The MTN Y’ellopreneur Initiative seeks to contribute to the reduction in women unemployment and advance women development in ‘Entrepreneurship’ through capacity building and access to capital through loans, grants, and advisory support services for long term business sustainability.

The initiative targets Female Entrepreneurs across the country who display passion and commitment to self-employment and run an existing business of two years and above in the areas of; circular economy, manufacturing, processing, agriculture, ICT/digital services, waste management, etc. The focus is on businesses that source their raw materials locally.

MTN Nigeria Foundation launched a pilot phase of the Y’ellopreneur Initiative in 2022. In Phase One, 4,711 Female Entrepreneurs were trained in the fundamentals of business Management & Development. This training empowered them to vie for the opportunity to receive up to N2 Million as equipment loan/grants to grow their businesses. Equipment loans of over N94 Million were disbursed to 50 female entrepreneurs. Upon full repayment of the loan, our Y’ellopreneurs will receive 25% of the loan value as grants.

The execution of the phase 2 will involve the following activities