APPLY: MTNN, Partners Invite Youth-Led SMEs to Tackle Environmental Challenges

MTN Nigeria, in partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) through its local partner, Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), has unveiled an initiative designed to stimulate and champion innovative solutions that address urgent environmental challenges across the Africa continent.

The initiative tagged: ‘Nigeria PachiPanda Challenge’, is an open call to young visionaries (aged 16 – 35) and youth-led SMEs to conceptualise and develop pioneering solutions to environmental challenges specific to Nigeria.

The chief corporate services and sustainability officer, MTN Nigeria, Tobe Okigbo, in a press statement, said, “Nigeria is brimming with young talent eager to make a difference. The Nigeria PachiPanda Challenge is a golden opportunity for these bright minds to channel their creativity into tangible solutions that can reshape our environmental landscape for the better.”

Echoing these sentiments, director-general, NCF, Dr Joseph Onoja, added, “Collaboration is the cornerstone of impactful change. By joining forces with MTN, we aim to amplify the voices of our youth, turning their innovative ideas into actionable solutions that can safeguard our planet for future generations.”

More than a competition, the Nigeria PachiPanda Challenge is a movement that galvanises participants to think unconventionally, craft solutions that address immediate environmental challenges, and play an active role in ensuring the long-term sustainability of their communities.

Participants can either be individuals or teams, each comprising up to three members. The top ten finalist teams will embark on a transformative three-day sprint event, immersing themselves in a human-centred design process.

The event will culminate in a pitch session where teams present their ground-breaking solutions to a distinguished panel of industry experts. The triumphant teams from the Nigeria PachiPanda Challenge will then advance to the grand stage, competing against other national victors from other participating countries in the Africa PachiPanda contest.