{"id":776212,"date":"2026-07-21T17:08:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T17:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/776212\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T17:08:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T17:08:26","slug":"ananse-centre-for-design-lagos-graduates-first-cohort-of-fashion-incubator-entrepreneurs-in-lagos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/776212\/","title":{"rendered":"Ananse Centre for Design Lagos graduates first cohort of Fashion Incubator entrepreneurs in Lagos"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1779248\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/img7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>More than 30 aspiring fashion entrepreneurs have graduated from the inaugural Fashion Incubator Scholarship Programme at the Ananse Centre for Design Lagos, marking a major milestone in Ananse\u2019s mission to build Africa\u2019s next generation of globally competitive fashion businesses.<\/p>\n<p>Hosted at the Ananse Centre for Design Lagos in Ikate, Lekki, the graduation celebrated participants who entered the programme with little or no prior industry experience and successfully completed one of Nigeria\u2019s most comprehensive fashion incubation programmes.<\/p>\n<p>Over several months, participants received hands-on training across fashion design, leatherwork, garment production, quality assurance, sustainability, product development, entrepreneurship, branding, e-commerce and market access, equipping them with the practical and commercial skills needed to launch and grow successful businesses.<\/p>\n<p>The event featured a runway showcase of original collections designed and produced by the graduates, highlighting the creativity, craftsmanship and entrepreneurial thinking developed throughout the programme.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking during the graduation ceremony, Sam Mensah, Founder and CEO of Ananse Africa, said:<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Africa has no shortage of talent. What has often been missing is access to world-class training, infrastructure and commercial opportunities. The Ananse Centre for Design was created to bridge that gap, giving aspiring entrepreneurs not only technical skills, but also the business knowledge, production capabilities and market access they need to build sustainable fashion brands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1779249\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/img12.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1066\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Onome Umukoro, Hub Country Lead, Africa, added:<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday\u2019s graduation isn\u2019t the finish line \u2013 it\u2019s the beginning. We\u2019re incredibly proud of what this cohort has achieved, but our role doesn\u2019t stop here. Through Ananse\u2019s wider ecosystem, graduates will continue to have opportunities to produce, create content, access new markets and grow their businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>The Fashion Incubator Scholarship Programme is delivered through strategic partnerships with the Mastercard Foundation, ISHK Tolaram Foundation, and TVET, bringing together organisations committed to expanding opportunities for young people and strengthening Africa\u2019s creative economy.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond technical training, graduates become part of the wider Ananse ecosystem, gaining continued access to production facilities, content creation services, business support, digital commerce and market access opportunities designed to help transform promising talent into commercially successful fashion businesses.<\/p>\n<p>With operations across six African countries, Ananse continues to invest in the infrastructure, education and commercial platforms needed to position African fashion on the global stage while creating sustainable livelihoods for designers, artisans and creative entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1779250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/img15.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1066\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sponsored Content<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 30 aspiring fashion entrepreneurs have graduated from the inaugural Fashion Incubator Scholarship Programme at the Ananse&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":776213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[28,158],"class_list":["post-776212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entrepreneurship","tag-business","tag-entrepreneurship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=776212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}