By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA – About 200 widows and vulnerable women in the Federal Capital Territory have begun a week-long economic empowerment programme designed to equip them with vocational skills, business knowledge, mentorship, and enterprise support to help them build sustainable livelihoods amid current economic challenges in Nigeria.

The training features hands-on instruction in income-generating skills such as soap making, confectionery production, leather works, and other market-relevant trades, alongside mentorship and basic business management guidance aimed at helping participants establish and sustain micro-enterprises.

The programme was formally launched at an event where the organiser and founder of the Seycecilia Foundation, Oluwaseye Babatunde, and the Managing Director of the Abuja Enterprise Agency, Chudi Ugwuada-Ezirigwe, spoke on the importance of targeted empowerment initiatives for underserved women.

“Project Anse represents our bellef that when women are given the right tools, training, and support systems, they do not only mansform their own lives they uplift entire communities,” Babatunde said.

She noted that rising living costs, limited access to capital, and shrinking livelihood opportunities have made targeted investments in women both necessary and urgent, stressing that empowering women remains one of the most effective ways to strengthen families, communities, and local economies.

Also speaking, Ugwuada-Ezirigwe described the programme as a ‘beacon of hope’ for women in Nigeria’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, adding that the Abuja Enterprise Agency would provide technical, institutional, and logistical support throughout the duration of the training to ensure participants gain maximum value.

Organisers said the initiative is designed not only to improve short-term income opportunities but also to strengthen participants’ long-term economic capacity through mentorship, enterprise development support, and market-oriented training aimed at helping beneficiaries build resilient small businesses and participate meaningfully in the local economy.