In a bid to continue boosting entrepreneurship development
in order to curb the high level of unemployment in the country, Heritage Bank
Plc will once again be the headline sponsor for the fourth season of “The Next
Titans,” a Nigerian entrepreneurial Reality TV Show.
The move by the bank is a consistent commitment to build the
next generation of sustainable Nigerian businesses; young and budding
entrepreneurs who will end up becoming ‘titans’ in their own disciplines
whether in Technology, Inventions, Media, Real Estate, Fashion, Agriculture, or
Productions, and so on.
Speaking at a press conference to flag off the season 4 of
the project in Lagos yesterday, the Group Head of Corporate Communication of
the Bank, Mr. Fela Ibidapo explained the reasons for the continued support of
The Next Titan project, stating that because it is associated with the
development of young people through small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs).
“We decided to support The Next Titan project, because its
scope resonate with what our brand stand for which is the business of raising
young people through SMEs either through the Youth Innovative Entrepreneurship
Programme (YIEDP), an initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in
conjunction with the Nigeria Youth Service Corp (NYSC), in partnership with the
Nigerian Youth Professional Forum (NYPF) to support entrepreneurship and
education in the country with N500 million Young Entrepreneurs and Students
(YES) grant and the bank is also in partnership with Centre for Values in
Leadership (CVL) empowered 100 aspiring start-up entrepreneurs under the Young
Entrepreneurship Business Training Programme (YEBTP), among others,” he stated.
He said the Bank has always being supporting SMES from the
creative industry to the agricultural sector of the economy among others.
He said at the heart of management of the Bank is that one
day ,“We would be able to put people in front of the press to say that indeed
this people came to us about two, three years ago and now we are taking their
companies to the stock exchange for listing.”
The show will also bring the reality of pains and gains of
entrepreneurial journey into the living rooms of millions of Nigerians, and
viewers will be given opportunity to vote for whom they believe has the
composite of a successful entrepreneur.
At the audition holding in Abuja, Port Harcourt and Lagos
from next week, 50 best applicants would be chosen from thousands of young and
ambitious entrepreneurs that are willing to demonstrate their commercial
insight, entrepreneurial acumen, and street-smartness, pitch their business
ideas, before selection of the final 16 contestants who will tough it out over
10 weeks to see the crowned Next Titan carting away the ultimate prize of
N5million and a brand new car.
The Executive Producer of the Next Titan, Mr. Mide
Kunle-Akinlaja said the importance of the Next Titan lied in igniting
entrepreneurial spirit and showcasing the possibility of entrepreneurship in
transforming lives with just an idea that could be scaled to greatness with a
market and with Nigeria’s population.
He said the show, by scouting for young talented people who
have entrepreneurial acumen, grooming them through a rigorous task and
boardroom process and eventually funding a winner’s idea, leading to an
opportunity to create jobs for themselves and others is indeed a big
contributor to the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
The Executive Producer said the Next Titan was designed to
sharpen and ignite the entrepreneurial spirit in young Nigerians, and it
represented opportunity and more importantly recognize ordinary Nigerians that
have determination, gusto and can do attitude with some of the best ideas.
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