By Kingsley I. Ilechukwu, Correspondent Lagos

Facebook is excited to announce the start of its #FBSuccessStory campaign, aimed at spotlighting Nigerian entrepreneurs using Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to grow their business. The campaign, running for six weeks, is designed to celebrate, whilst inspiring future entrepreneurs, and highlight the tools available to scale their businesses.

“We’re proud of the role that we have in enabling SMBs to grow and scale. We know that small businesses are the cornerstone of economies and make significant contributions. This campaign is a celebration of some of these Nigerian SMBs making an impact, both in Nigeria and beyond.” said Facebook’s Head of Communications, Africa, Kezia Anim-Addo.

Running from November 18th to 21st of December 2020, #FBSuccessStory will air exclusively on both BellaNaija and The Guardian TV as a special series showcasing four Nigerians that have experienced growth by using Facebook’s platforms and product offerings to overcome business challenges, connect to their target audiences, and achieve successes in their marketplaces. The four entrepreneurs selected include owner of TriciaBiz Tricia Ikponmwonba, owner of The Gift Source, Samiah Oyekan-Ahmed Oluwatoyin Onigbanjo owner of Augustsecrets Oluwatoyin Onigbanjo, and owner of Foodies and Spice, Gina Ehikodi-Ojo.

Featured in the campaign, and commenting on Facebook’s impact on her business, a medical doctor turned entrepreneur and founder of The Gift Source, Samiah Oyekan-Ahmed said, “My business experienced phenomenal growth using Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. I was able to build a formidable community on the platforms using audience insights, which helped me to deliver meaningful messages to new and existing customers. As a result of this growth, I have been able to employ more people, and deliver more sales.”

Featured in the campaign are:

● Tricia Ikponmwonba – founder of Tricia Biz, an online training and academy platform in Lagos, Nigeria that provides affordable and quality business advisory service for micro, small and medium scale entrepreneurs. Tricia has used Instagram to reach and guide over 130,000 small and medium scale businesses in increasing their bottom lines in various industries worldwide.

● Oluwatoyin Onigbanjo – founder of Augustsecrets, an award-winning child nutrition brand in Nigeria that provides healthy, handmade cereals & snacks for babies and young children. Toyin has been able to feed over 30,000 children with her products within the first 18 months. Through her use of Facebook paid advertising, she has been able to reach customers across all the 36 states in Nigeria, including securing clients from Ghana, Canada, Cameroon, Gambia, and Nairobi.

● Gina Ehikodi – founder of Foodies and Spice, Nigeria’s foremost food and travel show. With the help of Facebook, Gina has been able to showcase and promote other food brands through her annual food festival called Foodaholic Festival. Through her use of video content and relevant food hashtags, she has gained a following of over 100,000 on Facebook and Instagram and has become a food influencer, with a large audience who look up to her for ideas on how to cook and also manage their food business.

Media partner, Head of Video Content at The Guardian TV, Bunmi Amosu added, “As one of Nigeria’s foremost multi-media and news platforms, we are continually seeking new ways to share the authentic African story. It is exciting to partner with Facebook on this project to showcase entrepreneurs doing their best to rewrite the narrative about Africa. We trust this project would inspire many more African business owners to take advantage of the opportunities available and write their own success stories.”

Founder of BellaNaija, and media partner, Uche Pedro said: “BellaNaija has always believed in celebrating people making an impact in their industries. This is why we are delighted to work with Facebook to spotlight local entrepreneurs leading change within their communities in West Africa. This BellaNaija-Facebook partnership has given us another opportunity to support business owners and brands as we applaud their resilience in an exceptionally tough year.”