Mastercard x TAFTA Women Entrepreneurs Development Programme 2026

There is a gap that exists in most creative careers that nobody talks about enough. The skill is there. The talent is there. What is missing is the business knowledge to turn that talent into something that pays consistently, grows deliberately, and lasts beyond the next gig. The Mastercard x TAFTA Women Entrepreneurs Development Programme 2026 (WEDP 3.0) is built specifically to close that gap, and applications are now open for young women in Lagos who are ready to take that next step.

This is Cohort 3 of the WEDP, an initiative supported by the Mastercard Foundation in partnership with TAFTA (Terra Academy for the Arts). The programme runs as a 3-day bootcamp followed by two months of structured mentorship support, and it is completely free for selected participants.

What the Programme Is Actually About

The Women Entrepreneurs Development Programme 2026 is not a motivation seminar or a general business course. It is a focused, practical programme built around one honest reality: creative talent alone does not build a sustainable business. You also need to understand how money moves in your industry, how to position and price your work, how to make decisions that compound over time, and how to connect with people who will actually help you grow.

The WEDP 3.0 is designed to give participants all of that, structured across three intensive days of learning and then reinforced through two months of mentorship from people who have built creative businesses themselves.

Previous cohorts of the Mastercard x TAFTA Women Entrepreneurs Development Programme have produced women who went from hobbyists and side-hustle operators to registered business owners with pitch decks, financial frameworks, and clear growth plans. Cohort 3 is the next iteration of that work.

What You Will Gain From the Programme

Selected participants will work through a curriculum covering the full span of what running a creative business actually requires:

Building practical entrepreneurial and business management skills that apply to your specific type of creative work, whether you are in fashion, content creation, visual arts, event production, music, film, design, or any other creative discipline.

Learning how to turn a creative skill into a sustainable business opportunity, which means understanding how to structure an offer, how to price it, and how to find and keep paying customers rather than just admirers.

Gaining a clear approach to brand development and market positioning, including how to communicate what you do in a way that attracts the right clients and partners, not just followers.

Strengthening financial decision-making skills, covering cash flow basics, tracking income and expenses, separating business and personal finances, and thinking beyond the next project to the next quarter.

Learning practical growth strategies for creative enterprises, including how to scale a service-based business, when to bring in collaborators, and how to turn one-off clients into long-term ones.

Connecting with mentors who have built creative businesses from the ground up and who understand the specific challenges that come with working in the creative economy in Nigeria.

Expanding your network through the cohort itself, which brings together ambitious, growth-oriented women from across Lagos’s creative sector.

Developing confidence to identify and pursue opportunities in the creative economy that you previously may have overlooked or dismissed as out of reach.

After the bootcamp, participants continue with two months of one-on-one and group mentorship to apply what was learned in real time and get feedback on the decisions they are making in their businesses.

Who This Programme Is For

The Mastercard x TAFTA Women Entrepreneurs Development Programme 2026 is open specifically to young women aged 18 to 35 who are based in Lagos. Within that group, the programme is targeted at:

Women who are already running a business in the creative industry and want to grow it with better systems, strategy, and support. This includes photographers, graphic designers, fashion designers, makeup artists, content creators, filmmakers, event planners, illustrators, and others working in creative fields.

Women who have a clear creative skill or idea and want to build a viable business around it. You do not need an existing registered business to apply. If your creative work is generating some income or you have a concrete plan to make it do so, this programme is designed for someone at your stage.

Women who are creative professionals looking to commercialise what they do, moving from occasional paid work to something more structured, scalable, and dependable.

Women who want practical business development skills that apply directly to the reality of working in the Nigerian creative economy, not generic advice built around a different market.

You must be resident in Lagos at the time of the programme, as this is a fully in-person bootcamp.

A Note on TAFTA and the Mastercard Foundation Partnership

TAFTA, which stands for Terra Academy for the Arts, is one of Nigeria’s most established creative education institutions, with a long track record of training and supporting young Nigerians building careers in the arts and creative industries. Their understanding of the creative ecosystem is what makes this programme different from a generic business training: the content is built around the realities of creative work, not borrowed from a corporate playbook.

The Mastercard Foundation’s involvement brings financial backing and a commitment to scale, having already empowered tens of thousands of young Nigerians through its various programmes across skills, entrepreneurship, and economic inclusion. Together, the two organisations have designed a programme that takes creative talent seriously as a foundation for real economic activity.

How to Apply for WEDP 3.0

Applications for the Mastercard x TAFTA Women Entrepreneurs Development Programme 2026 are submitted through an online form. The application is straightforward and asks about your background, your creative work or business, and your goals for joining the programme.

Application Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/u/0/d/e/1FAIpQLSdKkKaLGTI8gNGOIKsyVCE7PCezk18v6BzM7P8UGVrWXj980Q/viewform

No official closing deadline has been published for Cohort 3 at the time of this post. Given that applications for previous cohorts of the Women Entrepreneurs Development Programme closed within days to weeks of opening, submitting early is the most practical approach. Do not wait for a deadline announcement.

For updates on the programme, follow TAFTA’s official channels and check the MSME Africa opportunities page regularly.

If you are a young woman in Lagos building something in the creative space and you have been waiting for the right support to take it further, the Mastercard x TAFTA Women Entrepreneurs Development Programme 2026 is the kind of structured help that is genuinely hard to find for free. Apply now before the cohort fills up.

For more verified opportunities like this, updated monthly, visit: https://utibeetim.com/list-of-latest-opportunities-for-the-month/

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