Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) on Sunday said three Nigerian businesses have emerged in its LiveWIRE Top 10 Innovators contest.
The Nigerian firms include De-rahbs Energy Services, Emobella Engineering Nigeria Limited and Fendwall Paint and Chemical Products.
According to the multinational oil giant, De-rahbs Energy Services was selected for its quality installation, servicing and repairing of solar energy equipment as well as training engineers and entrepreneurs.
The second company, Emobella Engineering was selected for providing engineering services with a USP of 24-hour availability and high-quality customer care.
On its part, Nigeria Fendwall Paint and Chemical Products got selected for producing and retailing household and commercial paint products with a business model that support low-income customers to access their products.
The three companies were shortlisted for LiveWIRE competition, which highlights and rewards businesses that demonstrate excellence in innovation, SPDC’s General Manager, External Relations, Igo Weli said.
He said the companies came up with creative ideas on energy efficiency and access to chemical and paint products and joined 22 entrepreneurs from nine countries to vie for the prestigious prize.
According to him, a public vote for the shortlisted businesses started on September 1 – 8, 2017, and will produce winners at the end of the voting.
“We are pleased with the opportunity for the Nigerians to showcase their talent on the global stage using Shell’s flagship entrepreneurship development programme,” said Igo Weli, General Manager, External Relations, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC.)
“SPDC launched the LiveWIRE programme in Nigeria in 2003, providing training, business development services and start-up capital for youth-owned businesses. Our ambassadors have benefitted from this support to make their mark and we call on Nigerians to encourage them by voting for their ideas.”
‘Top Ten Innovators’ is a worldwide competition open to the alumni of Shell LiveWIRE, a Royal Dutch Shell Social Investment Programme, operating in 15 countries, which enables young people to start their own business and create employment.
Runner-up prizes of US $10,000 or six merit awards of US $5,000.
The programme aims to create role models for other young entrepreneurs and demonstrate that introducing innovation supports growth and job creation.
Joanna Cochrane, SPDC’s vice president social performance said, “Shell LiveWIRE is very important to us because when we help local entrepreneurs to set up businesses, they create long term sources of income for communities, they create jobs and they help to find innovative solutions to social and economic problems.”
Voting can be done for any of the shortlisted firms on http://topteninnovators.shell-
Since its introduction in Nigeria in 2003, the LiveWIRE programme has trained 6,550 Niger Delta youths in enterprise development and management and provided business start-up grants to 3,313.
