• Saturday, November 16, 2024
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The Phoenix Project: Empowering Nigeria’s next generation of young creatives

The Phoenix Project: Empowering Nigeria’s next generation of young creatives

…graduates its second cohort of learners

It is a universal truism, and a well-accepted fact that necessity is the mother of invention. For many people, the creative sector is an avenue for self-expression.

Little wonder, creativity like the ocean of wealth pervades human life, and serves as an engine of progress in every human endeavor.

Across the globe, the creative sector continues to be a constructive sector to combat mental health.

The creative industry has the potential, not to only generate employment but to rebrand the image of the country and generate revenues.

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It can be a huge tool for job creation and serve as revenue booster for the country with the right investment.

Creatives have become a low hanging fruit that could put the country on the global map if they have the right training and entrepreneurial skills.

One of the few platforms that is helping prepare creatives for the global market is the Phoenix Project, which was created by Accelerate designed to ensure that young individuals in the creative sector are trained and given opportunities they deserve within the industry supported by Access Bank and is dedicated to training the next generation of young creatives and impacting the Nigerian creative ecosystem for global dominance.

Alongside their various partners, The Nest Hub and The School of Media and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University; the programme promises a bright future ahead for young Nigerians keen on working or setting up businesses in the creative sector

The Phoenix Project, recently hit another remarkable milestone as it graduates its second set of learners. The exclusive ceremony was filled with moments of triumph and great reward for the partners, facilitators, learners, and the committed team behind ensuring young creatives are trained and given opportunities within the creative sector through The Phoenix Project led by Accelerate.

The Phoenix Project has trained and empowered over 8,000 learners since its launch in April 2022 and has gone forward to graduate hundreds of learners from its Intermediate and advanced training sessions of the first cohort.

In August 2022, graduated learners proceeded to The Phoenix Den where learners gained access to Internship opportunities across creative organizations and business grants from The Phoenix Project.

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Some of the learners secured internship placements for three months with creative organizations whilst the other learners progressed to the incubation phase of the program with our partners at the Nest Hub.

The learners that reached the incubation phase were given the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to our panel of Judges and five of them received business grants from The Phoenix Project to further support their creative entrepreneurial journey.

The Phoenix Project recently completed cohort 2 of the intermediate and advanced training sessions where hundreds of young creatives were admitted into their learning program and went through rigorous training relative to the ever-growing creative industry.

During these sessions, learners were trained on key employability and entrepreneurship skills across their learning programs and were assessed by The School of Media and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University. Successful learners have gone ahead to graduate from the intermediate and advanced levels of the programme giving them the opportunity to enter the Phoenix Den where they will access internship opportunities within creative organizations; and incubation with our partner at The Nest Hub.

The learners in the incubation program will have their business ideas incubated and trained by The Nest Hub for the next three months and at the end of the incubation, selected incubated creatives will then proceed to pitch their business ideas to our panel of Judges and five successful businesses will receive business startup grants from The Phoenix Project.

Speaking on the graduation, Colette Otusheso, the chief executive officer of Accelerate, reiterated the brand’s dedication to raising a generation of outstanding creatives across different creative fields.

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“We are thrilled to have graduated our cohort two learners as it has been a journey of learning and exploring innovative strategies to excel in the creative industry. Since our launch in April 2022, we have made incredible strides at The Phoenix Project.

“Our graduates move on to do extraordinary things and it feels great to be a part of this. Congratulations to all our cohort two graduates as they begin their journey to making an impact within the Nigerian creative industry. The Phoenix Project journey continues, and the future looks incredibly bright!”

Charles Ogwo, Head, Education Desk at BusinessDay Media is a seasoned proactive journalist with over a decade of reportage experience.

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