Key Highlights
- Dr. Kechi Ogbuagu’s nonprofit raises 16.5 million for young entrepreneurs.
- Seplat Energy partnership boosts youth entrepreneurship program success.
- Conversations for Change empowers youth with business skills.
On Monday, 3rd April 2023, Conversation for Change (C4C) raised the sum of16.5 million funding in seed money to the Entrepreneurship Fellowship Programme in partnership with Seplat Energy supported which was held at Lagos Hall of Transcorp Hilton in Abuja, attended by Nairametrics.
In an exclusive interview with Nairametrics, Dr. Kechi Ogbuagu – President/Founder of Conversation for Change (C4C), reveals how she applied lessons learned from a long stellar career in the United Nations into training and funding young business leaders for socioeconomic growth and sustainability.
Conversations 4 Change is a nonprofit agency with a major objective of empowering young people to participate more effectively in all relevant areas of development
The Director of External Affairs & Sustainability, Seplat Energy, Dr. Chioma Nwachuku, noted that through the Seplat JV/C4C partnership, the company has successfully trained and supported three batches of fellows, comprising about 55 young entrepreneurs, who are thriving, creating value and boosting Nigeria’s economy.
What inspired you to start Conversations for Change?
“Well, it’s been a good life, I have worked for over 45 years, nationally and internationally within the United Nations, and finally retired, and I also say, when you are at an age where you are still mobile, you thank god,
“For me, I had the introspection of public health, and as a global development expert, and for me, it was to say, over my 40 years as public health physician and global development expert, what are the areas that give me passion?
“And for me, it was youth empowerment and working with young people, I did a lot when I was in the UN, and sometimes you feel there is still a huge need for so many young people in the world, particularly when 7-% of the population are young people, and where is there so much poverty and hardships, they are affected most, including unemployment
“Therefore I felt that the area needs rigorous work, I am a physician so issues of maternal health and public health are my forte, however, issues of young people are more than that, they also fall under reproductive health issues, but they have other issues, which are problems for them,” she said.
Return to Nigeria
Dr. Kechi Ogbuagu said she returned to Nigeria from the US in 2015, citing that she had already set up conversations for change, she added;
“In 2017, I went back to head back a department, but officially I retired in 2015 and worked for them for over 20 years.
“When I returned to Nigeria as a nonprofit, even before I got back to Nigeria in 2015, and it is registered in Nigeria, and I set up a youth advisory group, talking about hopes and visions for them, that is a conversation for change.
Her experiences
She noted that when she set up her advisory group, she narrated her plans and visions, adding:
“ I never forgot one young man, who kept looking with avid attention, and he said ” Madame you know, this idea you have are so good, we want to be part of it, but my biggest problem is no jobs, no money, I can’t feed myself”
“So tell me that their biggest need was economic empowerment, they need to look after themselves and their families, and I felt a bit helpless, what can I do?
“We kept thinking consulting and talking to other young people and finally came up with the idea of what you see today, which is the youth entrepreneurship program, which is a non-profit, but perhaps if I can help young people who are business minded to e effective at this, perhaps that contribution.
She added the foundation took a lot of courage, I got together my team of young people, I only work with young people,
Capacity building and Scaling C4C
Dr. Kechi revealed that if you increase youth’s socioeconomic capacity, and give them skills, it considerably increases their chances of the business succeeding, she said:
”That is the way to go, and we are very selective, the first set we took just anybody, it did not matter your education, but because we continued to strive to have funding to move to a bigger scale, we zeroed in on graduates and education as they form the best materials.
“We help them not just to set up their business, but grow and expand and become employers, that way, many young people, get employed, we help towards employment, and it has been a proof of concept, one I am so glad of, because this would be the fifth year we have run it, and in 4 years we have run it, we have established over 70 businesses,
Graduation Class over the years
She noted that the C4C has expanded and is committed to expanding noting that when you do something and it works, there should be no reason, for reducing the funding numbers, she added:
“ When our donators say, ” we do not have too much”, you step down on a success story, so I placed a lot of my money, and keep soliciting support, and we have managed to survive like that,
“This is our boldest number so far, last year we graduated 23, this year we graduated 25, what Seplat has been giving is for 3 years has been the same amount, since 2019, but did not fund in 20202 because of covid, but the program started when in 2018, which there we, not part of,
“The numbers have doubled, in 2019 we graduated 15, today we have graduated 25, and then there is market inflation.
