Speaking at the  Youth Sustainable Enterprise Challenge (YSEC) Pitch and Graduation Programme, in Abuja, Oluwaseun Olorunmaye, chief operating officer (COO) and programme coordinator, said the initiative is aimed to empower people to become sustainable entrepreneurs and create jobs through training, technology, and mentorship.

“This training is solely for entrepreneurs, and over the last seven weeks we’ve trained 70 entrepreneurs on business and soft skills,” he said.

“This is primarily understanding that the number of entrepreneurs in Nigeria already have the technical skills, but they are unable to scale their business or properly manage their businesses because of the lack of business and soft skills.

“The particular event that is ongoing right now is a pitching competition, where about eight people get to win a grant for their business or for their business idea.

“After this pitching competition, we also have a three-month mentorship programme, where we’ve paired these participants already with some mentors, and these mentors are basically going to ensure their business is sustainable.”

Speaking also at the event, Ayodele Olawande, minister of youth development, commended Octoville for the YSEC programme.

Olawande, represented by Kehinde Ajolaoni, special assistant to the minister on gender matters and inclusion, said YSEC would empower youths to create sustainable businesses and “generate employment opportunities and contribute meaningfully to the nation’s economic growth”.

“The YSEC programme with its focus on sustainable enterprise development and its commitment to gender equality and inclusion is a testament to the innovative spirit of our youth,” the minister said.

“We are particularly impressed by the 70 talented participants which include 60 percent females who have undergone intensive training and are now poised to showcase their innovative business ideas.”

On her part, Regina Bamaiyi, chief enterprise officer at the Small Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), said organisations like Octoville “help the government to carry out the mandate”.

“We cannot do it all, and we are happy to offer these training sessions, helping us to build capacities of small and medium enterprises and upcoming young entrepreneurs,” Bamaiyi said.

She also encouraged the entrepreneurs to continue on the path of success.

“Grow your ideas relentlessly, seek mentorship, and leverage every opportunity for support—whether financial, strategic, or collaborative,” she added.

At the event, 17 participants pitched their businesses, out of which eight people won the N200,000 grant.

The overall best pitch was won by Oluchukwu Ughagwu (Default Pharma), while John Tochukwu (J Wash Laundry), and Bashirat Balogun (Sirah’s Nigeria Limited) were the first and second runner-ups.

Others are Okechuwkwu Clinton (Tarva Agro Service), Oni Oluwajuwon (Jaytees initiative), Habiba Yusuf – (Hazara Liquid Wash), Joy Michael (Step up inclusive Academy) and Samson Asaolu (The Boys Band).

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Africa has the world’s youngest population, with 70% of people in sub-Saharan Africa under 30. Empowering the youth is vital for the continent’s growth and potential and is crucial for economic growth, innovation, peace, and security.

These young people face challenges including education, underemployment, lack of opportunities, lack of information access, and gender inequality.

The British Council’s new Sub-Saharan Africa Strategy 2025 empowers youth in Africa through the opportunities for enablement and growth that the organisation offers to young people. This aims to help them nurture their communities and improve prospects.

The next generation is essential to the continent’s development and to global shared interests in creating a safer, healthier, and more prosperous future for us all.

In contrast to ageing populations in other regions, sub-Saharan Africa’s youth represent opportunities for innovation and economic growth. The youth are key to implementing the 2030 Agenda and its role in enhancing youth development efforts, and various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

SDG 4 emphasizes quality education and SDG 8 addresses decent work and economic growth for youth.

We are building connections between people in the UK and sub-Saharan Africa through education and culture and opening doors for young people to fulfil their potential.

Our sub-Saharan Africa strategy, refreshed to take account of changes in the social, political, and economic landscape, will help achieve exactly those connections and opportunities for young Africans.

Truly fulfilling one’s potential requires access to education and networks of support, and we aim to provide that access and those networks of contacts, vital for the exchange of knowledge, information, and ideas.

A society where young Africans can thrive

We are engaging with young people and communities to help the next generation unlock their potential, build resilience, and create stronger community networks to realise a free, fair, more prosperous, and open society where young people can thrive.

This entails creating opportunity and engagement through arts, education, and the English language, and developing connections and mutually beneficial partnerships in Africa and the UK.

The British Council is contributing to the progress of this society as follows:

• building on our existing networks and deep on-the-ground engagement
• continuing to develop a strong understanding of our primary audience.
• through our programmes engendering greater inclusion and social cohesion in African societies
• contributing to economic empowerment, innovation, and employability in Africa
• enabling connections, exchange and opportunities between Africa and the UK to create strong and enduring networks with future leaders and influencers.

