… Unveils N80m grants, solar scheme for 1,000 businesses

… Vows to steer Ondo towards entrepreneurship, innovation hub

Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has disclosed plans to purchase shares in the Dangote Group of Companies for 500 young entrepreneurs in the state as part of efforts to deepen wealth creation and expose youths to investment opportunities.

Aiyedatiwa revealed this at the weekend during the 2026 ONDEA Entrepreneurs Summit held in Akure, the state capital, with the theme “Positioning Entrepreneurs for Emerging Opportunities”.

According to him, the beneficiaries will be drawn from the pool of young entrepreneurs already engaged through the state’s enterprise development structures, with the share purchase designed to give them a stake in one of Africa’s largest indigenous conglomerates.

The governor noted the initiative would also serve as a demonstration of his administration’s commitment to exposing youths to opportunities in the capital market and broader investment landscape.

While launching the Lucky Light Initiative, a programme aimed at providing reliable solar power support for 1,000 small businesses across the state’s 18 local council areas, Aiyedatiwa unveiled an N80 million grant package for 20 entrepreneurs under the Ondo State Entrepreneurship Agency (ONDEA) My IDEA initiative.

Each of the 20 beneficiaries under the My IDEA initiative will receive N4 million alongside business support, mentorship, and international business exposure opportunities.

The governor said the initiatives form part of his administration’s vision to transform Ondo from a civil service-driven economy into an entrepreneurship and innovation hub, adding that the state is deliberately building an entrepreneurial ecosystem that connects ideas to skills, skills to businesses, businesses to finance, and businesses to markets.

“Our fundamental objective is to move from simply producing raw materials to processing, packaging, branding and exporting value-added products. We must build an enterprise not only for markets within Ondo State but also for other parts of Nigeria and ultimately for the world.

“Lucky Light is an initiative designed specifically to support 1,000 small businesses with reliable, clean and affordable power. It is not a household electrification programme; it is an economic intervention designed to power businesses across all 18 Local Government Areas of Ondo State,” he said.

Speaking at the summit, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, represented by his Special Adviser, Toba Oyedele, said entrepreneurs would be central to the federal government’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

He urged entrepreneurs to take advantage of emerging opportunities created by economic reforms, innovation, and investment initiatives.

Also speaking on the impact of the summit, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Investment, Dr Summy Smart Francis, said the event demonstrated the state’s commitment to entrepreneurship and innovation.

“We received over 2,703 applications. We have three levels of screenings, and they get to the final judges, where we identify the 20 ideas that have the strategy to be able to add economic impact to the state. Each of them was given N4 million, and they are entitled to a business trip outside the country,” Francis said.

In her remarks, media entrepreneur and former Managing Director of TVC Entertainment, Morayo Afolabi-Brown, called for increased investment in the South-west, saying the region possesses vast opportunities beyond Lagos and should attract greater economic attention.