Jenniez School of African Interior Design (JSAID) and FCMB SheVentures have completed a training programme for 100 interior designers, aimed at improving financial literacy, business administration and the ability to build durable enterprises.
Building commercially viable design businesses
The initiative brought together JSAID’s experience in interior-design training, professional development and entrepreneurship with the financial and business-growth support offered through FCMB SheVentures.
- Designers received practical advice on organising and running their businesses.
- The programme helped participants make better-informed financial choices.
- It introduced them to suitable financial solutions that could support expansion.
- The sessions tackled a persistent industry challenge: helping creative professionals turn their design work into commercially sustainable companies.
Support for women entrepreneurs
FCMB SheVentures is First City Monument Bank’s women-focused business proposition. The platform gives women entrepreneurs access to funding, business assistance, mentoring and professional networks intended to help them expand their ventures.
Nnenna Jacob-Ogogo, Group Head of SheVentures and Impact Segment at FCMB, said entrepreneurs require more than capital to succeed. In her view, knowledge, connections and confidence are also essential for building businesses capable of scaling and delivering lasting value.
She said the partnership with JSAID demonstrates FCMB’s commitment to women working across the economy, including the creative sector. By teaching interior designers how to manage finances and businesses, the programme aims to help them convert their skills into sustainable enterprises.
Closing a skills gap in the creative sector
Dr Jennifer Chukwujekwe, founder of JSAID, said the collaboration responds to a major weakness in the interior-design industry: many talented practitioners need stronger understanding of the commercial and financial sides of their profession.
According to Chukwujekwe, creative talent can launch a career, but disciplined business management is what allows a designer to establish a lasting company. She said participants left with practical knowledge for structuring, operating and expanding their businesses.
The programme advances JSAID’s goal of developing African interior designers who can compete internationally, establish sustainable companies and contribute to the creative economy.
Interior design’s wider economic role
The partnership also reflects growing recognition of interior design as an economic activity that can support enterprise formation, employment and wealth creation.
