Bolt, a ride-hailing company across Africa announced its top 20 finalists out of the 100 selected at the ideation phase of the Bolt Den Acceleration Program in Nigeria, that supports drivers excellence in business and economic growth.
The mobility app which is in partnership with the Nest Innovation Park, made this announcement last week in a virtual induction noting that it has commenced the actualisation of this initiative.
The Country manager at Bolt Nigeria, Yahaya Mohammed, expressed his enthusiasm for the resilience and innovation displayed by the drivers. He emphasized that this direction has the potential to empower them.
According to Mohammed, selected participants would attend a 2 weeks intensive boot camp marking the first phase of the program and thereafter the pitch which is scheduled for November 20,2023. This gives the selected drivers a platform to pitch their innovative ideas to a panel of judges.
“This stage is important as it engages drivers to creatively think of concepts and innovative ideas that cuts across digital marketing, business development and financial management” he says.
The ideas of these top 20 drivers would be scrutinized by the panel of judges in an Interview where only 10 finalists with the best ideas would be selected and rewarded €2000 seed funding alongside a 6-week intensive mentorship program.
The Public Policy Specialist for bolt, Ewoma Jerry-Ogeme said he is elated to see these drivers grow and learn these skills to up scale their entrepreneurial knowledge.
“We are excited to witness the revolution of your ideas as you learn, unlearn and relearn through the process of ideation” he said.
The top 20 drivers were selected from five states across Nigeria- Abuja, Lagos, Kwara, Kaduna and Rivers.
Recall that Bolt launched an online training app for its drivers a few weeks back, to upgrade drivers’ entrepreneurial mobility.
The company said it would work towards building its driver competence with online learning platforms like Coursera and in-person implementation partner.
