Winners emerge at SAFEMA’s business pageant

Mojisola Oyebokun has emerged winner of Miss Enterprise Africa (MEA) Business Pageant, an initiative of Stand Against Female Marginalisation and Abuse, (SAFEMA), a female advocacy and empowerment movement championing gender equality.

MEA is a contest for young, beautiful, culture-oriented and business smart girls between the ages of 18 to 35, who are ambitious, passionate and have start-up or business ideas that are scalable.

Speaking at the grand finale of the Business Pageant, Convener of SAFEMA and MD/CEO of PRMP Digital Limited, Ola Ajibola, stated that applicants were required to develop and present a business plan, among other activities, with the overall best emerging as winner with a cash prize of N1 million to start up the presented business.
  

Ajibola added that the applicants were camped for 10 days and trained on several business subjects, where they learnt entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, community and social responsibility, entrepreneurship and startup, business investments and financial management.

“So, it is a comprehensive training for these young girls. Something very important that we are very intentional about in this business pageant is that we are not giving them the cash because we know it can be diverted. We put the money directly into their businesses. They raise invoices for whatever they want to buy, maybe tools and equipment they need for their business and we fund the businesses directly. We ensure that they are businesses that are based in Nigeria. 

“This is our opportunity to contribute to the economic growth of the country. The truth is the government can’t always do everything for us. A few of us can add a few to the economy to spice it up. The best the government can do is to provide infrastructure; it is left for entrepreneurs, idealists and creative people like us to do our quota.”

“We have companies so what we do is part of our own CSR and contribution to society. If we raise 10 to 15 entrepreneurs in the first edition, raise another 15 in the second edition, if we continue like this, it will go a long way. We always tell the girls that it’s not just about the winning prize but the learning. Knowledge is vital to us,” he said.
  
Project Manager, SAFEMA, Victoria Peters, added that the initiative was to support girls in their businesses, adding that the first runner up, Obasa Valentine, was awarded 500,000, while the second runner up, Uzordima Nkechi, was given 200,000.
  
She added that SAFEMA’s other initiatives include the Power Girl Club, which aims at sensitising secondary school girls on hygiene, cervical cancer and female genital mutilation.

“Another initiative of SAFEMA is ‘Women Should Prosper’. This is a financial literacy programme, which helps to educate women to make better financial choices, and also equip them with different skill sets to help them thrive in the various industries that they find themselves in,” she said.
  
She urged the government to create platforms that speak against the vices that women face in society, adding that SAFEMA targets to sensitise 10,000 school girls yearly.