She added that the foundation had supported over 70 businesses since the scheme began, training, and supporting them towards a sustainable future, adding that since Seplat started to support the number has been just over 50.
“They N16.5 million, this year’s set being recruited now are 25,
More support needed
Dr. Kechi Ogbuagu added that the foundation needs more to support and train entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses, noting that they provide training and internships, she said:
“We also buy them equipment and this is very capital intensive, and because of our limited funding, we are providing less and less equipment and they need the equipment so that their dreams can be a reality.
“What we are providing is the totality of support they need, so that they establish expand and run,
Sustainable Development Goals
Going back to her time in the United Nations, she added that the C4C focuses on SDGs, which she says is a fundamental aspect of what they do.
“We think it is critical for youth empowerment, this platform gives young people a chance to talk and be heard,
“I have a YouTube channel to discuss with almost 3000 subscribers, on AIT called ” the sage” at 4:30 on Saturday and on Conversation for change youtube, we talk about sustainable development goals, unemployment and
“My UN background means I can respond to either MDGs or SDGs as they say it now, elimination of poverty, provision of skillful employment, and issues of gender equality, that what we talk about
“The others used for empowerment involves education and training, various workshops,
She added Seplat Energy has supported 3 batches, which represented the cheque on Monday, and urged that she needs more donations, to allow the program to grow and enroll more beneficiaries.
“The economic future of Nigeria depends on people doing what we are doing, which is economically empowering young people, to help themselves and their families, and to use their sharp brains, and skills, to create businesses, and provide jobs.
“It is SMEs that provide jobs as they are the backbone of an economy, and I believe that if SMEs are young by young people because apart from natural people, they have many years of life ahead for most of them if gives a better chance of self-growth, and a stronger economy,
“I believe I can empower and have 100 young persons, running successful businesses, it is more profitable to an economy in the long term than 100 50-60-year-olds, doing that.
Sustainability
She also urged that sustainability is better achieved if founders are young, as they have a long life span ahead, including the role of promoters and funders donators including Seplat’s, which she adds the money allows and contributes to the program funding,
“We still need roughly 45-50 million to fully fund the project.
“When we started, we were buying equipment for n400k, today it has tripled in price, there was time with experience, it’s better to buy equipment because it focuses the entrepreneurs in our program to give properly, and it is working very well and they appreciate it a lot.
Unemployment
The former UN staffer added that Nigeria’s official unemployment level of 33% is an underestimation because you need to add youth unemployment and underemployment which is well over 50%,
“What I advise is this program is proof of concept, it was carefully thought through, because I felt many people are doing a program, but our success rate is 80-90% because you need the totality, of the package we offer, it is not enough that you give them money,
“ You need the support of the fellow for some time, knowledge about managing equipment, as this is something you need knowledge, including HR and financial issues, and also marketing and target audience, we teach that,
“You need to know how much you require, and how you can price your goods, and you need to know when you break even, and also believe in yourself, so apart from management of businesses, we build self-confidence, we train them into a community so they are not alone and have people to mentor them, and also intern them in organizations and see practical realities,
She urged that others emulate what they do at C4C and emulate and expand this, that way we create a sustainable business for young people,
“We bring a genre, a group of young people who are motivated and have much better chances of running sustainable businesses, the understand resilience, business is tough, it’s not a lazy man’s area, and if you are trained how to handle this, you can weather it, some of them you heard them talking on Monday, they have weathered all kind of storms including the issue in the last few months ( Naira scarcity).
This is a laudable project, massive indeed, Dr.Kechi need support for this project, this is what I called “Catch them young and grow wings”,I hope her pet project get more funding.