PREMIUM TIMES partners 7Up, Business School Netherlands, SME Scale-Up to host Employability Summit

PREMIUM TIMES Services Limited, publisher of leading investigative newspaper in Nigeria, will collaborate with major organisations—Business School Netherlands(BSN), 7 Up, and The SME Scale Up—to host the inaugural edition of its Employability Summit on Thursday, 19 June.

The summit, themed “Converting Nigeria’s Demography into Assets,” will be held at the Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel, Ozumba Mbadiwe, Victoria Island, Lagos.

According to the organisers, the annual gathering is dedicated to shaping actionable solutions for Nigeria’s employment challenges, particularly among its rapidly growing vibrant youth population.

“The summit explores critical areas such as skills development, workforce readiness, vocational training, entrepreneurship, digital innovation, and cross-sector collaboration,” the organisers stated.

The inaugural summit will feature a powerful line-up of speakers and panelists, including Niyi Yusuf, the Chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit Group; Ziad Maalouf, Managing Director, 7Up Bottling Company; Uyi Akpata – Immediate Past Country Partner, PwC Nigeria; Michael Ikpoki, Chief Executive Officer, Africa Context Advisory Partners; Esiri Agbeyi, Partner and Africa Family Business Leader, PwC Nigeria.

Other speakers include Obi Asika, Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC); Oludare Odusanya, General Manager, British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation; Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, Founder/Chief Executive Officer, Rise Networks & Interactive Studios Africa; Kelechi Abiri, Founder, Reposebay Human Resource Limited; Prof Lere Baale, Chief Executive Officer, Business School Netherlands and Lara Yeku, Divisional Director/Head, HR Food Commercial Division, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc.

Others are Nneka Eneli, Director, Workforce Outsourcing; Samira Bello, Chief Executive Officer, Aadun & Co.; and Oladeinde Olawoyin, the Business, Energy and Economy Editor of PREMIUM TIMES .

About the partners

7Up Bottling Company

The SevenUp Bottling Company is as historic as Nigeria itself. Founded in 1959 by the Mohammed El-Khalil, the company commenced operations as a soft drink bottling entity on 1 October 1960 and has since attained significant success.

As one of Nigeria’s longest-standing enterprises, the company has made substantial contributions to job creation and has established partnerships with numerous Nigerian suppliers and businesses. Currently, SevenUp Bottling Company operates nine plants across the nation.

The SME SCALE UP

The SME SCALE UP is a platform targeted at SME CEOs in Nigeria who want to scale up and expand their businesses. The objective of the firm is to reduce the rate at which small businesses in Nigeria fail and decrease the rate of unemployment in Nigeria.

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It is driven by a vision to be a leading catalyst for scaling SMEs, fostering a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem, and driving sustainable employment for 1 million Nigerians by 2035.

“We are set to equip SMEs with the knowledge, skills, and network they need to overcome growth barriers, scale their businesses sustainably, and create lasting employment opportunities in Nigeria,” the organisation said.

BSN Nigeria

BSN Nigeria’s vision is to be a global provider of excitingly different learning experiences that enable managers to learn faster than the prevailing rate of change.

Its mission is to contribute to higher education in management learning; and facilitate the development of African managers’ skills, knowledge, research capabilities and ability to take action with regards to the problems, prospects and challenges facing their own organisations.

The organisers hinted that the employability summit will serve as a platform not just for conversation, but for commitment and action- inspiring stakeholders to reimagine the future of work and take bold steps to build a resilient, inclusive and opportunity-rich Nigerian economy.