The office of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Mara Foundation - Empowering young entrepreneurs

The Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Youth Empowerment, Ambassador Obinna Adim and one of Africa,s youngest billionaires Ashish J. Thakkar, founder of Mara Group and Mara Foundation, jointly announced their partnership to launch Mara's Mentorship Platform for supporting young entrepreneurs across Nigeria. As part of the Nigeria's Integrated Youth Economic Empowerment Program (IYEEP), the IYEEP-Mara Mentorship Platform is the first of its kind and will be a formidable base to empower youths throughout the country and ultimately provide a solution for youth leadership and development.   The IYEEP-Mara Mentorship Program is an online and mobile platform targeting young people who want to start a business. It is completely free of charge and the program is available to all entrepreneurs regardless of their position within the business life cycle, from those only starting out with one brilliant idea to more established business owners. The platform allows these entrepreneurs to connect virtually with seasoned business leaders locally and mentors from across the world for advice and guidance. The Mentorship Program will serve as a provider of non-formal education aimed at bridging the gap between school and life after school, enhancing young people's potential for success by making them approach life as entrepreneurs. Aside from mentoring the youths on the path to entrepreneurial empowerment, the Program further aims to provide comprehensive support services for the youth through funding assistance for novel business ideas, incubation centers and workspace as well as continual business training. Furthermore, the program exudes special consideration and focus on the empowerment of female youths in our society. These support services is expected to transform entrepreneurs business ideas into profitable and thriving business entities that will employ other Nigerians and contribute to local, state and national economies. "We are very excited about the project to bring Mara Mentor to Nigeria. The IYEEP - Mara Mentorship Program will encourage young entrepreneurs to embrace innovative ideas, envision the impossible, and ultimately transform Nigeria. We believe mentorship is the key in addressing the gaps currently preventing these entrepreneurs from successfully starting, scaling and sustaining businesses", says Ashish J. Thakkar, Founder of Mara Foundation. "The Integrated Youth Economic Empowerment Program (IYEEP) is the Youth Transformation Initiative of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. The mentorship platform will be an important part of the overall IYEEP initiative to economically empower the Nigerian youths through the Mentorship Program and Launch Pad which provides incubation centers for SME,s and Solopreneurs who otherwise would not be able to afford professional office space. The Platform also matches young entrepreneurs with seasoned business owners and cooperate leaders one on one. Our Vision is to provide the needed platform and mechanism to transform our youths to (IYEEP) CHANGE MAKERS that can make their communities a better place, not only for themselves but also for their fellow Nigerians by spurring wealth creation and raising household incomes across the country", according to the Special Adviser to the President on Youth Empowerment, Ambassador Obinna Adim. The mentorship platform is currently accessible online, but will shortly be launched as a mobile application for smartphones with the objective to create a truly active and connected entrepreneurial community for youth across Nigeria. About Mara Foundation Mara Foundation is Mara Group's social enterprise that focuses on emerging African entrepreneurs and working to create sustainable economic and business development opportunities for young business owners via the Mara Mentoring Program, Mara Launchpad incubation centers and Mara Launch Fund. About IYEEP The mentorship program platform, IYEEP-Mara, is just one aspect of the IYEEP overall initiative The Integrated Youth Economic Empowerment Program (IYEEP) is a unique grassroots and community aligned youth development process approach, which focuses on three critical elements that promote personal leadership: Healthy behaviors, socioeconomic empowerment skills as well as self and individual communities' sustainability. IYEEP is an initiative supported by the Pan African Youth Council (PAYC). PAYC is represented at the Program launch by its Vice President in the person of Mr Ndaba Mandela who is also in Abuja to present the winners of the Tribute to Madiba Contest organized by the Student for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) who have asked SAGE team members across the world to write a short essay titled- "Nelson Mandela: an inspiration to the next generation of Change Makers. Nigeria earned the right to host the prestigious SAGE World Cup edging out Ukraine and South Korea for the honors. The 2013 SAGE World Cup is scheduled to take place in Abuja from 6th -12th August 2013. SAGE is embedded in to the IYEEP initiative as its pre-youth program to create the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders whose innovations and social enterprises address the major unmet needs of our global community. It engages the pre-youth in a hands-on learning process on how to create wealth, help others and their communities. This set of youths will be the IYEEP dream team members. IYEEP focuses on the engagement of stakeholders, public and private sector participants, continental bodies and international organizations in the quest for empowerment of the Nigerian youth. The identified areas for strategic engagement and empowerment of Nigerian youths span across segments for providing technological skills, life skills, entrepreneurship skills and training support through: Economic Participation, Education and Skills Development, Youth Work and Social Cohesion. There are several anchor programs and institutional arrangements proposition for achieving the above objectives, which will include but not limited to: Agro-economic and Agro-processing industry, ICT empowerment, Manufacturing settlements, Green Economy and Environmental projects, Artisan skills transfer projects, industrial development programs, amongst many others.