That Amazing Moment When Winners of the Enterprise Challenge Keturah Onoweya & Sophia Onu met Sir Richard Branson

Some months ago, BellaNaija posted about an opportunity for young Nigerian entrepreneurs to meet to take part in the Enterprise Challenge where winners would receive a financial grant worth N1.5m and N1m for first and second respectively, and will all benefit from continued support from the initiative’s partners.

In addition, the overall Enterprise Challenge champion received a fully-funded scholarship to attend a five-day entrepreneurship foundation course at the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship in South Africa plus a mentoring session in London with world renowned entrepreneur and Founder and Chairman of Virgin Group, Sir Richard Branson.

It was an amazing opportunity. Click here to read all about it.

Two winners emerged for the 2016 Enterprise Challenge, Keturah Ovio Onoweya and Sophia Ike Onu, and they both met Sir Richard Branson on Wednesday 29 June in Oxford United Kingdom.

The Founder and Chairman of the Virgin Group met with the winners for a mentoring session –   giving them ideas and advice on how to run a sustainable and profitable business in this current economic environment.  He also shared some personal business experiences during the meeting.

BN shared clips of the meeting on Instagram. Check it out below.

Congrats to @kechiloren of @the5kshop The young Nigerian entrepreneur won the British Council/Virgin Atlantic Enterprise Challenge. This week, she got to talk business with @richardbranson at his home in Oxford! He also wore a Dashiki she gifted him from the #5kShop #EcNG2016

A video posted by BellaNaija (@bellanaijaonline) on Jun 29, 2016 at 11:25pm PDT

After the session with Sir Richard, Keturah and Sophia joined a number of promising entrepreneurs from the Virgin StartUp and Virgin Media Business’ VOOM competition for Lunch and Networking. They also attended this year’s Sunday Times Fast Track 100 event and awards.

Sophia founder The5kshop said “The Enterprise Challenge has been an incredible journey; mentally tough in so many ways but also incredibly stimulating and enjoyable. Meeting Sir Richard Branson was so surreal! Moments before he walked into the room, I was a bit anxious but the minute he came in and we got chatting, it really felt like talking to an old friend. It was impressive how well he understood my business as he casually shared intelligent advice and tips. Richard is definitely that lecturer that can make the toughest subject seem so easy. He answered all our questions with details. It’s so easy to understand why he’s referred to as the Godfather of Entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom.  Thank you Richard for being you, continue to inspire”

Keturah founder Qeturah Dot Com said: “Meeting Richard Branson was a once in a lifetime experience. He is probably best known as one of the first ‘positive disruptors’ in business and has always been a real inspiration to me. Talking to him made me believe that everything is possible – you just have to make it possible, and I look forward to seeing how I can apply his words of wisdom and encouragement to my life and business going forward.”

More than 10,800 young Nigerian entrepreneurs entered the competition, which was conceived and organised by British Council and Virgin Atlantic in partnership with Zenith Bank and Samsung, in order to help talented young Nigerians develop their entrepreneurial skills.

The winners have since received a financial grant worth N2m each and will all benefit from continued support from the initiative’s partners. In addition, Enterprise Challenge winners will receive a fully-funded scholarship to attend a five-day entrepreneurship foundation course at the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship in South Africa.

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