Mastercard Foundation partners My World of Bags for youth empowerment

Mastercard Foundation and My World of Bags have launched a training initiative designed to bridge the skills gap in the leather and non-leather manufacturing industry.

Founder of My World of Bags, Mrs Femi Olayebi, said in a statement that the initiative was aimed at upskilling hundreds of Nigerian youths and connect them to work opportunities in the creative sector.

She said that the initiative, named “Kafawa”, which means ‘establishment’ in Hausa, would kick-off pilot edition in Oyo State, and would launch a series of intensive courses in hard and soft skills.

Olayebi noted that there were breadths of potentials in the leather and non-leather manufacturing industries in Nigeria, and yet, there was lack of skilled hands to bring these potentials to life.

“This partnership with the Mastercard Foundation is the perfect opportunity to achieve this, by not only equipping young Nigerians with the necessary skill sets to grow and expand the sector, but also to enhance their own economic outcomes.

“We are honoured to be driving this change, and we are committed to creating access for as many young people at the bottom-of-the-pyramid as possible.

“We truly believe that there is dignity in working your way to the top, no matter how low you start, and we hope to begin to change mindsets and create a chain reaction,” Olayebi said.

She said that the partnership with Mastercard Foundation would enable the company to further expand its reach, intensify and broaden the training curricula and offer placement opportunities within the leather and non-leather manufacturing industry.

The first cohort of trainees, selected based on their passion, availability and readiness to strive for better, have been officially on-boarded into the Kafawa Training Programme for intensive three to four months training, Olayebi said.

Also speaking, Mastercard Foundation’s Chioma Nwagboso said the multinational was excited at Kafawa’s potential to create a new generation of young people with a changed mindset and new- found belief that production, tailoring and manufacturing can provide dignified and fulfilling work opportunities.

Over the past five years, My World of Bags has been an active advocate for skill-building and for expanding access and creating a platform for visibility, through its annual Lagos Leather Fair.

Application for the next cohort will be open in March 2022.

Photo caption: L-R: Oluwayemi Olukanni, Course Design Lead, Kafawa; Nkem Okocha, Founder, Mamamoni; Mrs. Femi Olayebi, CEO, My World of Bags Ltd; Sinmi Olayebi, Project Lead, Kafawa at the launch of My World of Bags Kafawa training programme on Thursday in Lagos