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In 2016, Chinedu became a Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, taking among many things, the importance of excellent customer service. Till today, the philosophy that customer is king remains the mindset and driving force at Kobopay. The duality is to this enterprise is that they provide customer-centric services while also ensuring customer satisfaction.

This determination has led to the organic growth of the organization, with about 20,000 users and over $2M in transaction volume through bootstrapping. Currently, their focus is on rural and semi-rural communities with little to no formal banking presence. In these communities, Kobopay is partnering with local businesses such as market women and neighbourhood convenience stores to serve as Kobopay agents. In return, they are providing an extra source of income to these local businesses and employment to the community at large.

For Chinedu, the goal is to be the universal provider of Financial services to all and sundry in Nigeria in a customer-centric manner. The most important impact Koboypay has is that it allows underserved people to conduct their financial activities with less stress and exertion and more ease, all at a lower cost.

In addition, people in these communities get to access formal financial services and obtain formal, government identity through the Bank Verification Number (BVN) for the first time. Access to government programmes and services such as micro-insurance, Micro-credit, micro-pensions over time are also added value provided by Kobopay.

In the next two years, Kobopay aims to secure a microfinance banking license to improve the list of services they can offer to their customers and thereafter transition over time into a full-scale digital bank focusing on democratizing financial services in sub-Saharan Africa.

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His enterprise, Afririce, enables producers who are frustrated and stressed by the difficulty of threshing-winnowing an easier solution with their thresher-winnower. Originally intended for rice, the machine is now suitable for threshing and winnowing soybeans, which is most suitable as in recent years, Benin has seen a rise in soybean production.

In 2018, the solution was presented at the Innovation Symposium in Rome at FAO headquarters, where Steve and his team were ranked among FAO’s 20 Success Stories in hunger-reduction. The team has been selected by the American Government through the USADF to benefit from the funding of approximately $100,000 to mechanize agricultural operations in 3 large rice and soybean production zones in Benin. The project, planned for 2 years, will also make it possible to digitize the Agricultural Council in the cereal sectors.

From a Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, straight to global domination!

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After his selection as one of the beneficiaries of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme, he received several training sessions that focused on diverse business management topics. The technical and financial support enabled him to turn his ideas into reality, embarking on research towards the manufacturing of Agro-food.  Since then, he has been able to meet the needs of his communities, while preserving the economy and creating jobs.

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At the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, Taiwo learnt how to set goals and developed his human resources management skills. These principles have enabled him to increase his horizons in several aspects of his life and enhanced my entrepreneurial passion.

Since becoming an entrepreneur, he has committed to the growth and development of his community.  Currently, 90% of the workforce at Sirgbo Greengold Farms & Food is from his local community and most resources are also sourced locally. His hope is for his enterprise to be among the best suppliers of pig, pork and piglet

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The first business that came to his mind was poultry farming. He had tried his hands on this in the past, however, he was determined to succeed this time around with his vision. He learnt a lot from his failure as a Poultry farmer and knew to avoid the mistakes he made at the beginning of his entrepreneurship journey.

Having never once dreamt of owning a business, Timothy’s greatest challenge was the ‘fear to start’. On receiving the seed capital, he was anxious with several thoughts, but having a business plan – which he learnt through the programme – and the different masterclasses organized by the Tony Elumelu Foundation further encouraged him and provided a mental balance to proceed with his plans.

Timothy credits everything he knows about running a business to the entrepreneurship programme. Before the programme, he had never been as keen to acquire knowledge. The programme taught and trained him on how to write a winning business plan and other aspects of business and entrepreneurship. Today he is equipped to guide, coach and mentor people.

Timothy’s business started with an idea; launched and financed with the seed capital from the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme and in less than a year, the business has scaled and employed 2 people. His business, Shangkinan Poultry Farm, is meeting the nutritional needs of the people within and outside the community. He hopes to expand the business and launch a second business location.

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