From Scraps to Treasures: Ibrahim’s Expedition as an Entrepreneur

Up until late 2019, Ibrahim lived a serene life with his parents in his native Kano State, in northern Nigeria. His father, a self-proclaimed “nature lover” recycled scrap plastics to make pellets which he would sell to support the family. 

This serenity was disrupted when Ibrahim’s father tragically passed away in 2019, the young man and his siblings were hit with the hard reality of fending for themselves. Unable to make ends meet, Ibrahim, the eldest among his siblings, made a fateful decision. 

“I decided to go to Libya to be able to take care of my siblings,” he says.  

Filled with hope and expectations of greener pastures, Ibrahim gathered his savings, about 150 US dollars, and embarked on a journey across the border towards Niger.  

The journey through the Sahara Desert was nothing compared to what he had imagined.  

“I never expected the journey through the desert to be this hard,” Ibrahim recalls. “We saw corpses of people on our way, there was no water, and we were packed like sardines in the truck’’.

When he got to Libya, Ibrahim’s experience was that of agony, torment, and regrets as he was forced to work in harsh conditions with little or no food for days.  

With the support of IOM, Ibrahim returned to his hometown of Kano in 2023. 

“There was nothing for me there in Libya. It's better I stay in my country with my family who loves me,” Ibrahim recounts. Upon his return, Ibrahim went through a business skills training programme and received support to set-up a recycling business, following in his late father’s footsteps. Through his business, he transforms scrap plastic waste into raw materials (pellet) for plastic production companies, filling up the gap in Kano state's plastic production value chain. 

“We recycle 1,000 Kilo grams of plastic in a day. This is the only business I know of. I learned from my father while he was alive”.  For three months, he was also mentored by IOM experts on basic business administration, ensuring the sustainability of the business.

Through his business, Ibrahim employs 12 young men and women from his community, and uses the knowledge gained from the business skills training and mentoring in business administration. From how to calculate his production cost, to evaluation and payment of workers and reinvestment of profits. The training and mentoring have enabled Ibrahim to scale up his business and make it more sustainable.  

“At a point in time, when I started this business, I had 20 persons working with me and I was unable to generate enough profit. Everything we make as profit was used in paying staff. So, the IOM case manager during their monitoring visit, advised me on how to reduce my staff and increase productivity.”  

Like Ibrahim, nearly 4,000 Nigerians who were stranded outside the country have returned to Kano State since 2019 with IOM’s support. As part of IOM’s efforts to ensure sustainable reintegration of migrants into society, IOM provides economic support alongside business skills training to returned migrants to enable them start up their businesses.  

Today, over 2,700 of the returning migrants in Kano have received business skills and reintegration support in fields such as recycling, agriculture, fashion, provision stores business while some have been supported to start Non-Governmental Organizations (NOGs), raising awareness on dangers of irregular migration and trafficking in persons in their communities. 

The support provided to Ibrahim was made possible through the Migrant Protection Return, Reintegration Program for Sub-Sahara Africa (MPRR) funded by the European Union. 

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This story was written by Fatima Adeyemi, Awareness Raising Assistant with IOM.