YouWiN Women Business Plan Competition launches: APPLY!
Updated on Sep 03, 20125466 views
The second edition of the YouWiN Business Plan competition tagged "YouWIN! Women" launches today. The YouWiN Women is an equity grant/fund designed for ONLY female entrepreneurs aged 45 years or less.
The Presidential Launch of YouWiN! Women is scheduled to take place on Monday, September 3, 2012.
YouWiN! stands for Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria. It is an innovative business plan competition aimed at job creation by encouraging and supporting aspiring entrepreneurial youth in Nigeria to develop and execute business ideas. The accomplishments of the 1,200 YouWiN! award recipients were celebrated at the Presidential Villa on April 12, 2012.
What is YouWiN!
The Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (You WiN!) Programme is a collaboration of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Communication Technology (CT), the Ministry of Youth Development and the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development that will launch an annual Business Plan Competition (BPC) for aspiring young entrepreneurs in Nigeria, in line with the Federal Government's drive to create more jobs for Nigerians. The programme will be implemented in partnership with Nigeria's private sector, who will be requested to provide funding support.
Objectives of the Programme
The main objective of the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (You WiN!) Programme is to generate jobs by encouraging and supporting aspiring entrepreneurial youth in Nigeria to develop and execute business ideas that will lead to job creation. The programme will provide aspiring youth with a platform to show case their business acumen, skills and aspirations to business leaders, investors and mentors in Nigeria.
Specific Objectives of the Programme include to:
Attract ideas and innovations from young entrepreneurial aspirants from Universities, Polytechnics, Technical colleges, and other post-Secondary institutions in Nigeria;
Provide a one time Equity grant for 1,200 selected aspiring entrepreneurs to start or expand their business concepts and mitigate start up risks;
Generate 80,000 to 110,000 new jobs for currently unemployed Nigerian youth over the three years during which the three cycles will be implemented;
Provide business training for up to 6,000 aspiring youth entrepreneurs spread across all geo-political zones in Nigeria;
Encourage expansion, specialization and spin-offs of existing businesses in Nigeria; and,
Enable young entrepreneurs to access a wide business professional network and improve their visibility.
Who can apply?
To be eligible for the Business Plan Competition you must satisfy the following criteria:
You must be a proven citizen of Nigeria and a woman no older than 45 years (proof of identity: International passport/Drivers License/National ID/Voters card required)
You must have a post-secondary school qualification
Your proposed business venture must be within the national borders of Nigeria, and with the intention of employing Nigerian citizens.
Your proposed venture must not entail the production or distribution of weapons, alcoholic beverages, tobacco or/and gambling, or any activities in contradiction with the Nigerian constitution
You must prepare an innovative business concept summary
You must choose to participate in one award pool. There are 6 regional pools on the basis of geo-political zone as identified by market in which you want to do business.
Competition Timeline
Mon. Sep 3, 2012
Launch of 2012/2013 Edition of the YouWiN! Business Plan Competition tagged "YouWiN! Women".
Mon. Sep 3, 2012
First stage business concept submission starts after launch by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Sun. Oct 14, 2012
First stage business concept submission closes. No entries accepted after this date.
Mon. Oct 15, 2012
Marking of first stage submission by an International Business School.
Fri. Nov 30, 2012
Notification of successful first stage candidates and invitation for training in each state of the nation.
Mon. Dec 10, 2012
Training of the 1st set of second stage candidate starts. Trainings will be held in sets on 10 - 21 December 2012 and 2 - 11 January 2013.
Mon. Dec 10, 2012
Submission of second stage business plan starts on 10 December 2012 and ends 8 February 2013. Please note that only entries from candidates who attended the training and had their biometrics information collected are eligible and will be reviewed.
Fri. Feb 8, 2013
Submission of second stage business plan entries closes. All qualifying candidates must submit their business plans by this date.
Mon. Feb 11, 2013
Business plan marking commences with an international business school providing quality assurance.
Wed. May 1, 2013
Winners are notified and published on website and major national dailies.
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