To imbue female students in senior secondary schools with the spirit of enterprise, Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN), through its Leadership, Empowerment, Achievement and Development (LEAD) programme, has trained select students in Lagos.
 
The initiative, which was tagged “Girls Enterprise Programme, according to organisers, exposed participants to different aspects of setting up and running businesses. 

It also got the girls engaged in strategic approaches to writing business plans, selling shares to raise capital, electing officers, managing businesses and financial record keeping as well as returning profits to shareholders as dividends.
 
Over the years, the programme has witnessed a steady rise in the number of applicants as the girls learnt skills such as photography and video production, jewelry making, food preparation, hairdressing, beauty application techniques and computer skills training.
 
Executive Director of JAN, Mrs. Efuah Edeh, said for over a decade, MasterCard has partnered with Junior Achievement (JA) to provide financial empowerment education to young people across the world.
 
“MasterCard’s partnership with JA began with the JA Young Enterprise Programme, stresses entrepreneurial thinking among youths as well as featuring entrepreneurial opportunities for them. And so far, the experience has been great. The overall aim is to empower female students with entrepreneurial skills that would help them in life after school.”
 
Commending JAN for the programme, Aishat Mahmud, who trained in computer application said, “Before I was selected for this programme, I knew nothing about computer and its multiple functions, but the training has been an eye opener.”