The inaugural edition of the Duapa Mentorship Programme, an initiative by Chapter54, recently concluded in Accra, Ghana, spotlighting the transformative potential of mentorship within Africa’s creative sectors. Over the course of six months, the pilot brought together nine young, early-career creatives and four seasoned mentors in a structured, hybrid learning environment aimed at fostering personal and professional growth, cultivating knowledge exchange, and addressing critical gaps within the continent’s creative education ecosystem.
Founded and directed by cultural strategist Ama Ofeibea Tetteh, Duapa—named after the Akan word symbolizing “good fortune” or “fruitfulness”—is more than a mentorship programme. It is a visionary intervention designed to shift paradigms. Speaking about the pilot, Tetteh emphasized the urgent need for localized, intentional mentorship systems across Africa’s arts and culture landscape. “Mentorship is not just a nice-to-have,” she stated. “It is a necessary catalyst for capacity building, critical thinking, and sustainable careers, especially within environments where access to opportunity is uneven.”
The Duapa programme focuses on early-career creatives—particularly recent graduates—who are often left navigating a difficult transition from academic or informal training into the professional world. The programme connects these young talents with high-profile professionals and cultural leaders in their local contexts, enabling them to gain personalized guidance, feedback, and insights into the real-world demands and possibilities of creative careers.
Among the mentors in the pilot edition were Maame Adjei, a multidisciplinary artist and producer, and Kobina Graham, a respected writer and educator. The hybrid model, blending virtual and in-person engagements, allowed participants to shape individual growth trajectories while benefiting from group discussions, skill-building sessions, and professional networking. Mentors, in turn, found value in the opportunity to deepen their pedagogical methods and refine their knowledge through meaningful exchange.
At the heart of Duapa’s vision is the recognition that Africa’s creative industries are brimming with potential, yet too often stifled by inadequate infrastructure, limited access to resources, and prevailing narratives that success lies only beyond the continent. Duapa responds to this by placing local mentorship and intra-continental collaboration at the center of its strategy—encouraging creatives to build resilient, context-aware practices that are both globally relevant and locally rooted.
Tetteh underscores the importance of reframing how we understand growth within African creative economies: “In our context, success requires creativity beyond the canvas or camera. It means navigating constraints—economic, social, political—with innovation. Mentorship helps young creatives gain the confidence and frameworks to do that without losing sight of their identities.”
Duapa’s longer-term ambition is to scale this model across the continent, establishing regional mentorship networks and alumni ecosystems that actively contribute to the growth of the African Creative Economy. These networks would help dismantle access barriers, support career pathways, and ultimately contribute to youth employment, cultural preservation, and economic development across Africa. Already, there are plans to roll out editions of the programme in additional African countries, building on the Accra pilot’s success.
The pilot received kind support from Afreximbank, whose investment reflects growing institutional interest in creative industries as a viable sector for economic development. As Africa’s youth population continues to grow, initiatives like Duapa are a timely reminder that creativity, when nurtured through the right structures, can become one of the continent’s most powerful assets.
Interested participants from across Africa are encouraged to register for future editions via this link.
Image credit: Nancy Agyeman
