The Terra Academy for the Arts has equipped about 150 female digital creators with practical skills, creative tools and industry connections through the maiden edition of its Creator HQ programme in Lagos, as part of efforts to help young women build more structured and sustainable careers in the digital creative economy.
The three-day immersive programme, held from September 28 to 30, 2026, at POP Landmark, Landmark Centre, Lagos, brought together emerging creators for intensive learning, practical workshops, industry conversations, networking and hands-on creative activities.
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Organised around the themes of “Create, Protect and Scale”, Creator HQ focused on areas considered increasingly important to the growth of digital careers, including content creation, storytelling, personal branding, intellectual property, digital protection, monetisation, global income opportunities, brand partnerships and audience development.
The programme also explored the business side of content creation, encouraging participants to look beyond audience growth and consider how their creative output could be transformed into sustainable livelihoods.
Creator HQ forms part of TAFTA’s wider effort to strengthen participation in Africa’s growing creative economy by combining artistic and technical development with business knowledge and practical resources.
The programme was supported by the Mastercard Foundation and other partners, whose contributions helped expand the learning opportunities and resources available to participants.
Rather than relying solely on conventional classroom sessions, the organisers incorporated practical workshops, group exercises, creator challenges, question-and-answer sessions and networking opportunities with professionals drawn from the creative, legal, business and digital sectors.
The interactive approach gave participants an opportunity to test ideas, ask questions and explore some of the challenges creators face as they attempt to turn online visibility into viable careers.
One of the highlights was a series of creator challenges and practical activities designed to help participants apply lessons from the programme.
Some outstanding participants received content creation tools and creator kits, giving them tangible resources with which to continue developing their work after the programme.
The organisers said the initiative was deliberately designed to ensure that participants left with more than inspiration, providing them with practical resources that could help translate lessons from the programme into action.
The support will also extend beyond the three-day event, as all 150 participating creators are expected to receive press passes to the Lagos International Theatre Festival.
The festival is scheduled to hold on November 14 and 15, 2026, at the MUSON Centre in Lagos and is expected to bring together theatre, culture and other forms of creative expression.
For the participating creators, the passes provide another opportunity to experience and document a major cultural gathering while connecting with a broader creative ecosystem.
Speaking on the significance of Creator HQ, TAFTA founder, Bolanle Austen-Peters, said the programme was developed in recognition of the opportunities and challenges facing modern digital creators.
“Creators today have extraordinary opportunities to build audiences, businesses and careers through digital platforms, but talent and visibility alone are not enough,” Austen-Peters said.
“They also need to understand how to protect their work, create sustainable income and build structures around what they do.”
According to her, Creator HQ was designed to bring those elements together while giving young women practical knowledge, access and tools that could help them take greater ownership of their creative careers.
Austen-Peters also stressed the importance of supporting women within Africa’s creative economy, noting that many young women were already creating content, influencing culture and building online communities.
“There is tremendous talent across Africa, particularly among young women who are already creating, influencing culture and building communities online,” she said.
“Our responsibility is to help ensure that they also have the knowledge, confidence and opportunities required to turn that creativity into something sustainable.”
The Academy Lead at TAFTA, Joseph Umoibom, said the programme also sought to address the gap between creative talent and the business knowledge needed to sustain a career.
“One of the things we wanted participants to understand through Creator HQ is that being a creator goes far beyond posting content,” Umoibom said.
“There is a business behind creativity. There are questions around intellectual property, monetisation, audience development, partnerships, contracts and long-term sustainability that every serious creator needs to understand.”
Umoibom said the response from participants demonstrated the value of creating spaces where emerging creators could learn, collaborate and challenge existing approaches to their work.
“Over the three days, we saw participants ask questions, test ideas, collaborate and begin to think differently about their work,” he said.
He added that providing practical creator tools was equally important because the organisers wanted the impact of the programme to continue after participants had left the venue.
“The goal is for them to leave Creator HQ better prepared to create, protect the value of what they produce and scale their careers,” Umoibom said.
The programme comes at a time when digital platforms are creating new opportunities for young Africans to build audiences and earn income without relying entirely on traditional creative industry structures.
However, the expansion of the creator economy has also brought greater attention to issues such as copyright protection, contracts, brand partnerships, monetisation, digital safety and the ability of creators to build businesses around their intellectual property.
Creator HQ’s focus on those areas reflects the growing recognition that creative talent alone may not be sufficient for long-term success in an increasingly competitive digital environment.
For the 150 women who participated in the inaugural programme, the initiative therefore offered a combination of knowledge, practical exposure and resources intended to help them move from simply producing content to building more deliberate creative enterprises.
TAFTA said the completion of Creator HQ reinforces the need for targeted programmes that respond to the changing realities of Africa’s digital creative economy and help young women participate more meaningfully in its growth.
The central message of the programme remained simple: create with purpose, protect the value of the work and build the capacity to scale.
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The Lagos International Theatre Festival, where the participating creators will receive press access, is scheduled for November 14 and 15 at the MUSON Centre, providing another opportunity for them to engage with Nigeria’s wider cultural and creative community.
David Okere is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering business, governance, public affairs, and human-interest stories with a commitment to accuracy, balance, and public interest reporting.
