KickStart is our entrepreneurship development program for young people aged between 18 and 35. In KickStart, we identify young people who can spot opportunities in their communities and turn these opportunities into profitable entrepreneurial ventures. Young people therefore are encouraged to think like entrepreneurs in solving societal problems at a profit to themselves. They are required to draw up business plans and to diligently implement such plans.

On our part, we support those with the best and most realistic plans with not only seed funding but, also training and mentorship.

The KickStart initiative, which started in 2016 has recorded considerable achievements including evolving quickly from what used to be a regional program, focused on a few states of Nigeria, to a major national transformational entrepreneurship development program. Young Nigerians have exceled in interesting and diverse industries that range from agriculture; water stewardship a circular packaging to arts and crafts.

We are proud that our organization is a driver of such an impactful initiative that enables our country unleash the power, energy and creativity of its young people towards economically productive ventures for the overall good of the community.

• In its first three years, 184 young people received a total of N271million in grants as seed capital
• A total of 680 people benefited directly from cash grants and training rendered in the first three years.
• A minimum of 571 new jobs were created across the value chain in the first three years of KickStart.
• 90 young people benefited from KickStart grants in 2019.
• Up to N113million in grants was awarded as seed money to young people in 2019.
• Up to 1,392 new jobs would have been created by KickStart by the year 2021.

In 2016, International Breweries Plc. set-up a youth entrepreneurship program< KickStart to assist in fighting the scourge of unemployment in Nigeria.

The essence of the KickStart programme is youth empowerment. The programme aims to identify budding entrepreneurs and support their business ideas/businesses to gain momentum, become viable and become institutionalized.

Our impact assessment of the International Breweries Foundation’s KickStart on a cross section of our entrepreneurs from 2016 – 2019 demonstrates the economic and social impact that these entrepreneurs are creating through their businesses. 

This report reveals that 85% of the combined 372 entrepreneurs in South West and South East Nigeria in the first three years of KickStart created 571 jobs and generated N334,670 million in total revenue. The phenomenal impact of this small sample point to possible exponential effect on future entrepreneurs.

97% of the entrepreneurs surveyed admitted that their participation in the KickStart boot camp significantly improved their ability to run any business. 90% of them rated the mentorship programme as good, very good or excellent. These real-life testimonials validate the KickStart programme as a transformative model for entrepreneurship in Nigeria and provides a compelling case for like-minded stakeholders to partner with us. 

With the exponential increase in the number of annual applications to the programme, the IB Plc.Foundation remains committed more than ever to its priority to empower young people across Nigeria.

The programme, which is now in its 4th season, has positively impacted 708 direct beneficiaries and 1,416 indirect beneficiaries.

With a projection of about 1392 new jobs by 2021, KickStart has demonstrated the commitment of International Breweries Plc. to complement government’s efforts at tackling the growing challenge of youth unemployment in Nigeria.