The first cohort of TPFF’s flagship Youth Entrepreneurship and Micro-Enterprise Support Programme has recorded highly encouraging results just six months after completion, with over 80% of participants having successfully launched or significantly expanded their small businesses. The programme, which ran for twelve weeks and combined classroom training with practical business simulations and one-on-one mentorship sessions, equipped participants with essential skills in business planning, financial management, marketing, customer service, and digital commerce. Participants also received access to a network of experienced business mentors drawn from Taraba State’s private sector community. Upon graduation, qualifying participants were connected to micro-financing opportunities through TPFF’s partner financial institutions, enabling them to access seed capital for their businesses. Success stories from the first cohort include a young woman who launched a catering business now serving corporate clients in Jalingo, and a young man who expanded his phone repair shop into a full-service technology centre employing three additional staff. TPFF programme coordinators note that the results far exceeded initial projections and have strengthened the case for scaling the programme to reach more youth across the state. A second cohort is already being planned, with a target of doubling the number of participants.
