By Modupe Gbadeyanka
An initiative put in place by a non-profit organisation called the Savvy Programme is already yielding meaningful results about six months after it was launched.
In its first impact report published recently, the founders of the scheme said the Savvy Fellowship programme has impacted many lives.
Business Post reports that the Savvy initiative was created to train at least 10,000 passionate individuals to build successful impact-driven businesses.
Giving an insight into the programme since its inception, it was disclosed that from August 4, 2020, to February 4, 2021, Savvy received 39,958 applications from individuals interested in the scheme.
However, a total of 3,298 were accepted into the initiative, representing an 8.25 per cent acceptance rate, with 1,121 being female and 2,177 being male.
According to the report, these 3,298 participants (often referred to as Savvy Fellows) were drawn from 122 countries. Already, a total of 2,181 of the Fellows have completed the Savvy program—generating 1,278 business ideas and kickstarting 587 businesses during and after the programme.
The organisers said in the nearest future, Savvy plans to get more mentors for the Savvy programme, train 7,000 more individuals through the scheme and provide Internet allowance for some of the Fellows who need it to participate in the initiative.
The Head of Fellowship Program at Savvy, Mr Chidi Nwaogu, disclosed that for 12 weeks, no matter what stage their venture is, the Savvy programme helps selected Fellows to answer all the relevant questions that they need to kickstart their amazing impact venture, gain early traction, achieve product-market fit, scale into new markets, create jobs, and improve the economy of their nations.
He also said, “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many have lost their jobs and are now living in an uncertain world. One and 131 entrepreneurs from 36 countries came together to start Savvy, a global fellowship program equipping these recently unemployed individuals with the necessary knowledge and skill that they need to start their own impact-driven business and succeed as entrepreneurs.”
Aduragbemi Omiyale 
Adedapo Adesanya