The final round of the pitch contest to determine the winner of this year’s Small Business Annual Grant was held on Thursday, December 14, 2023, at the ICAN-BOI Hub, Yaba, Lagos.
The program, which was co-organized by Kilsah Consulting and MSME Africa, lasted over one month. It recorded over 400 applications, and 50 individuals participated in a virtual boot camp before ten finalists were selected to pitch for the grand prizes.
A 3-man jury panel comprising of Mr. Paul Adeyinka of Adeyinka Vine Ltd., Mr. Paul Omugbe, the National President of the Association of Project Managers in Nigeria, and Ms. Angela O. Elefor judged the presentations made by the 10 contestants.
The contestants were evaluated based on their Product, People, Potential, and Predictability.
After keen consideration, the judges selected three winners out of the ten finalists:
1st place (1 million naira) – Badmos Comfort of Baams Creatives
2nd place (700k naira)- Victoria Adeyeye of Phena Coconuts
3rd place (500k naira)- Durojaiye Olusegun of Durojay Production Ltd.
The guest speaker at the event, Usman Imanah of Friska Food, encouraged the business owners to focus on capacity building and development as potent tools for entrepreneurial excellence. He shared his personal experiences and gave tailored advice to the contestants to help them maintain a competitive advantage in the business landscape.
The organizers congratulated all participants for their commitment to making a difference and assured them of continuous support in the future.
