Project Anfaani

ANFAANI is premised on providing solution to economic and reproductive health issues which are mostly linked. In 2019, an estimate of 23.1% of Nigeria’s population were unemployed of which 26.6% are women. A good number of young women do not complete school and therefore do not have access to sustainable job opportunities. Being unemployed predisposes them to risky sexual behaviour and negative life outcomes.

The project will involve an intensive training for marginalized young women aged 18-24 years who do not have tertiary education. They will be provided with various entrepreneurial, basic business management and marketing skills; and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Right (SRHR) Information. A digital platform will also be created to promote jobs created and the existing ones. We'll also have a hub for them to put to practice what has been learnt. Tech hubs are fine, they do not address the needs of marginalised sub-urban dwellers.

In Nigeria, a disparity exists in the access to jobs between men and women. A 2018 report shows 86% of men have a job as compared to 65% of women. This is not quite far from what is obtainable globally, there is a 26.5% gap between men and women labour force participation. It is also prominent to find men in the high earning positions or jobs compared to women. Men have more power when it comes to formal jobs than women which has made it very easy for the women to be exploited sexually or financially. For those who are seeking jobs, there is a probability of them getting exploited sexually to get the job therefore putting them in a very compromising situation.

The attitude towards female child education is also a contributing factor to girls and women being marginalized. 50.7% women have at least secondary school education while 65.1% of men have at least the same qualification. They are  exposed to lack of entrepreneurial opportunities which worsen off if they have an unintended pregnancy. The options left for these women are mostly skill based jobs which they often do not have the financial capacity to learn and start up.

Anfaani will connect marginalized populations with business experts, provide start-up supports and a digital platform for marketing while also providing them with SRHR information. The project has three major components -

1). Training and internship: Beneficiaries would be provided with a 6 weeks intensive training on Vocational Skills; Basic Business Management & Marketing Skills; and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Right Information. The vocational skills includes hair dressing, fashion design, catering and confectionery, beauty spa and facial treatments, cosmetics and make-up, bag making, shoe making and laundry service. Graduates will undergo internship at select business establishments

2). Hub creation: Enterprise hubs would be set up to  serve as platforms for graduates who do not have the financial capacity to have their start-ups immediately after the training to earn while saving up for theirs. This would also be the sustainability plan of the project. Here, the graduates of the program will train incoming beneficiaries. The hub will also be a point of call for reproductive health information for people in the community.

3). Digital platform for promoting and marketing products and services of the trainers and beneficiaries of the program. 

Anfaani project will serve marginalized young women aged 18 to 24  who do not have tertiary education.  This group of people have limited access to good job opportunities and are at a higher risk of reproductive health issues. Some of these young women have unintended pregnancies while some are already mothers because of lack of information to make informed decisions. This project seeks to make them economically independent through vocational skills in a hub-like setting. 

We have identified some of these women and a survey conducted to capture basic information about them, the type of skill they wish to have and their socio-economic challenges. Our findings have shown they are mostly unemployed or underemployed with inadequate income. We are currently working on with a beneficiary as a pilot. She has two kids and earns about $30.8 per month which is far below what could sustain them, a skill of her choice as been identified and she has been linked to a trainer. Ultimately, the beneficiaries will not only have a job but also create jobs for other people. At the end, the target population would have an improved socio-economic life and make proper future plans.

Young women who do not have tertiary education do not have access to good jobs and the type of jobs they get brings them very low income. This leaves with the option of venturing into skill base works. These marginalised group often do not have the resources to access technical and entrepreneurial skills from professionals and experts in their field of interest which makes most of them remain unskilled or under-skilled. This solution will provide already existing business owners in their communities with skills and support from a formal business structure and then link them to the target population. 

Empowering a woman goes beyond providing economic sustenance. It includes providing her with tools with which she can make informed choice on issues relating to her health. What this solution seeks to do is to empower the marginalized girls and young women to have economic stability while also making informed reproductive right decisions. This solution creates an enterprise platform where they can acquire skills that would earn them income and entrepreneurial skill. Alongside this, quality information about sexual and reproductive health and rights would be provided to them so that related issues will not cause a draw back for them. Another distinction about the solution would be provision of a digital platform through which potential customers can access the services rendered by the marginalized girls and young women. What is commonly obtainable is that marginalized population only getting financial aids to start their business without a structured marketing strategy in place for them. However, they would be linked with potential customers through a digital platform where the customers can assess and request for the services rendered by this population. This approach helps them broaden their customer base and also improve their income generation. Aside the digital platform, a hub would be created where these girls and young women can start with their business for those who may not have the means to secure a place of their own and generate income.  This is a string sustainability plan for the project to keep it going even after the initial funding.

