The International Breweries Foundation is an arm of International Breweries Plc, (a proud part of the AB InBev Group) with the objective of delivering impactful, developmental, and sustainable projects. Kickstart is an initiative of the Foundation and focuses on enterprise growth and development for young entrepreneurs. The programme supports youth-owned businesses through the provision of training, access to capital (grants) and mentoring.
Kickstart is also available within other countries in Africa, as an initiative of the Africa Zone of the AB InBev Group. The program hitherto has been successfully implemented in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Tanzania. In Nigeria, the program started in 2016 and has run three editions in the South West and South East region. With effect from 2019, Kickstart has become a national intervention in Nigeria, now open to youths in the six geo-political zones of the country.
The KickStart program is a competition for budding entrepreneurs and innovators aged between 18 and 35 providing them with business-skills training, development support, mentorship and chance to come away with grant fund. The ultimate goal of the programme is to help build a young prosperous society by creating a culture of entrepreneurship among the youths, thereby reducing youth unemployment for indigenes in the South West. The KickStart program is one major initiative that would turn around the lives of youths in the area and improve the economic prosperity of the South Western Region.