Opportunity Title: MTN Foundation ICT and Business Skills Training, Phase 8

MTN Foundation ICT and Business Skills Training, Phase 8
Deadline: 11 October 2026. Free training and up to ₦1 million in equipment grants.

What it is

The MTN Foundation has opened applications for the eighth phase of its ICT and Business Skills Training Programme, which will train 3,000 female microbusiness owners from Rivers, Abia, Ogun, Kwara, Kano and Gombe states. The five-week programme combines online learning, instructor-led sessions, business masterclasses and a capstone project, participants receive data support during the training, and the top 100 participants are eligible for equipment grants of up to ₦1 million each from a total ₦100 million grant fund.

The track record

This is not a first attempt. Since its launch in 2018 the programme has completed seven phases in partnership with Google, Oracle, KPMG, IBM, Digital Bridge Institute, Cisco, Meta and Microsoft, reaching 29 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with 15,362 young microbusiness owners having completed the training. MTN's current programme page reports that 1,100 recipients across previous phases have received equipment grants totalling ₦430 million. 

Who can apply

Nigerian women aged 18 to 35 who own and manage a microbusiness that has been operational for no more than two years, with the business located in Rivers, Abia, Ogun, Kwara, Kano or Gombe state. The application is free. This intake is specifically for female microbusiness owners, and the grants go to the top 100 participants, so the grant is not automatic for everyone who trains. 

What you actually get

Practical ICT, digital and business skills training, self-paced online modules, instructor-led sessions, masterclasses from experienced entrepreneurs, a capstone project challenge, and data support for the duration of the programme.

Official application page: https://www.mtn.ng/mtnf-ict/

Bankable Wisdom tips

1. Check your state before anything else. Only six states qualify this round. If your business is registered in Lagos but operating in Ogun, apply with the location where the business actually trades, and be consistent across every field.
2. Your answers must match each other. Age, business age and location are the three things that get applications dropped at screening. If your form says two years and your CAC certificate says four, that is a rejection, not a typo.
3. Two years or less is the point. This phase is built for young businesses. If yours is older, do not stretch the truth. Send the link to someone it actually fits, and look at the other MTN Foundation tracks instead.
4. The grant is won during the training, not in the form. The top 100 get the equipment money, so the capstone project is your real application. Treat week one as the start of the grant competition.
5. Be specific about what the equipment would do. "To grow my business" wins nothing. "A commercial freezer so I stop losing 30 per cent of my stock weekly" is a business case. Know your numbers before you need them.
6. Use the data support. Participants get data for the training. The people who finish are the ones who block out the hours in advance, not the ones who plan to catch up at the weekend.
7. Finish everything. Completion rates in blended programmes are brutal. Simply finishing every module and the capstone puts you ahead of most of the 3,000.
8. Keep evidence as you go. Screenshots, before and after numbers, photos of your workspace. Whether you win the grant here or apply to TEF or FAST next year, that record is the difference between a story and a fundable application.