Eight female artisans in traditionally male-dominated trades have been trained in digital entrepreneurship as part of an initiative by GIZ to empower and enhance the economic status of informal small-scale businesses owners.

Savana Signatures, an ICT-focused non-profit organisation, conducted the three-day training for the participants who are beneficiaries of WEE-North Network and drawn from Sagnarigu Municipality and Tamale Metropolis in the Northern Region.

The training was necessitated by a need assessment, which GIZ contracted Savana Signatures to conduct, based on which the needs of the participants were identified for the development of a manual to guide the training.

Referred to as Digital Champions, the beneficiaries who are leaders of their groups and now trained on how to leverage digital platforms to boost their businesses and online presence, are expected to conduct a cascading training for their colleagues in their respective communities.

The training was conducted under the GIZ Digital Transformation for Sustainable Development of the Digital Transformation Center Ghana, which is empowering enterprises, particularly informal micro-enterprises, in a bid to strengthen their economic situation.

Facilitators from Savana Signatures took the participants through the various social media and digital platforms, and how they can leverage each one of them for the growth of their small-scale businesses.

Using interactive sessions and hands-on exercises, the facilitators employed a variety of tools such as PowerPoint presentations, videos, and popular social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp Business to ensure the participants had a grasp of the lessons.