CITAD with support from Embassy of the USA, Abuja held a sensitization workshop on Thursday, 14^th December, 2018. The workshop was meant to mark the commencement of the project Creative Space for the Development of Young Women Innovators which the Embassy is supporting as well to serve as an orientation programme for the beneficiaries. Held at Mambayya House, Kano State, it was attended by over 97 people including the selected 80 women (candidates). Among the dignitaries were His Excellency Deputy Governor/Commissioner of Education Kano State represented by Prof. Mukhtar Atiku Kurawa (Kano State Polytechnic Rector) and Zahraddeen Mukhtar SMEDAN representative. Isyaku Garba, Project Director who represented the Executive Director CITAD gave the welcome remarks. He mentioned that CITAD was going to train 80 women and girls on ICT and Entrepreneurships. This was one of the projects in Nigeria selected by the Embassy of the United State Office Abuja. He noted that the focus of the project was to support programmes that would involve more women and girls in IT-related opportunities. He added that this sensitization would also serve as an advocacy on the need for all stakeholders to support efforts to promote the inclusion of women and girls in leveraging ICTs for their economic empowerment, a key requirement for addressing unemployment among women and female youth. He called on government at various levels to embark on initiatives and programme that will make ICTs available, accessible and affordable to the citizens and in particular the marginalized groups such as women and PWDs.

Prof. Mukhtar A. Kurawa expressed appreciation to the organizers, both CITAD and Embassy of the USA for the initiative, and especially for selecting Kano to be the host state for the beneficiaries. He assured of the readiness of the Kano State Government to support this type of initiative and also added that the Ministry’s door was always opened to assist the participants on the ICT skills.

Alhaji Zahraddeen Mukhtar of SMEDAN spoke on the services available at SMEDAN like Business support and opportunities and promised to offer any assistance that the beneficiaries would require for them to access the services of the agency.

Some of the presentations made at the event are:

• Business opportunities in the ICT sector for small scale entrepreneurship by Maryam Haruna
• Requirements and procedure of setting IT-Based businesses Engineer Kamal Umar of Bayero University, Kano
• e-mentoring for your entrepreneur Ibrahim Nuhu of CITAD.

Participants were availed opportunity to ask questions and seek clarification and also encouraged to follow up even after the event.

At the end of the workshop, Training officer Ibrahim Nuhu explained how training was going to be conducted and announced the commencement date as Tuesday 2^nd of January, 2018.