Author: Ify Obi

Amongst the many attributes that make up the colourful persona of Lagos, Nigeria, is the sprawling city’s ever-reaching entrepreneurial spirit. From the highbrow buildings to the roadside shops, it doesn’t relent. And on April 24, at The Emperor’s Lounge Lagos, it was celebrated by BeyGOOD Foundation’s BLACK PARADE ROUTE. “The brilliance here is just mind blowing,” stated Ivy McGregor, Executive Director, BeyGOOD.

Founded in 2013 by global cultural icon, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, BeyGOOD is a public charity foundation that seeks to aid marginalised and under-resourced institutions, organisations, and people globally in transforming their communities through economic equity. The BLACK PARADE ROUTE began in 2020 as a directory showcasing Black-owned small businesses across the globe and has since evolved into an impact fund. With a pledge to support a thousand small businesses with a commitment of $1million, BLACK PARADE ROUTE has touched cities across the globe from London and New York City to Sao Paulo and now, Lagos.

Ten Lagos-based small businesses received grants from the foundation which include: Femme Africa,TNS Deluxe Skincare, Orange Culture,Fruche Official, Loib Creative Limited, Summy Cakes, Dipo Orims Studios, Chikalis Logistics, and House of Rhai.

AMAKA sat down with Ivy McGregor at the BeyGOOD luncheon in Lagos, Nigeria to discuss the foundation’s  mission in Africa.

What inspired BeyGOOD’s reach into the region particularly, launching in Lagos?

Last year, when Mrs Carter launched the Renaissance World Tour, I sat on CBS Morning News with Gayle King and noted that Mrs Carter was committing $2Million. $1Million for educational scholarships and $1Million for entrepreneurial grants. We selected 10 markets where we would give scholarships and 10 markets where we would give entrepreneurial grants. Of course, the [Renaissance] tour did not travel to Africa. That wasn’t part of the routing but we knew Africa was so special to us that we were going to make it a part of what BeyGOOD was doing. The intention was to come last year but I unfortunately got sick at the end of the year and couldn’t make it. So we scheduled it for the top of this year and that’s how we ended up landing on Nigeria as one of the markets for the entrepreneurial grants. We understood that it’s an emerging market full of young, brilliant entrepreneurs. It is a strong business Mecca. Of course, you know the continent is huge and so we did our research on Lagos and determined we wanted to do with our entrepreneurial grant here.

In what African regions will the scholarships be going?

The scholarships are for another part of Africa. We are doing them in Johannesburg and Soweto. 

What are the criteria used in selecting the grant recipients?

We have an intermediary called NMSDC that serves as our program manager and is responsible for the selection process of recipients. The small businesses have to show that they have been in business for a minimum of two years and also present their financial statements to certify that. They have to be in good business standing and show that they are a minority-owned business with a financial need. I know most businesses are still trying to recover from the pandemic. Hence, they have to write an impact statement that has to be substantiated by financiers showing that prior to what happened in 2020, the business was doing relatively well. So they have to tell the story and also back it up with financial supporting documents. 

I can tell you, it’s not just construction, it’s not just medicine, it’s a whole garment of businesses which we love because when you think about the BLACK PARADE ROUTE, that’s what it is. It’s a collection of this and that. When I drive down the streets here, it’s not just pharmacies, it’s a church, it’s a daycare centre and that’s what we intend to elevate through this programme – the whole community. Whatever type of business you have, we want to be able to support it because we believe businesses are supporting the community. 

As our businesses are the backbone of our community, we owe to them to support them as well.

Absolutely! I was telling somebody earlier, that not only is it up to local communities to support businesses, but it’s also up to local communities to take inspiration from what Beyonce has done in the country. There’s a lot of wealth here in Africa, so if some of the greatest billionaires and millionaires said “I’m inspired by what Beyonce has done. I’m gonna help,” there’s no limit to where that can elevate us. I’m telling you, some of the most brilliant people are right here. I’m totally convinced of that.

Interestingly, there’s an array of businesses being supported here.

Designers are here, there’s a lady who makes cakes here, there’s a skincare line here, there’s a young lady who does major events here. There’s an accounting person and a business consulting person. That’s what makes up our communities, right? Think about it, when we were growing up, your mum needed the grocery store, she needed the laundromat, she needed a lawyer, she needed a doctor. Those were all of the things that Mrs. Carter is endeavouring to support through the Black Parade route and the grant.

In what ways will the BeyGOOD Foundation continue to support this set of business owners?

For one, the ten businesses that have received grants have become connected with one another. There’s only so much we can do. I’m going to get on a plane and head back to the US. Though we have a person who’s based here in Africa, we, however, want the businesses to connect because there’s so much that they can grab from one another. Each of them has had different experiences that they can learn from so networking and connectivity are important.

Two, they will continue being connected with us via Zoom communications for check-ins to understand where each person is, and then we connect them up with education that creates sustainability. We have a dedicated programme manager back in the US whose total goal is to stay in touch with the entrepreneurs, find out how they applied the funds to their various needs, and how things are going. The person will document their new needs and educational needs. We also have an array of programmes that we can plug them into because it is one thing to give somebody money when you haven’t created the programs around them to enable them to sustain themselves.