ENDING EXTREME POVERTY ONE BUSINESS AT A TIME

Creating Sustainable Businesses To Transforming Lives

43 %

of young people, 20-34 years of age are unemployed in Bauchi.

10.4

million children cannot afford to attend primary school in Nigeria.

6

people fall into extreme poverty every minute in Nigeria

40 %

of Nigerian women are entrepreneurs. Most have no other source of income.

86.7

million people in Nigeria live below the country’s poverty line of $1.04 a day.

Leadership Initiatives works to end extreme poverty in Nigeria through entrepreneurship and innovation. Our program is simple and cost-effective to provide training, mentorships, partnerships, and grants to boost individuals' ability to build a sustainable business.

OUR APPROACH

We identify participants for our Business Creation and Expansion Program who live under $1.90 a day. These participants have limited prior business experience and struggle to provide for their family’s basic needs.

Our on-the-ground staff delivers three months of business skills and financial literacy training once an entrepreneur is accepted into the program. This training is designed for participants who have little formal education and assist them in building sustainable small enterprises. Training is individualized to ensure equity.

Each entrepreneur is partnered with a mentor and a team of interns. Together they design solutions to ensure their enterprise is in the best position to flourish. They closely consider the entrepreneur's skill set, local market conditions, risk factors, and profitability. As a team, business plans, financial forecasts, and advertising strategies are carefully developed.

Leadership Initiatives provides a grant as seed capital to start or expand a business after the business team develops a business plan. Our on-the-ground staff purchases all tools and materials laid out in the business plan. These items are unable to be sold or traded for three years in order to give the business the best chance at growth.

WHY GRANTS?

Our entrepreneurs are willing to invest time and energy into improving their lives, and our micro-grants turn ambition into reality.

WE WORK WITH PEOPLE LIVING IN EXTREME POVERTY

Profits generated from the new enterprise can address critical family needs like food, medicine, school fees, building capital, and savings for their business and family.

WE WORK TO IMPROVE STANDARDS OF LIVING

Entrepreneurs living in extreme poverty do not have access to capital, loans, or many of the assets required to start a business - by removing these barriers, we make business accessible.

WE KNOW STARTING A BUSINESS IS RISKY

KEY INDICATORS

Our main goal is to improve the standard of living for our entrepeneurs and their families. We consider a project successful if families are able to have better quality food on the table, access to preventative healthcare, and children are able to attend school.

Business owners have monthly check-ins with Leadership Initiatives staff. During these meetings, financial records, savings, and customer work is reviewed. Through this monitoring system, we ensure that all businesses are experiencing growth.

On average, after one year in the program business owners have an increase of 120 % in savings, report at least two children in school, and a 24% increase in daily meals consumed.

MONITOR

RESULTS

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