Evidence, Lessons, and Roadmap for Scaling Inclusive Digital Skills Programmes
Nigeria's digital economy is growing faster than its workforce can keep pace with, and the gap falls hardest on women in fragile, conflict-affected communities. This policy brief presents the evidence from Fasaha Gina Mata, Gina Al'Umma, a World Bank–backed digital skills programme delivered by the Natview across six Nigerian states including the Federal Capital Territory. Reaching 1,095 participants — including displaced persons, out-of-school adolescents, and survivors of gender-based violence — the programme recorded an 81 percent gain in measured digital skills, a 44 percent transition into formal employment or freelance work, and 98 percent participant satisfaction. Drawing on this evidence, the brief sets out what worked, what didn't, and a prioritized roadmap for scaling the model nationally and across the region.
This policy brief presents evidence from Fasaha Gina Mata, Gina Al’Umma, a digital skills programme delivered by the Natview in partnership with the World Bank Group and NITDA, aimed at closing Nigeria’s digital gender gap. Building on the earlier Fasaha 4.0 pilot (2021, 180 participants), GMGA scaled delivery across six jurisdictions — Kaduna, Jigawa, Borno, Kano, and Gombe states, plus the Federal Capital Territory — reaching 1,095 adolescent girls and young women, including internally displaced persons, out-of-school adolescents, married adolescents, GBV survivors, and teachers.
The programme runs three components — Makoyar Fasaha (train-the-trainer, 120 participants), Dalibar Fasaha (STEM for adolescent girls, 400 participants), and Matan Fasaha (digital literacy and gig-economy skills for disadvantaged young women in FCV contexts, 300 participants) — plus a two-day intensive session (250 participants) at launch, delivered through a rights-based curriculum pairing technical training with human rights education, online safety, mentorship, and soft skills.
Headline results: 81% measured gain in digital skills, 44% transition into formal employment/internships/freelancing, 56% growth in existing entrepreneurial ventures, 98% participant satisfaction, 70% STEM transition among Adopt-a-School students, and 60% of trained teachers advancing in role.
The brief argues these results justify moving beyond piloting to scaled investment, and closes with prioritized recommendations for federal and state government, development partners, the private sector, and implementation partners, plus a scalability framework extending from state-level replication through national rollout, ECOWAS regional adoption, and alignment with the African Union’s Digital Transformation Strategy.
