your initiative, don’t be surprised if you get a lot of rejections before you get a yes and don’t shy away from seeking feedback from every interaction,” she said.

Famodu added that when building a team of advisers, it is important to select people without vested interests in the business.

“Make sure that they have succeeded in what they are doing and have enough practical industry experiences..”

She further said that the most important thing to do when bringing on new talents, is to get honest clarity of what their purpose and professional objectives are.

This, she said, would lead to an alignment in the goals of the organisation.