This project employs the crowdsourced service in identifying and gather information about various vendors of different entrepreneurial skills who can serve as trainers for the marginalized population. Also, this technology would be used to identify the marginalized girls and young women. The use of social network would afford the young girls and women the opportunity of being linked with their potential customers who might be in need of their services. Through the use of a digital platform, a customer could easily go online and search for any vendor of a service he/she requires based on proximity, quality and price. This social network method would provide a means through which the marginalized girls and young women can display their services online as well as reach out to more customers. The Geographic Information Service (GIS) is another technology that would be employed during the course of the project. It will be used to map the locations of vendors of entrepreneurial skills in a community who would serve as trainers to the marginalized girls and young women. It will also be used to map the communities of the marginalized girls and young women. The GIS would also be incorporated into the digital platform which would help a potential customer locate a nearby vendor who provides the services they might require. The GIS would provide the customers an option to select a vendor based on proximity by checking for post codes or name of the place the services would be needed.

Crowdsourcing services are very common practices used in obtaining information or input for projects and programmes. Many projects use this technology in getting adequate information about a phenomenon. For example, a data analyst could crowdsource for the frequency and pattern of tweets about a phenomenon. This would require that the analyst do online to the Twitter platform and gather tweets from everybody who is talking about such phenomenon using apps created from Twitter developers. The social network is a common technology used in connecting vendors of goods and services with customers. There are various websites where you can find vendors of related goods and services or of all sorts of goods and services.  In the Nigeria, there are platforms such as; stars of services, business lists, legal match where one can find vendors of any service required. The GIS solution is a widely used system which makes it easier for customers or consumers to find a provider of a service they need close to them.  It is used on major platforms like transport hailing apps, to provide food services and transportation services to customers. On these platforms various food vendors sign up to the online community where consumers can make choices about who to patronize for their services. Likewise, various vocational skill vendors who are marginalized will be added to an online community where they can showcase the quality of their services and also be recognized by consumers or customers close to them.

Girls and young women with limited access to education are faced with a low economic situations as a result of very high rate of unemployment and underemployment. Anfaani project is committed to helping these marginalised girls and young women achieve their potential. This project helps in strengthening young women to become financially independent as well as well equipping them with proper and quality information about their sexual and reproductive health and rights. The goal is to provide a meaningful long term employment for the marginalized girls and young women through skill trainings and bring about an emergence of a generation of young people enjoying improved socio-economic life.

Studies have shown that when women are empowered and can generate income of their own, the economy of such society strives. Women empowerment is a tool towards achieving development in a society since it enhances the quality and quantity of human resources available for development.

Inputs

 Facilitators

Time

Funding

SRHR Materials

Training venues

Structured training guide

Partnership contract

Output

Marginalized young women trained on business management

Marginalized young women trained on vocational and entrepreneurial skills

Marginalized young women provided with SRHR information

Training schedule and manual for vocational skills facilitators developed

Digital platform to access vocational services and products

Community entrepreneurial hub created

Outcome

Marginalized girls and young women empowered with a vocational skill

Marginalized girls and young women are empowered with business and marketing skills

Marginalized girls and young women have access to reproductive health services

New jobs are created through business start-ups and hub creation

Marginalized girls and young women reach more customers through the online platform.

Marginalized girls and young women are able to generate income through the skill acquired.

Impact

Jobs and opportunities will be created for 1000 marginalized girls and young women.

