The Student for the Advancement for Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) National Competition will hold from June 26 to June 21.
Miss Chinenye Udeh, National Programme Coordinator of SAGE Nigeria in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday said the programme over the years has had quality and high profile participants.
She said that the 2021 edition with the theme “Raising the next wave of innovative leaders through entrepreneurship education would hold at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL).
“ Some veteran SAGE judges and speakers we have had include: Ambassador John Campbell, (former US Ambassador to Nigeria); Ambassador Oleg Scoropad(former Ukrainian Ambassador);Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu(former Minister of Finance).
“Others are Ms. Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly(World Bank Country Director); Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former Central Bank Governor; Dr.Dikko Rada- Director General SMEDAN etc.
“The first and second placed teams at this event will represent Nigeria at the 2021 SAGE World cup with the participations of over 30 countries including USA, China, Japan, Russia, Canada, South Korea, Ireland, Singapore, Thailand, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, Israel etc.”
Udeh said among those that would attend is Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria, who will be the chief host.
Others she said were the South Korean Ambassador to Nigeria H.E Mr. Lee In-Tae who will be attending with his spouse and Deputy Head of Mission, among others.
She added that over 250 students, teachers and mentors across Nigeria, 50 Public and Private Sector leaders and policy makers and 10 International Development Agencies and Diplomatic Community would be participating.
Also, Mr Agwu Amogu, SAGE’s Chairman in Nigeria said the competition was modeled after interscholastic sporting events.
“But instead of competing on speed, strength or endurance, we provide teens with a chance to compete based on the creativity and impact of their socially-responsible businesses.
“SAGE World Cup is an annual event that brings together young entrepreneurs across the globe to showcase and compete amongst themselves with feasible businesses. This event often described by enthusiasts as the Olympics for Sustainable Development facilitates multi-cultural integration and global business networking opportunities”.
“ It is worthy to note that SAGE Nigeria has won the SAGE World Cup Ten times in the last 15 years- Ukraine 2007, Abuja 2008, Brazil 2009, New York 2011, San Francisco USA 2012, Abuja 2013, Russia 2014, South Korea 2015, Philippines 2016 and 1st Runner -up World Virtual Edition 2020.
The statement also quoted the Chief Promoter, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria, to have commended the previous competition while hoping that the upcoming competition would be a landmark in the history of the country.
“I laud the good work SAGE Nigeria is doing, which is acknowledged within Nigeria, particularly having won the SAGE World Cup 8 times.
“There is no doubt that we all have a daunting task in our hands cutting across issues and sectors, the high incidence of youth unemployment and the associated security challenges”.
SAGE National School Entrepreneurship Exhibition and Awards is an annual event that brings together teen entrepreneur from across the country to showcase their business and community service projects which they have carried out during the SAGE year.
This they present to a panel of influential judges who rate them based on their innovation and creativity using the global SAGE judging criteria.
The SAGE mission is to help create the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders whose innovations and social enterprises address the major unmet needs of our global community.