By Betsy Ramser Jaime
‘My name is Ede Benedict Onyyedikachi. I am a dental technologist by profession.”
Graduating in 2015, Benedict completed a one-year internship program in 2020 but soon found it seemingly impossible to find a job in Nigeria, given the state of the country, and the world.
Realizing that finding a traditional job was not going to be easy, Benedict took it upon himself to create his own income as he says, ‘I’ve already ventured into some businesses with my own little financial capacity so as to fend for myself & take care of my bills & to upgrade my status in life. I am very hard-working young, brilliant & sincere, & in all, I am very creative.’
Today, Benedict is operating two separate businesses. The first is palm kernel oil processing. In describing this part of his business Benedict shares that this ‘involves sourcing of Palm kernel from remote villages, transporting down to the factory & there toasting, crushing and sieving would be carried out to obtain a pure Palm Kernel oil. Soap-making companies & some chemical companies would come to the factory to buy this oil for their usage.’
The second business that Benedict operates is a POS (point of sale) business which he says involves, ‘rendering certain services such as Cash withdrawals, Cash deposits, TV & cable subscriptions, Utility bills payment, airtime & data subscriptions, Opening of accounts, etc. The company I currently work for is called “BAXI” owned by Capricorn digital. I’m one of their numerous registered agents.’
Since joining the Zidisha community in 2021, Benedict has been able to use his loans to add to his capital and also add new equipment to enhance his business.
With his first loan of $12 in August 2021, he knew that even a small influx of cash would help him to add to the capital for his agency. This also allowed him to obtain larger quantities of his palm oil for his other business.
Shortly thereafter, Benedict doubled his first loan, raising $24 to add additional capital to his business.
Most recently, in September 2021, with a $48 Zidisha funded loan, Benedict shared, ‘I will use this loan to add up to the capital I was using to run my agency banking business, I used the previous loan to pay for the waybill of the POS machine I bought earlier; but this very one will help me to purchase a Bluetooth printer for my agency banking business.’
After receiving his first few loans from the Zidisha community, he took to his discussion page and shared, ‘Thanks to my lenders, the previous loan helped me a lot in running my agency banking business..I so much appreciate your efforts. Thanks once again.’
Would you like to make a difference in the life and community of an entrepreneur like Benedict? Make sure to head on over to our Browse Projects page to see what other Zidisha business owners are doing around the world.
Betsy is a Writer and Editor living in Florida with her husband. She has been writing with Zidisha for 5 years and loves sharing the inspiring stories of Zidisha entrepreneurs. You can connect with her on her personal website.