Currently, the project is at the pilot stage and one person is been engaged. The project is expected to serve about 1,000 marginalized women in its first year. However, a system would be put in place to ensure that the beneficiaries also train at least two persons yearly with one person learning for free under the Anfanni project in their immediate communities. The beneficiaries will not only have their start-ups, but will also train others there creating more jobs. In the occurrence of this, there would be a geometric growth in the number of marginalized young women who would be beneficiaries of the project. Every year for the next 5 years, there would be 100 percent increase in the number of beneficiaries from the previous years. Using this approach, we project that the direct beneficiaries of the free training from Anfanni project at the end of the fifth year would be about 16,000. A total of 32,000 people is projected to be reached at the end of the fifth year through the step down training system of a beneficiary training at least two other people yearly, therefore pulling people out of the unemployment and poverty cycle. In five years, the project would have created at least 30,000 jobs to both direct and indirect beneficiaries of the project which will serve as inclusive entrepreneurship in communities and positively impact the economic status of beneficiaries’ families and the society at large.

One of the goal of this project is to provide a sustainable business enterprise for this group with the online platform serving as a source for continuous patronage. The impact of this project is to empower young women to be financially independent and have a control of their socio-economic lives. Women empowerment have been observed to be a major tool for the advancement and betterment of the family standard of living as well as that of the society. Jobs provided through this empowerment would afford women the opportunity to contribute to the economy of her immediate family while also raising other entrepreneurs. Based on the estimated population that would be impacted by this project directly or indirectly, there would be at least 30,000 households that would have an improved standard of living through job creation and inclusive entrepreneurship. Also, marginalized young women are vulnerable to gender-based violence and other negative reproductive health outcomes, they do not usually have the opportunity to make plans and informed decision for themselves. This project aims to provide them with the necessary information they would require in knowing and adopting issues surrounding their sexual and reproductive health and rights. This would then allow them plan well for their future. The goal of this project is to ensure that after providing beneficiaries with entrepreneurial skills, reproductive health issues will not be a barrier in the job creation and economic stability aimed at.

Cultural barriers: Although, the prevalence of a woman being a full housewife seems not to be as rampant as it was in the past, few households still exist as such. After identifying a potential beneficiary, her spouse could oppose the enrolment of such woman. This poses a threat to the financial independence of the woman. 

Market barriers: the beneficiaries may not have immediate market for their product and services which will require them to acquire marketing and business development skills.

Financial barriers: The project seeks to provide the marginalized girls and young women with quality training as well as business support to start small and medium scale enterprises. Financial resources would be needed in carrying out most of these trainings. Several hubs would be created with different equipment tailored to suite different entrepreneurial skills available and this would require financial resources.

Technical barriers: A number of the trainers who would be engaged during the course of the project do not have any formal training manual with which they can facilitate their trainings. Usually, soft skill trainings are done just as the trainer deems it fit which might deny the trainees some knowledge about important things in the course of the training. Also, the technologies to be used is alien to some trainers and trainees, especially those with less education. A training manual will be developed with them and they will also have to be trained on using digital platforms for business.

Cultural barrier: The spouses of identified marginalized women would be engaged so as to convince them and explain to them the advantages women empowerment has to the woman and to their households.

 Market barrier: Both trainers and beneficiaries will be trained on marketing and business skills as well as use of the digital space and internet to grow their businesses.

Financial barriers: Certain strategies are going to be put in place to ensure that the project runs smoothly. One of such strategies is seeking for partners and sponsors for some of the activities of the project. A potential partnership with SMEs soft loan agencies such as the Bank of Industry or Central Bank SMEs department would be formed where the beneficiaries can access soft loans to start their businesses. The hub will also serve as a form of sustainability plan for the project to continue running even after the grant opportunity.

Technical barriers: A training guide would be developed for the trainers based on the curriculum developed for the different skills mapped. This would help the trainers have a structured module with which they can train anyone who comes to them. This would be developed to ensure a quality and robust content during the course of the training. This training guide would be used by the beneficiaries when they also become trainers in future.

Not Applicable

8 full-time staff, 2 part-time staff, and 2 interns.

Onelife Initiative for Human Development is a youth development organization working to improve the wellbeing of young people through providing safe spaces, skills and vocational training as well as information & resources to enable them to make informed decisions. The team comprise of youth staff who have a background in enterprise development, technology and sexual and reproductive health and rights. Our team comprise 60% young women who are passionate about the empowerment of young women through entrepreneurial skills trainings. About 75% of the team members are full-time staffs with support from others who are part-time staffs and volunteers. We have significant experience when it comes to working with the youths as well as enterprise development. Over the years, our various youth oriented activities have allowed us to reach out to about 42,000 youths empowering them on knowledge and skills on enterprise development, sexual and reproductive health and right as well as governance and policy. We have quite a strong presence in the digital space where we have been able to reach out to over 30 million people on various forms of media with the youths as our targeted audience. Also, in enterprise development, we have empowered about 2,000 small holder farmers in our immediate communities over past few years to expand their business as farmers. Our experience with young people in the society would give us edge to gather as much youths as possible for this project.