Our work in sub-Saharan Africa is focused on building human and social capital to help countries have a more prosperous and peaceful future. By creating opportunities and positive pathways for individuals, organisations, and systems, it becomes possible to improve young people’s prospects through the acquisition of knowledge, skills and ideas, and nurturing creativity, innovation, and connection.

To this end, we have developed a framework adapted from the Department for International Development (DFID) sustainable livelihoods model.

It sets out how people draw on different assets and operate within a context shaped by different factors. These assets include human capital (education, knowledge, skills, capacity), financial capital (economic assets, development, empowerment), social capital (relations of trust and support, collective representation, common rules, participation in decision-making, leadership networks and connections), physical capital (infrastructure, tools, technology, and Natural capital (water, land, biodiversity).

Applied to sub-Saharan Africa, we will see our diverse and wide-ranging areas of work come together into a strategic framework of intervention that will contribute to our overarching goal and intended outcomes.

As the UK’s cultural relations entity overseas, we occupy a unique space. We are using our expertise to connect with diverse communities and help them navigate their changing environments through mutually beneficial partnerships.

With challenging times ahead and the need to engage the next generation, we can use our relationships to build understanding.

Remaining relevant and connected is especially important given the complex past relationships between the UK and several countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We have an opportunity to use our relationships to win hearts and minds.

The refreshed Sub-Saharan Africa Strategy 2025 lays out our vision and purpose in a region where the operating context has shifted considerably over the last two to three years. Many countries are experiencing profound socio-political changes that have significant and far-reaching effects beyond borders.

A revised strategy was crucial as the world faces new and unprecedented challenges. Our goal is to foster peaceful and prosperous societies.

This new strategy crystallises our role as a valued and effective partner in sub-Saharan Africa today to help overcome the challenges of tomorrow.

We will engage with the UK government to stay aligned with policy priorities and be an integral, on-the-ground component in the whole-of-government approach.

By supporting African-led priorities with British expertise, we can provide more life-changing opportunities. These include more jobs and greater stability, including for women and girls, in the UK and across Africa.

[Featured Image Credit]

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With the world’s youngest and fastest-growing populations, African countries are changing rapidly. The next generation is essential to the continent’s future and to global shared interests in creating a safer, healthier and more prosperous future for us all.

Because of its massive youth population, Africa holds unrealised and untapped talent and potential. At the same time, the economic growth and international relevance of the continent show that there is opportunity.

Now is the time to focus on building engagement and being deliberate about actions to create safer and more prosperous environments for youth to thrive.

It is with this in mind that the British Council is working in Africa to create an ecosystem that provides these young people with the networks, connections, and skills to empower them and prepare them for the future.

The future of the continent is already being shaped by its rapidly growing youth population. One example of the increasing global influence of this generation is the enormous success of Afrobeats, contemporary African music that is rapidly reshaping the sound and texture of pop music.

Building on existing networks

The British Council has been operating in Africa since the 1930s. As a result, we can foster connections by building on our existing networks and deep on-the-ground engagement and continuing to develop a strong understanding of our primary audience. Some of our most successful work has been done in partnership with other stakeholders.

Coupled with contributing to economic empowerment, innovation and employability in Africa, enabling connections, exchange and opportunities between Africa and the UK is aimed at creating strong and enduring networks with future leaders and influencers.

Through ongoing research in the region, we have made several key observations. According to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, by 2050, a quarter of the working population in the world will be in Africa of primary importance to many are jobs, enterprise and livelihood.

Although effective citizen-state engagement is lacking – with young people especially marginalised from the community, policy and democratic decisions – evidence has shown that two-way citizen-state dialogue has increased trust.

Unrest and instability affect young people and women and girls disproportionately to other groups, while both groups play a key role in community-level peacebuilding. When it comes to the topic of migration, push, and pull factors need to be taken into consideration, as does the cross-fertilising of knowledge and skills through returnee migration.

Access to education and opportunity for mobility, progress and promotion remains key. The continent has leapfrogged the mobile revolution and, this presents opportunities to leverage technology and innovation for growth.

Against this backdrop, opportunities identified by young people themselves include the integration of technology in all sectors for sustainable development, building inclusive and resilient grassroots networks, mentoring schemes, opportunities for leadership in social transformation, and the prospect of governments and civil society organizations working hand in hand with young people to ‘build back better’.

One example of what can be achieved through such successful partnerships is the Innovation for African Universities (IAU) project, part of the Going Global Partnerships programme, to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship at universities and facilitate the development of skills required to build industries, companies, products and services. It’s about working together internationally to ensure that higher education and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) meet the needs of our societies, economies and students.

