Nigeria: Female entrepreneurs get skills from Tony Elumelu, an international business tycoon

Tony Elumelu embarks on a female mentorship program with African young female entrepreneurs in Cameroon and Africa.

« In the next 5 years I do not only see myself to have grown in this journey but also would have mentored and developed more than 4000 young women and them multiplying themselves as mentors ». Ngwi Njikta Favor a Cameroon born fashion designer, creative lead of a start-up Digital Fashion brand F&F Afro Fashion House. She is one of the five Cameroonian women who participated in the special March 8 2022 mentorship programme with Tony Elumelu Nigerian billionaire and chairman of UBA Bank in Lagos, Nigeria which brought together over eighty mentees all over Africa.

The female entrepreneur with mind blowing ideas has developed over 400 young women into entrepreneurship and given start up capital to about 20 start-ups. « It is not easy because of lots of contrains and challenges but once you have that passion and zeal to achieving your dreams and when you own that vision and being consumed by the fact that you want to succeed then challenges will become not obstacles but opportunities to improve,reinvent and restrategize ».

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Being a female investor in Cameroon today, is still a tough journey as many of them, have limited access to land and finance. Bridging the gap or to say braving the odds according to Tony Elumelu entails extra sacrifice

« to achieve sucess you assemble the right team, the right people. Share your vision with them and make almost everyone abide to it. It is extremely important ».

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More women into the entrepreneurial sector

Apart from land and human resource often hard to manage, a study from the national institute of statistics published in 2016 shows that taxation leads with just over 53% is the first obstacle in Cameroon to entrepreneurship. To promote entrepreneurs in Cameroon, the government through its 2021 finance law has decided to exonerate all taxes from start-ups for a period of 5 years. A decision which according to Ngwi Njikta Favor comes at the appointed time. This tax exoneartion and the IWD22 MentorshipWithTOE « is a life changing opportunity not only for me but for our entire platform F&F Young women entrepreneurship Development organization and to other young aspiring and start up entrepreneurs that we will still work with ».

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In all, more than 80 bold, audacious business women, founders of NGOs, young professionals with fiery ambitions in Africa, 5 from Cameroon making an impact in the Corporate field, Business & Entrepreneurship, and their immediate communities were empowered and mentored and most of them are filled. « I envisage an Africa and Cameroon economically blown out because of more women into the entrepreneurial sector ». Ngwi Njikta Favori is also the founder of FYWEDO (F&F Young Women entrepreneurship Development organization a platform which identifies, develops, trains and mentors young women between the ages 18 to 35 who have business ideas or are start ups for economic growth and financial independence.

The first session took place in Lagos, Nigeria online and on set. The sharing of knowledge continues.

Veronica AJI