By George OPARA
Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company Limited (SEEPCO) has established its commitment to enhancing the socio-economic wellbeing of rural areas within its host communities through provisions of empowerment and capacity-building programmes.
As one of the ways to fulfill its corporate social responsibility initiatives, the multinational oil and gas company has launched a financial literacy and entrepreneurship programme to equip women in host communities across Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.
Spear News Nigeria gathered that part of the program includes skills and resources needed to grow sustainable businesses.
It is also learnt that the initiative is being implemented through the VCDF Foundation, the platform through which SEEPCO coordinates its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes.
The two-week training programme, captioned “Financial Literacy Programme, is structured to strengthen the business capacity of small and medium-scale female entrepreneurs while promoting financial inclusion and economic independence among women.
The latest intervention, Spear News Nigeria learned it came barely weeks after the company sponsored free eye surgeries for residents of several communities in Delta State, where about 113 beneficiaries got treatment under a complete funded medical outreach programme.
However, the entrepreneurship initiative began last year with about 1,000 women drawn from various host communities., with participants organized into clusters to ensure effective training, monitoring and coordination.
At the end of the first phase, beneficiaries got start-up funds to support a kick-off and expansion of their businesses.
While participants successfully utilized the support, programme managers said lessons learned from the initial phase influenced the design of the current intervention.
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