British Council Hosts Creative Enterprise Support Programme

British Council Hosts Creative Enterprise Support Programme

By Prisca Duru

It was a delightful evening of interaction with creatives and stakeholders in the creative industry when the British Council, Nigeria in collaboration with the British High Commission, hosted a networking event to celebrate the end of the first phase of the Nigeria Creative Enterprise Support Programme.

The Nigeria Creative Enterprise Support Programme is an initiative by the British Council and the British Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) which focuses on the development of talent and innovation within Fashion and Film sectors of the arts and creative industries, a fast-growing and visible sector in Nigeria.

The event was attended by programme participants, creative entrepreneurs, representatives of sector support organization from both the Fashion and Film Industry.

The programme is delivered through the collaborative efforts of four UK and Nigerian partners who are leading in the delivery of the Enterprise Support and Business Advisory Support components of the programme. The implementing partners are Afrinolly (Nigeria) and Henley Business School (UK) for the film sector, while The Assembly Innovation Hub and Fashion Foundry (Cultural Enterprise Office, UK) lead on the fashion strand.

Speaking at the event, the British Deputy High Commissioner, Laure Beaufils, said: “The idea of the programme is to train the entrepreneurs and make sure that they don’t just have the passion and flair and talents, but they are also in tune with the business needs. To make them savvy and challenge them to link that talent and capacity to business – on the back of this, they can have a sustainable business from their talent.

“Leveraging on UK and Nigeria’s expertise within two key sub-sectors, fashion and film,” according to the British Council Director, Higher Education, Skills and Enterprise, Adetomi Soyinka, “The programme aims to support capacity development of creative entrepreneurs as well as stimulate UK – Nigeria linkages between individuals and institutions to share, learn and collaborate within their respective sectors.”

Over 4000 applications were received for both components of the programme, 108 and 40 selected for the Enterprise and Business Advisory Support programmes respectively.

The Enterprise Support programme is an 11-week programme for Fashion and Film creative entrepreneurs, at the end of which 10 entrepreneurs will receive a total of £20,000 grant to scale their businesses. The programme kicked off with 2-week face-to-face intensive training programme for 108 selected participants and will be followed by an 8-week incubation programme for 50 participants who make it to the through.

The second component, the Business Advisory Support programme, includes a master class and study tour for hub managers and sector support representatives from the fashion and film sectors in Nigeria which will provide a platform for participants to expand their networks, exchange knowledge, increase collaboration and partnerships with UK counterparts.