How did the Skills for Inclusive Digital Participation Programme give Aisha Abba Haladu the tools to grow her business and the confidence to bring hundreds of others with her?
Aisha Abba Haladu had always moved between worlds. A student of English Language at Bayero University, a poet, a writer, and the founder of All Scents and More, a local incense company she built from the ground up, Aisha carried her father’s legacy with her everywhere. He had been a professor, and his belief in education as a path to possibility never left her.
But running a small business in Kano without digital skills placed a quiet ceiling on everything she was building. She could not create content, run digital advertisements, or reach customers beyond her immediate community. In a rapidly digitising economy, that gap was growing.
The Skills for Inclusive Digital Participation (SIDP) Programme was designed precisely for that gap, equipping digitally excluded individuals with the skills to participate fully in the digital economy and broader society. When Aisha discovered it, she enrolled not only to grow her business but with a longer ambition in mind: to become a facilitator and bring those skills back to her region.
5,841 earners trained through Skills for Inclusive Digital Participation (SIDP)
3,225 of those trained were women
The programme delivered on both counts. ‘It gave me comprehensive training on navigating the digital landscape,’ Aisha said. ‘Through SIDP, I gained a solid grasp of content creation, vital for any entrepreneur. I also learned how to develop and run digital ads, which has been crucial for my business.’
The impact on All Scents and More was immediate, a digital presence, a wider customer base, and the ability to market her products beyond her immediate circle. But what followed was equally significant. After completing her training, Aisha became an SIDP facilitator herself, going on to train hundreds of participants, many of whom had never interacted with a computer before. The programme introduced them to both hardware and software, unlocking pathways to freelance work and digital opportunity that had previously been entirely out of reach.
‘The greatest satisfaction I derived as a facilitator was witnessing the transformation the programme brought to the trainees,’ she said. ‘It not only imparted new knowledge but equipped them with practical skills, enabling them to become freelancers and tap into existing digital opportunities.’
For Aisha, the SIDP Programme did more than close a skills gap. It confirmed what she had always believed, that education, at any level, is the most powerful tool a person can carry. With her sights now set on building a portfolio of enterprises, she left the programme not just more capable, but more certain of where she was headed.
Our Impact Stories are a curated collection of individual stories showcasing the impact of British Council programmes across Arts and Culture, English and Schools Education, Higher Education, Non-Formal Education, and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) across Sub-Saharan Africa. From fashion entrepreneurs in Ethiopia and Kenya to educators in Rwanda, animators in Nigeria, and heritage preservationists in Zimbabwe, the book captures the breadth and depth of what our programmes make possible when ability meets opportunity.
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