One Group: Project One; A Grassroots Networking and Service Provider Initiative.
Victoria Egbejale is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of One Group, a Nigerian company with concentration in more than 2 business areas: One Bank, One Kiosk, One Energy.
She is an experienced Art director with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. She has extensive knowledge in Digital Photography, Illustration, creative design and innovation, multimedia, print design. She holds a Bachelor’s degree focused in Industrial Design from Federal University of Technology Akure.
For her, design is not just aesthetics, its about solving a problem, design is about the end consumer, how they feel, what they think and how they interact with a product or service.
She possesses collaborative and interpersonal skills which makes her a good team player. The journey to Project One began with the purpose of contributing and solving some of Africa’s most pressing challenges through product design and service. After having a conversation with a friend on a charging station idea, both of them started looking to set up a business to improve power access in off-grid communities that would also create employment opportunities for communities among other things.
At the time, Victoria was working as a design lead in the FMCG sector (Rite foods Limited). Working with Rite foods took all of her time and she couldn’t juggle between her job and the business, however as the discussions and plans on the idea progressed, Victoria decided to completely dedicate her weekends to research, ideate and develop concepts for the project.
One Group was started using their own funds and drawing on volunteers; this was followed by support from external sources.
A close look at clean energy transitions underway around the world shows that women are underrepresented in the renewable energy sector, where they comprise an average of only 32% of the total workforce, 45% of the administrative workforce, 28% of the technical workforce, and 35% of the non-technical workforce, according to the International Renewables Energy Agency (IRENA). While in some professions within the clean energy sector, such as support services, women often make up more than half the workforce, they tend to be a minority in other areas, like the trades and operations segments or in positions that require scientific or engineering training. Women are also underrepresented in entrepreneurship, management, senior leadership, and on corporate boards.
Project One was developed to solve various societal problems through different channels:
One Bank is a bespoke channel through which One group expresses her passion and commitment to broadening the opportunities and access to financial services for every Nigerian and African; especially within the low-income segment (the unbanked and under-banked population).
One Bank is a peer-to-peer agency banking Platform for marketplace delivering financial freedom to all corners of the Nigeria. Our Kiosk extends this freedom to digital currency exchanges to help their customers fund their accounts and also with withdraw cash from our point of Sales system. What’s more? You earn automatic affiliate revenue on all purchases made by new customers you bring to One Bank along with leasing and loan financing options as well as ownership options. Thus, residential customers are able to choose an affordable investment plan.
- Available Services at a One Bank location.
- Open an account.
- Deposit money & withdraw money from any Bank.
- Pay Bills & Buy Airtime among other things.
One Kiosk:
The kiosk is a solar powered phone charging station which is capable of charging up to 70 phones daily. Backup for night time and sunless period 6 months after sales technical support.
- Plug and play system.
- Minimal maintenance.
- Burglar proof and easy to setup.
- Opportunity for complementary business.
One Energy
One energy offers several types of solar plans and services for residential customers.
In conclusion, One group is a business that contributes to five SDGs: poverty, hunger, gender equality, affordable and clean energy, industry innovation and infrastructure. Our experience shows that technology alone is not enough.
It aims to create a sustainable energy pathway in a Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries, where energy is a critical factor for economic growth.