Nestlé Nigeria PLC is helping more rural women in Nigeria build financial security and their standard of living with the launch of the fourth phase of the ‘Nestlé Empowering Rural Women in Nigeria Project’ in Port Harcourt recently.
In a statement signed by the Corporate Communications Specialist, Bola Audu, Nestle Nigeria said additional 50 beneficiaries from the South-South region of the country, selected from the company’s value chain, have been inducted into the program which has several training sessions.
At the training and induction session in Port Harcourt, Nestlé Nigeria’s Commercial Manager, Khaled Ramadan expressed satisfaction with the improvement recorded through the programme, “We are happy to fulfil our promise of expanding Nestlé Empowering Rural Women in Nigeria Project to reach more women in other parts of Nigeria. We are pleased with the progress made so far by the 150 currently benefiting from the project.
“The beneficiaries who currently enjoy the training and mentorship provided by Nestlé and her implementation partners – FDConsults, are reporting faster turnover and increased revenue as well as stronger visibility of their outlets within their locations. We are therefore confident that these additional 50 selected retailers in South-South, will also reap the full benefits of the support we are providing through training, mentorship and grants.” He said.
The beneficiaries comprising female retailers in Nestlé’s value chain, will receive grants valued at 300% of their monthly sales in form of Nestlé’s products and will also participate in the training and mentorship programs which will enable them scale up their businesses, thereby increasing their household incomes.
In his remarks at the induction and training for the new beneficiaries, Head, Partnerships & Training at FDConsults, Phranklin Audu, commended Nestle Nigeria for promoting the empowerment programme. “The Nestlé Empowering Rural Women project is such an amazing initiative. The progress and growth recorded by the women in the several states where the project is already ongoing is quite refreshing to see.
“We are talking about visible growth. Grade-C retailers are moving up the distribution ladder and more importantly these women are doing more sales turnovers thereby earning higher incomes for themselves. We must commend the visioners of this project and the entire project team for staying true to cause”. Audu said.
One of the beneficiaries, Joyce Nwaiwo, while expressing her gratitude to Nestlé said, “I feel so happy about this opportunity. I still cannot believe that this is true, because it is just like a dream. I want to say a big thank you to Nestlé.”
The statement read in part; “ Nestlé Empowering Rural Women in Nigeria Project is designed to help rural women retailers scale up their businesses and sustain the new level of up to three times the size of their existing businesses. It is one of the Creating Shared Value initiatives that Nestlé deploys to help build thriving communities by improving livelihoods.
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