Kenneth Ogbodo, founder of Onyeisi Care Foundation, has been selected into Fight for Access Accelerator programme run by Reckitt and Yunus Social Business.
The Fight for Access Accelerator is an award-winning program that provides training and grant funding to select social businesses creating access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).
Kenneth Ogbodo and Onyeisi Care Foundation, alongside 5 other social businesses, were selected out of over 250 applications and a rigorous selection process that took place in August, 2023. The final cohorts of 6 were chosen based on the effectiveness of their WASH solutions towards: innovation and decentralisation of the current model, and information, education and community management.
Participation in the Fight for Access Accelerator gives the selected social entrepreneurs access to training, network expansion, and grant funding that is designed to help them scale their impact with measurable results, following the impact already created in Brazil and South Africa.
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Speaking about the program and its significance for Nigerian entrepreneurs and the local WASH ecosystem, Akbar Ali Shah, general manager of Reckitt in Sub Saharan Africa, stated; “With 90% of the local population lacking the full range of access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in Nigeria, this accelerator sparks hope for building towards a brighter more sustainable future. At Reckitt, we understand the power of business to change the world for the better, and we know we can have the most impact when we act as a catalyst for innovation. That’s why we are accelerating access to health and hygiene for millions of Nigerians by catalysing social entrepreneurship.” We are confident that the selected enterpreneurs will go on to create a bigger impact within the communities they operate in.”
Kenneth draws his inspiration and motivation for Onyeisi Care Foundation from his own experiences in a lack of access to WASH during his childhood. Growing up in Amorji-Akpugo, southeast Nigeria, the young Kenneth trekked many miles with his peers to search for water to bathe, wash, cook, and drink. The water hunt consumed many hours weekly, impacting his studies by taking away precious study time or even making him late to school. Kenneth turned the personal sting of water scarcity as a child and turned it into the mother of his ambition as an adult.
Kenneth recalls his tough start and how he worked at Onyeisi Care Foundation to positively change the lives of more than 500 children who have already received diverse educational support.
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“Our vision is to become the leading provider of access to free education, clean water, and sanitation in Africa in the next few years,” says Kenneth.
“Through my selection for the Fight for Access Accelerator, we hope to overcome some of the challenges that come with bootstrapping and setting up a social business so we can scale our impact to help local communities combat the issues that come from a lack of access to clean water. We are truly grateful for this opportunity given to us by Reckitt and Yunus Social Business.”
Speaking further, Kenneth said by November 2030, his foundation in collaboration with Reckitt’s Fight for Access Accelerator would have helped more than 40,000 students with educational support. Above all, the foundation also plans to build at least 500 solar-powered boreholes for schools in rural communities across the country within the same period.
“The ambition to create access to WASH cannot be achieved by one man or one organisation alone, which is why the partnership between Reckitt and Yunus Social Business to scale the work of this diverse set of social businesses is crucial,” he said.
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The Fight for Access Accelerator in Nigeria is currently ongoing and will be wrapped up with a formal award ceremony in Lagos in 2024.
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