The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), with support from the British Council and King Trust International, has concluded an eight-week intensive employability and entrepreneurship training for 70 young entrepreneurs.
The closing ceremony of the event, tagged “Youth Sustainable Enterprise Challenge,” held today in Kano, marked the graduation of participants and highlighted the program’s focus on equipping youth with digital and entrepreneurial skills.
Speaking at the event, Executive Director of CITAD, Engr. Y.Z Ya’u, emphasized that the program aimed to prepare participants for the next stage of entrepreneurship.
Represented by Haruna Adamu Hadeja, the Community Network Coordinator at CITAD, he said, “Participants have gone through a series of training sessions and presented business pitches to showcase the initiatives they developed during the program. These efforts were designed to help them leverage ICT tools for business development.”
He noted that the initiative would provide seed funding to help participants launch their businesses. “Many young entrepreneurs face challenges like technophobia and lack of basic ICT skills. This program was designed to address these gaps and empower them to transform their ideas into reality,” he added.
Hadeja disclosed that participants received training in areas such as resource mobilization, online marketing, and other foundational ICT skills.
On his part, Isa Garba, Senior Program Officer at CITAD and Manager of the Youth Sustainable Enterprise Challenge, commended the participants’ efforts during the eight-week intensive training.
“This program provided an opportunity for young entrepreneurs to hone their business ideas while building connections necessary for success. Also, eight participants with the best business ideas will receive N250,000 each as seed funding to kick-start or support their ventures,” Garba said.
He also announced that an impact assessment would be conducted later to monitor the progress of the beneficiaries and ensure their businesses achieve sustainability.
Out of the 70 participants who submitted diverse business pitches, eight outstanding proposals emerged as winners. The winners are: Haruna Ibrahim, Zainab Abideen, Khadijah Muhammad, Muhammad Bulama, Ummi A. Muhammad, Zahra’u Danlami, Hafsat Nasidi, and Saudat Bello.