Creating new narratives

The British Council partnered with Africa No Filter to develop nuanced and contemporary stories that shift stereotypical and harmful narratives within and about Africa.

As an example, our New Narratives programme is designed to help contribute to changing reciprocal perceptions between Africa and the West to stimulate fresh understanding which will unlock new connections and collaborations for mutual benefit.

The development of cooperative relationships can help to achieve financial improvements, economic growth, and other mutually beneficial goals.

The five-year programme contributes to updating the narratives of countries in Africa and the UK and strengthening connections between young people across both places. The programme will support young African and UK content creators and storytellers.

To help realise this vision, the British Council commissioned the Research, Insight and Evaluation (RIE) team at M&C Saatchi World Services to undertake a comprehensive investigation and their countries.

Both young Africans and young Britons complained of a lack of diversity and nuance in the ways in which they and their countries are represented internationally.

To help address their overarching concern with the perceived treatment of Africa as a monolithic entity, participants provided an array of examples which could be leveraged to present a more accurate representation of their own countries specifically, as opposed to just ‘Africa’ as a whole.

Beautiful natural regions, historically significant sites, local cultures and traditions, tribal and ethnic identities, local cuisine, and sports were all widely identified as salient reference points for building a more reflective and grounded representation of their country.

Other key reference points include music, nightlife, local activists and activism, locally or nationally cherished values, and the arts.

An opportunity to create new perceptions

The research indicates that we need to embrace our British heritage and be deliberate to create refreshed perceptions to build on our legacy and make an impact in the world of young Africans and the ever-changing needs of young people.

The objectives of the programme focus on what can be achieved through forging connections focused on strengthening inclusion. By engaging young people in Africa, we are working with the next generation to unlock their potential, build resilience and create stronger community networks, on the continent and internationally, to realise a more free, fair, prosperous and open society where youth can thrive.

We need to tackle outdated, incorrect and incomplete pictures from Africa and the best way to do this is to support and amplify young new voices.

This is a call for building mutually beneficial partnerships and connections between the West and Africa that can create opportunities and engagement through arts, enterprise, and education.

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The British Council’s Innovation for African Universities (IAU) programme is supporting a project of collaboration between academics from the Pan-African University Life and Earth Sciences in Nigeria, De Montfort University in the UK and Co-Creation Hub in Nigeria, which aims to encourage people in Nigeria to explore opportunities for turning waste into wealth. 

The partnership is looking at a wide range of ideas, including the production of a machine which can convert waste plastic into filaments for use in a 3D printer.

This conversion can add up to twenty times the value of the plastic waste.

3D printers are expensive to import, so the project team is also working with local skills to enable 3D printers to be produced locally in Nigeria.

At the Pan-African University Life and Earth Sciences, students are studying the opportunities that reusing plastic can bring, not just for themselves but for the whole community.

Prof Esther Akinlabi, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Pan-African University Life and Earth Sciences, commented: “Plastic waste is a menace in Nigeria. It is a huge problem. It has blocked drainage and caused flooding in Lagos and across the country and in the city. We are looking at creating awareness to let people become conscious of the fact that we can recycle, and we can reuse plastic waste.”

While 3D printing isn’t suitable for mass manufacturing, its use for single items, such as the wheel on a hospital trolley, is more cost-effective, especially when it uses local plastic waste for the conversion.

Dr Muyiwa Oyinlola, Associate Professor Engineering for Sustainable Development, and Director of the Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development at De Montfort University, commented: “The average man or woman is more interested in how they put food on the table and the other necessities of life, so the plastic challenge is low on their radar. What we are doing is looking at how we add value and make enterprises out of plastic waste. For example, producing affordable 3D printers locally will foster enterprise in filament production as well as 3D printed products even in remote areas.”

Nigeria’s Co-Creation Hub, which supports start-ups, has been running entrepreneurship masterclasses and innovation challenges for students. It provides the bridge between innovation and enterprise.

Damilola Teidi from Co-Creation Hub, said: “The best outcome is the students build out solutions to problems, and the private sector puts it into use. That’s the goal. As well as connecting them with other players in the enterprise ecosystem.”

While not every idea will become a business, the hope is the knowledge gained will help build a circular economy where waste is seen as a potential resource.

The project is part of The British Council’s Innovation for African Universities (IAU) programme, which includes partner universities and enterprise and innovation organisations in NIgeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and the UK.

The programme comprises 24 project partnerships and aims to grow universities’ capabilities for fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, developing the skills graduates require to build sustainable industries, companies and services. 

Daniel Emenahor, spokesperson at The British Council, commented: “Through stronger peer to peer connections and sharing best practices and knowledge between higher education institutions, the programme aims to enhance students’ employability and support economic development across Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa now and into the future.”

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