October 2019 – African Women in Leadership Organisation

The life of an AWLO Member: NCHOTU MILLIYCENT

Give us a detailed biography about yourself stating what you do, the challenges faced and success stories.

I am Nchotu Milliycent Ngwe, holder of a bachelor’s degree in women and gender studies and the creative director of N&M beading perfection. From the North West Region of Cameroon the Bafut sub division Mezam division.
I am into beading accessories like bags necklaces. sandals and more. this art business started when I was still in the university and upon graduation, I decided to continue since I do have a passion for it. It’s been challenging especially when I was in school I had to work while schooling also one of the most difficult parts of being into the arts of beading is getting quality material because I have but from Kenya and getting them to Cameroon is always very expensive. My success stories are enormous. through beading, I have been able to teach other people especially young girls who are running the same business and doing well for themselves. I have been privileged to partner with Non-governmental organizations like the Economy of Communion, She’skild, The International Dynamic Oroko Women, youth parliamentarians of Cameroon and a host of others. Together we thought young girls and boys the skill of beading and most especially thought young displaced women and girls from the part of Cameroon that’s affected by the ongoing crisis (North West and southwest region). seeing these people been able to assist themselves financially is the success stories I can say i achieved.

Nchotu Milliycent Ngwe, Member of AWLO Youth Council Cameron

Do you have a morning routine? Tell us about it

My morning routine is prayers thanking my God is something I do not miss out on the rest activities follow on any order.

What is the favorite part of your routine?

The favorite part of my day is when am creating new designs.

What is your typical day like?

My daily life as an entrepreneur is quite simple because I often spend my time working to either satisfy clients or am out of town teaching. So it’s not really a routine as such because every activity is been carried out depending on how important it is.

What are your personal mission and vision statement ?

My personal mission statement for my life is to reach for the top, learn more skills and empower myself more so I can in return impact those around me. And also strive to grow my beading business worldwide. Have a wider market and impact more lives positively.
I see myself and my business in the future to be worldwide recognized for its quality products and for my service to humanity because I do not intend to stop my humanitarian activities.

Mention 2 people you spend time with on most days and why?

I do usually spend more time at home with my sister and my mum. they usually help me do some of my work and at times give in ideas which i can use to bring out new designs.

Would you say you have become more empowered since you joined AWLO and how?

I have become more empowered since I joined AWLO because I have learned leadership skills and developed myself through our monthly leadership training program. AWLO has made me have many more opportunities to empower other people through our numerous activities carried out by our AWLO Youth Council.

Who is our favorite colleague member and why?

My favorite colleagues are Lucho Joycelyn and Martin Tiku. Joycelyn and I always have something new to teach one another and Tiku usually hooks me up to projects that give me money and also makes me do what I love best.

Favorite book and why?

I don’t have a favorite book because am not much of a book reading person but that which i actually enjoyed was “poor dad rich dad ” it made me see the need for financial dependence not looking to be employed by someone but trying to create more ways to let money work for you.

“Learn to resist self-doubt ,fear and laziness”.

What have you done that you are most proud of?

I am proud of the woman I am so far and that woman is still working to become a positive influencer. mentor and humanitarian. I am proud of the fact that I see myself helping people in community and country putting smiles on faces. Giving them hope when they thought all was lost.

Thank you for reaching out to me and I pray this inspires many more people to selflessly devote themselves to humanity.

News, Uncategorized

AWLO-500 CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP

African Women in Leadership Organisation in partnership with Justina Ovat Foundation set to create empowerment opportunities for 500 women in Niger-Delta Region and Others

While women make up a large population of the Nation, women’s economic participation is comparably low. A World bank’s 2019 research, shows that Nigerian women’s under-participation in economic activities stems from cultural factors, namely; gender-specific roles. The WEF’s 2018 gender-gap report also corroborates that the gender pay gap is a resultant of women’s considerable participation in unpaid tasks. Overall there is an incidence of 77.1% gap in women’s economic participation and opportunities, making it the area with the highest gender-gap incidence followed by Political participation.

The African Women in Leadership Organisation’s (AWLO) participation in the 2018 UN Women’s empowerment principles forum, saw it adopting resolutions to form its 2019 scope of work with the theme- Empowered for Sustainability. Thus, channeling the forum’s resolutions for long-lasting empowerment solutions.

The AWLO-500 Capacity-building Workshop, as a result, is an effective economic empowerment initiative with the goal of key women into opportunities; for upscaling their skills to gain empowerment in areas of decision-making, enterprise building and financial asset control.

The workshop targets 500 women and will be a prerequisite for post-workshop opportunities namely; cooperative membership, access to resourceful business community, routine business mentorship, ready-market opportunities, and funding. AWLO is collaborating with the Justina Ovat Foundation to deliver the workshop in Cross River State. Justina Ovat Foundation is a not-for-profit Entrepreneurship, Employability and Enterprise Development organization that delivers innovative, high-quality solutions for the development and growth of people who are independent of government but are core contributors to the commonwealth of their communities.

Dr. Elisha Attai; the Founder of African Women in Leadership Organisation noted that the backbone of the organization is “to harness the synergies of alliance and create an empowering platform for women”. Hence the end goal of the workshop is to build an industrious community of women that will maximize the leverage of AWLO to get funding, assets, mentorship, and e-marketplace for their businesses. This he said will be achieved via post-workshop activities, and will help AWLO achieve its vision of a continent with women who are home and nation builders with equal access and opportunities.

He conveyed the backing of the management, while commending the AWLO General Manager; Ms. Ekemini Akpakpan; for ideating the initiative, and being an organizational builder, saying “She has gone a step further to build the right partnerships, and we are currently in the middle of plans to launch the most impactful economic empowerment experience for women”. According to him, the program first aims at creating a beneficial membership experience for AWLO Members targeting a minimum of 200 AWLO members in Nigeria.

AWLO is collaborating with Justina Ovat Foundation for the AWLO-500 Workshop; to effectively reach women of the Niger-Delta Region for a substantial impact, local participation, and local content. The Founder of the Justina Ovat Foundation; Mrs. Justina Ovat, who is passionate about Human capital Development and the project, said, “ Human capital development is at the core of JO Foundation. We are hinged on impacting and connecting with a new generation of smart, ambitious African women and it is a delight to be hosting the AWLO-500 capacity building workshop in collaboration with the African Women in Leadership Organization, come December.“

The AWLO-500 Capacity building workshop holds on 14^th December 2019 at Tinapa Calabar for women who own small businesses, need access to subsidized loans, grants and the necessary tools to grow their business. It is also for women who have skills to transform into businesses, want to start businesses, or are in paid employment but want a side hustle. There will be post-workshop opportunities for women in production businesses. These are women in Agri-businesses, merchandize production and sales, Craftwork, Textile & Fashion, Product manufacturing, and others.

The one-day workshop will be providing practical business lessons in the areas of business set-up and growth, finances, leadership, and management. Onsite activities include Exhibitions, Skills Acquisition Booths, Business Set-up Unit, Business Resource Corner, Free Cooperative Registration, Networking Lunch, and others.

The AWLO-500 Registration portal opens on October 14th,2019 via www.awlo.org/500. More details coming soon. AWLO Induction Dinner for new members also holds the following day – 15^th December 2019 at Transcorp Hilton Calabar.