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JESSE OKEKE

 LAGOS – Nigerian Breweries Plc, one of Nigeria’s foremost brewing company, has reaffirmed its commitment to empowering customers nationwide through entrepreneurial capacity training that would foster growth for their businesses.

The Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries Plc, Thibaut Boidin, made this commitment during the closing-out ceremony of Empowerment to Drive Growth and Excellence (EDGE) 2025, recently held in Lagos.

The initiative, codenamed, kicked off in July 2025 at Awka and has culminated in a total of 360 high-value retail outlets and sub-distributors spread across 12 regions, benefiting from comprehensive training that provides the tools and skills necessary for longterm business success.

 Boidin, while speaking during the ceremony, explained that the programme was created in direct response to insights gathered from the company’s Voice of Customer engagements, which revealed that many retailers were struggling with operational sustainability, financial management, and customer retention. He noted that EDGE was designed to bridge these gaps by equipping customers with essential business knowledge, digital tools, and post-training consultancy support.

“In the past year, navigating Nigeria’s business and economic environment, we have witnessed many retail and sub-distributor outlets shutting down.

 “Our customers made it clear that they needed stronger business support, and EDGE was our response: Empowerment to Drive Growth and Excellence. Through this programme, we trained over 360 customers across 12 regions, equipping them with practical skills, business tools, and free inventory apps to help reduce losses and strengthen their operations. At Nigerian Breweries Plc, we believe that when our customers grow, we grow. EDGE reinforces our unwavering commitment to being true partners in progress,” he said.

Also speaking at the ceremony, the facilitator of the programme and Chief Executive Officer, Tom Associates, Temitope Jegede, explained that during the two-day training, participants were taken through financial literacy modules such as balance sheets, cash flow statements, and profit-and-loss management, as well as customer service optimization techniques, operational efficiency strategies, and staff development principles essential for building competitive and resilient businesses.

 Jegede added that the training model was highly interactive, enabling participants to reflect deeply on operational gaps while learning practical methods for record-keeping, inventory management, and customer relationship development.