Connak Foundation Entrepreneurship Initiative (CoFEI) 2023 Grant Application For Nigerians

Connak Foundation Entrepreneurship Initiative is a program where business ideas that meet the requirements are judged using the criteria listed in these rules for an opportunity to receive an Award as described below.

Applications will be evaluated by a team of judges who will select 150 finalists with funding of up to $5,000 for their businesses.

• Application period– begins 1st April 2023
• Result: Successful candidates from the initial application period will be notified to continue in the program.
• Applicant– must be a young aspiring entrepreneur or an already existing business under 5 years in Nigeria.
• E-Learning program: is the 12 weeks of online training on entrepreneurship and business management.
• Training Boot Camp– is the 4 weeks intensive entrepreneurship camp with access to experienced mentors for the selected applicants that successfully passed the E-learning program.
• Pitch day– is defined as the final day of the camp where applicants will defend their ideas before the panel of judges.

COFEI 2023 Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must be Nigerians.
• Applicants must have completed their SSCE.
• Applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 40.
• Applicant’s businesses must be domiciled in Nigeria.
• Applicants must communicate effectively – speaking and writing – in English.
• Applicants must be willing to attend all training and mentoring exercises organized by the programme.
• Applicants must not be an employee of the Nigerian Civil Service.

The Process Stages for Participation:

1. Registration/Application & Selection: Aspiring entrepreneurs will be invited to apply/register for participation via the online registration portal. Applications will be reviewed and 3000 successful applicants will be shortlisted for the online training. Applications will be accepted for the duration of the application period.
2. Training boot camp: 300 successful participants will receive tailored generic training in various aspects of entrepreneurship and business such as modules in business planning (access to finance, access to markets, competitiveness, business strategy, and mindset change).
3. Pitch Day: Each applicant will pitch their ideas before a panel of judges after which only 150 business ideas will receive funding and support of up to $5,000. These business ideas will be evaluated based on the following criteria;
4. Community Impact: Does the business idea create economic opportunity in Nigeria? Does it improve the lives of people in Nigeria?
5. Innovation: Does the business idea present unexpected solutions to unmet needs?
6. Reach: Will its scope grow over time?
7. Feasibility: Is the business plan well thought-out, and is the team well-equipped to execute on it?
   Business Development Support: All successfully funded businesses (start-up/existing) will receive 6 months of business development support based on their specific needs. Just a few quick notes before we begin: Responses in this form cannot be saved for later completion. We strongly recommend drafting your responses in a separate document and only completing this form when the entire application is ready for submission. You can find a copy of the application questions here.

Please adhere to the word limit for each session to avoid automatic disqualification
Be clear and straight to the point. Applications with big grammar or jargon will be automatically disqualified.
Do not submit any confidential or proprietary information through this application.
This application is strictly for teams, not solo founders.\

Apply Here

Applications must be submitted on or before 11:59 p.m. WAT on Tuesday, May 31, 2022.
We encourage you to apply early given that we expect to receive high volumes of applications during the last few hours of the application window.

For more information, visit COFEI 2022 Grant Application.