Kwara State Government on Wednesday announced plans to sponsor three winners of “Kwara Pitch Competition” to the Intra-Africa Trade Fair (IAFA) 2021 scheduled for Durban, South Africa in November this year.

IAFA is a platform to reach an integrated African market and it is the most critical point of convergence for investors and individuals wanting to do business in Africa.

The Kwara Pitch Competition comes a few months after the government rolled out the Kwapreneurs platform through which businesses owned by people below 35 years were supported with non-interest loans.

“The competition shall feature young business owners pitching their product, service or prototype to a team of successful men and women from different industries," Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Job Creation, Barrister Aliyu Alhassan, told newsmen in Ilorin, the state capital.

“Winners of this competition are going to have the opportunity to get trainings, mentorship, and several other opportunities to scale up their brand.

“The winners of the competition will also have the opportunity to pitch their products/brands at the upcoming Intra-Africa Trade Fair 2021. IAFA as a platform offers our prospective winners an opportunity to meet with investors from all over the world, and partners from the developed world.

“Talking of the application process, we have published an e-form (on the Kwara State Government’s Facebook page) that allows intending participants to answer questions relating to their business that they want to pitch. The electronic form inquires about the personality of the Business” Rep, and current investors, among others.

“And for the purpose of clarity of the business’ identity, applicants are required to upload a presentation or 2 minutes video. The file uploaded should answer 4 questions: the product/service, the targeted problem, the uniqueness of the product and their team."

Alhassan explained that the administration was hoping to scale up businesses that would, in turn, create jobs and project the State on the map of innovations, enterprise, technology and development.

“From the information I received from our IT team, we have received over 100 applications since we opened the registration process. Our team will use the established yardstick to pick those who meet up with the criteria. So, from the large pool, we will pick three best business ideas,” he added.

The governor's aide implored young people of Kwara State to trust the present administration to grow their ideas and put Kwara on the economic development scale for the world to see.

Alhassan added that the Kwara Pitch Competition was part of the commitment of the AbdulRazaq administration to develop the state into a more enterprising environment.

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