Obama hosts Nigerian, four other young leaders

United States President, Barack
Obama, has honoured a Nigerian,
Adepeju Jaiyeoba, and four other
young entrepreneurs from around
the world at a Global
Entrepreneurship event in
Washington DC.
The White House, in a statement on
its official website, noted that the
emerging entrepreneurs from
across the US and around the world
were brought together to create
innovative solutions to some of the
world’s toughest challenges,
including poverty, climate change,
extremism, access to education and
health care.
The statement read, “The event
comes ahead of Obama’s travel to
this summer’s Global
Entrepreneurship Summit in
Nairobi, Kenya and provides a
unique opportunity to galvanise
global attention on emerging
women and young entrepreneurs.
“Jaiyeoba, who is a Nelson Mandela
Washington Fellow for Young
African Leaders, founded Mothers
Delivery Kits in 2013 after losing a
close friend to childbirth to address
maternal and child mortality
resulting from unhygienic and
unsafe deliveries in Nigeria.
“She has been able to collaborate
with other entrepreneurs, build
employee capacity through YALI
courses, and receive seed capital
and mentorship from the US African
Development Foundation.”
According to the White House,
Jaiyeoba has expanded her services
to internally displaced victims of
Boko Haram.
The grant has also reportedly
enabled her company to acquire
new machinery, establish a storage
facility in northern Nigeria to
address transportation challenges,
increase its Lagos-based staff, and
reach nearly 80 community
midwives and health care providers
across 23 states in the country.
“The event will recognize the
impact made by a number of U.S.
government-led initiatives.
“The United States has played a key
role in organizing all five previous
Global Entrepreneurship Summits,
including the inaugural summit in
2010, designed to encourage
innovators to choose
entrepreneurship as a profession
and to empower aspiring
entrepreneurs, giving them access
to mentors, networks, and capital,”
the White House further said.
Among the five entrepreneurs who
spoke at the event was Tony
Elumelu, Founder of the Tony
Elumelu Foundation and former
Managing Director/Chief Executive
Officer of the United Bank for Africa.