Caption: From left, Patrick Akinwuntan, Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria Limited; Femi Ayeni, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ultima Studios; Carol Oyedeji, Executive Director, Commercial Banking, Ecobank Nigeria; and Dan Ngerem, Founder and Chairman of Hensen Trust Group.
The Managing Director/Regional Executive, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan, on Wednesday, restated the bank’s resolve to raise future Africa multinationals by availing young entrepreneurs funding, access to market across Africa, training, and other resources.
Speaking at an event tagged: “Brunch With Entrepreneurs”, an interactive session organized by the bank for budding entrepreneurs that pitched their business ideas on the TV reality show, Lions’ Den Season one programme, Akinwuntan said the forum was for top executives of the bank and partners to interact with the young entrepreneurs on the available opportunities to explore in the bank, for realizing their potentials.
The interaction, he told them, “is a continuation of our journey of building Pan African multinationals by hosting these young entrepreneurs that have debuted on Lions’ Den program, the reality show being produced by our partner, Ultima productions.”
Lions’ Den, he stressed, “is a programme that exposes promising entrepreneurs to potential investors who are called Lions. The Lions are businessmen and women who have pedigree, who know what it takes to make a success of a business. They are bringing their wealth of experience and capital to the stage to assist people with brilliant and creative ideas. I mean young Nigerians, females, and males, willing to take up the challenge of future Pan African entrepreneurs.”
Akinwuntan said Ecobank Nigeria, an affiliate of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), operating in 35 African countries and global presence in Dubai, London, Paris, and Beijing, is offering its platform, Pan African network, digital offerings, and all necessary support to make the young entrepreneurs achieve their dream. “
Also speaking at the event on how the young entrepreneurs should pitch to get investors, one of the Lions, Dan Ngerem, Chairman, Hensen Group, advised them to maintain the originality of their business idea and remain focused in their presentation. “The keyword here is to be original. Ensure you think through your project from conception, stick with the originality. Do not cannibalize your idea. Don’t oversell yourself or the project to impress, remain focused, sharpen your presentation skill, do not be scared while presenting and take notes.”
He thanked Ecobank for offering its platform for budding entrepreneurs to explore and achieve their dream.
Chief Executive Officer, Ultima Studio, Femi Ayeni applauded Ecobank’s decision to also assist the young entrepreneurs whose business ideas could not get investors in the reality program. He explained that the partnership with Ecobank on the project is borne out of a passion to assist young entrepreneurs to achieve their dream.
The young entrepreneurs were full of praises for the bank and partners for giving them a platform to realize their dream.
According to Idorenyin Akpabio, Founder/Creative Director, Aideeology, a company that conceptualizes and creates interactive and intellectually stimulating tabletop games for the education and recreation of kids, teens, and even adults, the meeting was insightful, stressing that the engagement has added a lot more value to him.
“We had an audience with the Ecobank MD and his amazing team. We had insightful discussions on Entrepreneurship Development, Start-up Funding, FinTech, the Pan-African Market, etc. He took time to explain Ecobank’s vision and plans for Entrepreneurs, and candidly answered all questions we posed to him. It was worthwhile chatting and networking with these financial heavyweights. This has added a lot more value to me and to my digital Rolodex. Behold, a pregnant future beckon,” he stressed.
Obukovwo Etudoh, Chief Executive Officer, ClassiClicks Limited, a firm that manages Primary and Secondary Schools in using Games like Chess, Scrabble, Monopoly, Coding, said her appearance on the reality show is a dream come through.
Although her business was not selected, she expressed optimism that she could still achieve her goals through Ecobank.
Lion’s Den is a Reality show produced by Ultima Studios and sponsored by Ecobank. It provides budding entrepreneurs investment opportunities through successful pitches. The reality show airs every Sunday at 7 pm on AfricaMagic Family, Channels 154 on DSTV and GOTV Channel 2; with repeat broadcasts on Wednesdays at 3 pm and on Fridays at 5 pm on Africa Magic Urban, DSTV Channel 153.
