The Jerry Eze Foundation, the charitable arm of Pastor Jerry Eze, has disbursed a total of N1bn in grants to 240 small and micro business owners at its Grant Award Ceremony held at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja. Each beneficiary received $3,000 to scale, transform, or start a business.
A statement from the Foundation on Thursday stated that the event formed part of the Foundation’s broader initiative aimed at supporting entrepreneurship and translating philanthropic efforts into economic impact. It brought together stakeholders from business, government, faith, and entertainment sectors.
In the lead-up to the ceremony, the consulting firm KPMG was engaged to independently manage the selection process. According to the Foundation, over 16,000 applicants registered on the grant portal, 9,668 completed the process and met the eligibility criteria, and 240 entrepreneurs were selected across Nigeria.
The selection focused on three priority sectors: agriculture and agribusiness, manufacturing, and technology and digital services.
In her keynote address, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, former Vice President of the World Bank (Africa region) and former Minister of Education, urged beneficiaries to prioritise scale and impact.
“Every beneficiary, every dreamer in the room; the world does not need more magnified egos or glorified inaction dressed up as humility. What our continent needs, what Africa demands, is scale. Not just growth for growth’s sake, but deliberate, purposeful expansion that matches the size of the problems we are called to solve,” she said.
She added, “You no longer have the luxury of starting small and staying there. The resources have been placed in your hands. The platform has been given. The acceptable direction is impact at scale. Africa is watching. Build accordingly.”
Also speaking, Dr Ibukun Awosika, former Chairperson of First Bank of Nigeria, described the initiative as a bridge between potential and execution.
“Today, the Jerry Eze Foundation has done something profound; it has built a bridge between potential and progress, and each awardee must harness their potential to the fullest. The smartest entrepreneurs are not the ones who know everything; they are the ones who know they do not,” she said.
She advised beneficiaries to leverage collaboration and shared experience. “Every person in your ecosystem has walked a road you have not, seen things you have not seen, and learned lessons you have not had to learn yet. When you are wise enough to let that in, to pull those experiences to the table and build with them, that is when you stop building a business and start building an institution.”
In his remarks, the founder of the Jerry Eze Foundation, Pastor Jerry Eze, said the initiative was inspired by lessons from his upbringing.
“My late mum was the one who taught me that you can give everything. So everything I know about giving I learned from my mother. She could have nothing, and still find something to give,” he said.
He urged beneficiaries to focus on value creation and community impact. “Business owners who have received this grant today, by next year, you will stand here and testify how big your business has become,” he added.
The ceremony attracted participants from government, business, faith, and entertainment sectors. Among them were the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu; the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Olanipekun Olukoyede; Group Managing Director of United Bank for Africa, Oliver Alawuba; CEO of Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola; Founder of Delborough Group, Dr Stanley Uzochukwu; and businessman Obi Cubana.
Religious leaders Pastor Poju Oyemade and Apostle Emmanuel Iren were also present, alongside entertainment figures including Richard Mofe-Damijo, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, Tonto Dikeh, Cross Okonkwo, Timi Dakolo, and Bucci Franklin.
