Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A baking academy aimed to deepen investment in women’s economic empowerment has been launched in Kano State by Olam Agri, a leading agribusiness in food, feed, and fibre.
The facility was inaugurated on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, by the Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, in the presence of other dignitaries.
The monarch said, “Olam Agri in Nigeria has done well by locating this academy in our state, noting that the academy will help build our community by giving our women the opportunity to learn the skills that will yield good incomes for their households when put to commercial use.”
The baking academy, according to Olam Agri, will train and economically empower more women in the country as part of its Seeds for the Future Foundation’s Crown Flour Angels (CFA) initiative.
Crown Flour Angels is an economic empowerment initiative of Olam Agri’s wheat-milling business Nigeria designed to equip women with baking skills and enhance their earnings while enabling them to contribute meaningfully to their communities and the national economy.
The baking academy is targeted at extending the impact of the economic empowerment initiative and deepening the agribusiness’ human capital development contributions to the federal government’s economic development agenda.
The Head of Marketing at Olam Agri Nigeria, Mrs Bola Adeniji, explained that the launch of the CFA Baking Academy followed the successful facilitation of baking training for over 250 International Cake Exploration Société (ICES) women in Lagos by the business under the auspices of the same initiative.
“The launch of the Baking Academy offers a scaled support framework for women across regions; and the choice of Kano is strategic. The global bakery product market size was $397.90 billion in 2020. The market is projected to reach $590.54 billion in 2028.
“This growth projection presents an opportunity for bakers, including graduates from our baking academy. We are proud to be launching our women into this prosperous market through our initiative,” she said.
In his speech, the Country Head for Olam Agri in Nigeria, Mr Ashish Pande, said, “Olam Agri in Nigeria is a strong player and contributor to the Nigerian economy. Through the pillars of our Seeds for the Future Foundation, we seek to continuously empower local women.”
“We believe that an investment in human capital development on a broader scale will engender national prosperity, and investment in educating women is key to enhancing the livelihoods of families.
“The Crown Flour Angels initiative is targeted at equipping keen women with the requisite baking skills to enhance their earning potential,” he added.