We partner with government institutions in the vocational and enterprise space. We also partner with YouthHub Africa and Paged. 

The Anfanni project provides a channel for economic stability and independence for the underserved population in the society. Specifically, it will serve the marginalized young women who have restricted or no access to financial independence and stability. Due to their low level of education, they cannot access quality work and therefore partake in menial jobs to survive and sustain their families.

The project will include a range of activities which include

1.    Training on entrepreneurial skills, business and marketing skills and on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Therefore, due to their needs for economic improvement, this project avails them an opportunity to start a business of their own, sustain it and make more income for themselves.

2.    A hub would be open for use by the beneficiaries after the project to begin making revenue. This would be needed and utilised by those beneficiaries who have no means of getting a place for themselves.

3.    A digital platform would be provided for them to market their services and network with customers within and outside their communities.

In terms of revenue generation, donations from sponsors and partners, grants and subsidized payment for the use of the hub would be used for initial establishment of the hub, it would then be sustained by income generated from the working space rental and direct sales of products. The expenses of the project would include training of community trainers and marginalized women, staffing, hub creation, digital platform development and maintenance.

Being a start-up project, there would be crowd sourcing of funds from private and corporate sponsors we can approach for support and sponsoring of some of the project’s activities. These donations could be financial or material donations. Also, for community trainers who would be engaged as the trainers of our targeted population. The beneficiaries would pay a subsidized subscription fee for the online digital platform where they can market their products. The digital platform would be sustained by income generated online advertisement services, subscription fee and commission on goods sold. These would cover the management and maintenance of the digital platform. The hub would be rented out to the beneficiaries to make use at a subsidized rate. Aside that, we are seeking out for grants that would provide us with enough resources with which the project can continue to run smoothly and effectively. These revenues would cover outlined activities as well as some other expected and miscellaneous expenses during the course of the project. Despite being a non-profit, we expect that the income generated through the rental of hub as workspace and sales of products.  

Financial barrier — vocational skills are somethings heavy on equipment. Having the right equipment compliments the skills. If the hubs have the right equipment, it will make patronage easier and also make work 'jazzy' and more productive. It like using a pentium technology computer when there an i-core series of Mac is available. 

Technology improves daily. A team with better experience to look through the proposed solution technology for Anfaani will do the project a lot of good. In addition, advisory that is reach in knowledge of the nuances of working in a continent like Africa will also resonate well with our team. There will certainly be lessons from countries like Kenya and North African countries that can be adapted to our work. We reckon the board will bring this to the table. Monitoring and Evaluating behaviour change can be tough as it concerns the knew knowledge on reproductive health that we expect our girls to receive from the centres. We can sure use some help in this regards. 

We do not have a particular one in mind. We are open to organisations that can add to our genuine resolve to get past barriers and provide Anfaani to the girls and young women in our hub. Anfaani is the local yoruba language for Inclusive Benefit!

When women, despite their rural or sub-urban background can offer their skills for a fee and are also rounded informed on how to protect themselves from all forms of Sexuallly Transmitted Infections and Unintended Pregnancy, the quality of their lives will improve. We are qualified for this prize because of the innovation in technology we bring in. The girls on Anfaani will be able to access computers and other devices at the centre and listen to lectures or answers to their questions privately in local languages. While also at this, they will be able to learn and put their skills online with their personal business identity making them finadable and putting them in a good place to get patronage in a world that is not heaving dependent on hailing apps and services. 

We are are qualified for this because half of the girls and women in Nigeria are not likely to acquire tertiary and secondary education — a reality that already puts them at a disadvantage in the job market. Having vocational skills laced with entrepreneurial understanding of the infomal sector workings props up their chances. Anfaani is inclusive because it further enhances their ability to remain on the job and prevent a roll back in benefit caused by poor sexual and reproductive health decisions — a major drawback factor for women in third world countries.