Dr Seyi Tytler, Executive Director of Emerging Communities, is focusing on financial literacy and business management as a route to strengthening women-owned enterprises through HERTISAN, an initiative for women artisans and entrepreneurs.

The programme combines enterprise development with practical support for women who already have technical skills but need help managing the financial demands of running a business. Its focus includes understanding costs, setting prices, keeping records and making decisions about growth.

The approach addresses a challenge that can persist even when a business attracts customers: sales alone do not establish whether an enterprise is profitable or has enough cash to meet its obligations. For artisans, understanding those figures can inform decisions about purchasing materials, reinvesting earnings and expanding operations.

Under Tytler’s leadership, HERTISAN has worked with women across trades including baking, fashion design, floristry, furniture making and event decoration. Emerging Communities says the aim is to help participants build better-managed businesses around the skills they already possess.

The initiative graduated 200 women from its second cohort at a ceremony on October 16, 2026. An enterprise award structure allocated ₦5 million across 23 awards, with micro-grants intended to support investment in recipients’ trades. Speaking at the graduation, Tytler said: “It is to help more women build businesses that can grow, withstand financial shocks and create lasting economic value.”

The programme is also exploring how gamified and artificial intelligence-powered learning could complement its existing delivery model and widen access to business and financial education. The digital learning work remains at an exploratory stage.

Emerging Communities identifies collaboration with financial institutions, technology companies, development organisations and government agencies as a possible route to extending the programme’s reach. Its stated longer-term objective is to help more women move towards better-managed and more resilient enterprises.

Tytler’s academic research covers gender, social policy, governance, education and public policy. Her work through HERTISAN applies that interdisciplinary background to women’s economic participation, with an emphasis on the financial and business capabilities needed to sustain an enterprise.