Young professionals participating in the Mastercard Foundation Associates Program have begun a 12 month placement journey aimed at providing them with work experience, mentorship and a pathway into long term employment.
The Associates were onboarded at an event organised by Jobberman in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation and LEAP AFRICA in Lagos on Thursday, August 13, 2026
The onboarding introduced participants to the structure of the programme, workplace expectations and the support available to them throughout their placement and allowed Associates engage with the programme team and their fellow Associates.
In his welcome address, Country Head of Programmes, Jobberman Nigeria, Olamide Adeyeye, welcomed participants to the event and congratulated the Associates on joining the programme.
He encouraged Associates to use the internship to gain experience and discover what they want to do, iterating that sometimes, through experience, people realise that their interests are different from what they originally studied in school.
‘Build competence because the skills you gain from your internship are important for your future role’
Toluwani Aina, Program Coordinator for the Mastercard Foundation Associates Program at Jobberman, said the onboarding was also intended to help participants build relationships with other Associates.
She said the event provided an opportunity for participants to understand their placement journey while meeting people who would be part of the wider programme community.
‘For today, what it means is first of all, networking, clarity into what the programme entails because it’s onboarding,’ Aina said.
She said Associates would receive support in areas including learning, mentorship, workplace experience, conflict resolution, performance reviews and appraisals.
Aina added that each associate would have access to a designated Human Resources personnel contact throughout the 12 month programme to provide guidance and help address workplace concerns.
Antonia Nnabuko, Head of People, Culture and Administration at LEAP AFRICA, said the programme was designed to help Associates understand what would be expected of them, as well as the responsibilities of the organisations supporting their placements.
She said Associates were not expected to arrive with a fixed set of skills, but should be willing to learn and adapt to the workplace, identifying willingness to learn, openness, curiosity and the ability to ask questions as important qualities for Associates during the programme.
Nnabuko said the programme’s success should not be measured only by completion of the 12 month placement, but also by what happens afterwards.
‘It’s not done until they are retained,’ she said, explaining that LEAP AFRICA hoped Associates would perform well enough to secure continued employment after their placements.
She added that Associates would have to take responsibility for their performance because retention would depend partly on their ability to demonstrate value to their host organisations.
For the Associates, the onboarding marked the beginning of a new stage in their careers.
Toluwalope Ajayi, one of the Associates, said she attended the event to understand the programme and prepare for what was ahead.
She said the opportunity was important to her because she had always wanted to practise journalism before developing an interest in media and communications.
‘It means a lot because it takes me a step further,’ Ajayi said.
After the 12 month programme, she hopes to look back at her progress and tell herself, ‘I’m proud of you.’
Another associate, Olusegun Elisha, described the opportunity as an answer to his search for direction.
He said the programme offered more than employment because it provided a structure for planning his career.
‘It comes with a map, let me say, it comes with a career map. So it’s not just like you have a job, but you have a job with a career map,’ Elisha said.
He said meeting other young professionals and Jobberman leaders during the onboarding also gave him an opportunity to learn from people pursuing different career paths.
As the Associates begin their internship journeys, programme organisers said the focus would be on learning, workplace performance, career planning and creating opportunities for participants to remain in employment beyond the 12 month programme.