Academy Empowers 150 Women Entrepreneurs in Kano

Terra Academy for the Arts (TAFTA), in collaboration with Mastercard, has trained 150 young women entrepreneurs in Kano State. It is part of the academy’s efforts to promote economic empowerment and reduce vulnerability among women.

TAFTA programme manager, Abubakar Balarabe, disclosed this during a Women’s Creative Summit in Kano, which brought together participants aged 18 to 35, alongside employers, development partners, and industry stakeholders to showcase their skills, products, and creative talents.

Balarabe said the summit aimed to link skills acquisition to employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. He said the participants were trained in animation, scriptwriting, art, business and entrepreneurship, sound design and stage lighting, adding that the programme was implemented in Kano, Lagos, and Ogun states.

He said the initiative, now in its fourth year in Kano, deliberately targets young women due to their vulnerability and the broader social benefits of empowering them economically.

Also at the event, Fatima Musa, the chief operating officer of the Bridge Connect Africa Initiative, emphasised that women’s economic participation remains critical to sustainable development, highlighting the connection between economic vulnerability and gender-based violence.

Musa said Bridge Connect Africa Initiative would support the programme with a N100,000 grant to a winner at the summit, as well as an additional N400,000 to be disbursed as N100,000 each to four TAFTA alumni, particularly those who are survivors of, or at risk of, gender-based violence.