Thursday, 30. October 2025
Discover how ARRIVES is working with civil society organisations in Edo State to strengthen reintegration support and improve business coaching for Nigerian returnees, helping them start and grow small businesses.
Edo State, one of Nigeria’s most migration-prone regions, has long faced challenges linked to irregular migration and human trafficking.
In September 2025, the ARRIVES project brought together two local civil society organisations (CSOs) - Genius Hub Global Initiative and Pathfinders Justice Initiative - in Benin City for a two-day business coaching workshop. The sessions aimed to give these CSOs practical tools to help returning migrants start and grow small businesses, drawing on ARRIVES’ experience coaching returnees across Nigeria.
ARRIVES builds on a simple idea: sustainable reintegration depends on local capacity.
CSOs know their communities best and are among the first actors to meet returnees upon arriving in Nigeria. Strengthening their skills helps more people find their footing in Nigeria when they return.
To deepen their understanding, CSO participants stepped into the shoes of some of the people ARRIVES has previously supported.
Take John, a barber whose fiancée encouraged him to return from Germany to open a salon in Lagos. Then there is Benjamin, supporting a wife and four children who depend entirely on him while he juggles the stress of running a building materials shop. And Mary, who spent three decades abroad, only to return to a city that feels unfamiliar, where nearly everyone she once knew, including her ex-husband, is gone.
Through these stories, the workshop revealed the complex mix of anxieties and hopes that shape many people's return journeys.
During the workshop, participants were tasked with creating a three-month cash flow plan for a fictional auto-parts shop, trying to sell shea butter with only a rough marketing sketch, and debating business strategies for street hawkers. These exercises made theory tangible, and encouraged greater empathy with the people we support.
“The workshop changed how we coach,” said Nsimeme from Genius Hub. “Understanding how a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis completes a business plan helps us guide clients more strategically.”
For Blessing from Pathfinders, the sessions offered a different kind of lesson: how to keep the connection alive once formal support ends.
Beyond coaching, the workshop broke new ground on how to measure progress and tell stories of change. Both organisations left with clearer ways to track their results and show what lasting reintegration looks like in practice.
Pathfinders has since updated its business academy curriculum and is testing a new social enterprise model. Genius Hub is expanding its digital tools and refining its consulting frameworks for micro enterprises.
Through partners like Pathfinders and Genius Hub, ARRIVES is going beyond short-term support - creating lasting connections that hold when the training ends.
Genius Hub Global Initiativeis a Nigerian non-profit that uses communication for development and skills training to reduce human trafficking and irregular migration. It supports women, youth and returnees through entrepreneurship, psychosocial support and access to markets and finance.
Pathfinders Justice Initiative is a Nigerian- and U.S.-registered non-profit working to prevent human trafficking and sexual exploitation and to support survivors through legal, psychosocial and economic empowerment. It partners with government and civil-society actors to address the root causes of trafficking and promote systemic change.
If you or someone you know is considering voluntary return from Germany to Nigeria, contact ARRIVES today to learn more about how we can help.
You can also visit our return support page for step-by-step guidance on the support we offer, or explore our FAQ page for answers to frequently asked questions about ARRIVES.
