At the 3rd Annual International Conference of the Sub-Saharan Africa Skills and Apprenticeship Stakeholders Network (SSASASNET) in Abuja, Sokoto’s historic industrial heritage was presented not as a relic of the past, but as a living blueprint for Africa’s skills future. The presentation by SokotoDNA and 21st Century Entrepreneurs Hub placed Sultan Muhammadu Bello’s legacy at the center of a wider conversation on apprenticeship, decent work, and economic transformation.
The CEO of the SokotoDNA Project, Dr. Balarabe Shehu Kakale, led to the conference, a powerful delegation of the Sokoto state’s master craftsmen, artisans, apprentices, technicians, innovators, and entrepreneurs to present the Sultan Muhammadu Bello Skills and Industrial Hubs of M11 + T3 + Z+ S + G (MATUZSGI) – Madunka 2. Makera 3. Majema 4. Marina 5. Masaka 6. Masassaka 7. Mahauta 8. Magina 9. Marusa 10. Masunta 11. Mallamawa 12. Takardawa 13. Tukanawa 14. Takalmawa 15. Sirridawa 16. Zoramawa 17. Gobirawa, which forms the Sokoto Heritage Industries and Skills to Africa, and, by extension, to the world.
The conference, held from Tuesday, June 2 to Thursday, June 4, 2026, brought together participants from 44 African countries, alongside development partners such as the ILO, AfDB, AUC, the World Bank, and Nigeria’s NBTE. With the theme “Scaling Apprenticeship and Decent Work in Quest for Quality Skills Development in the Informal Economy,” the gathering created a fitting platform to revisit African models of indigenous enterprise and work-based learning.
What made Sokoto’s intervention stand out was its argument that the city’s growth was not built on administration alone, but on a deliberate industrial development plan conceived over 200 years ago by Sultan Muhammadu Bello. The presentation framed the Sokoto Caliphate as a civilization that linked knowledge with production and scholarship with productive labor. In that sense, the message was simple but powerful: Africa already has homegrown models of industrialization rooted in skills, craft, and apprenticeship.
There were a total of 15 Plenary Sessions, and Dr Kakale, who is also a Special Assistant to Nigeria’s Minister of Education, moderated the seventh Plenary Session with the topic, “Youth Entrepreneurship and Apprenticeships: Linking Apprenticeships with Wage Employment, Self-employment, Enterprise upgrading, and Business Incubation”. The panelists at the session included Ms. Christine Hofmann, Head of the African Skills Hub, ILO Regional Office, Abidjan, Republique du Cote d’Ivoire; Mr Ikenna Jude Thaddeus, (MSC) Executive Director, Wecanassess Africa, London, LTD; Hon. Emmanuel Barnes, Assistant Minister of Labour, Republic of Liberia; Irunna Ejibe, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Founder, Ethnocentrique Limited, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
A historic industrial map
Central to the presentation was the MATUZSGI framework, a grouping of 17 industrial, skills, and entrepreneurship zones attributed to Sultan Muhammadu Bello. These included Madunka for leather craft, Makera for metalwork, Majema for tanning, Masaka for textiles, Marina for dyeing and fashion, and Mahauta for livestock and meat processing. Others covered pottery, fishing, paper production, tourism, food processing, and environmental planning, showing the breadth of the old Sokoto productive economy.
The document presented these zones as early cottage industries designed to advance science, technology, research, industrialization, dignity of labor, wealth creation, and poverty reduction. It also argued that some of them still survive in marginal form and continue to support livelihoods in Sokoto metropolis and beyond. In today’s language, the message is that these were not just craft clusters, but an indigenous ecosystem of economic specialization.
A few examples show how wide-ranging the system was. Madunka was tied to leather products such as bags, shoes, prayer mats, and casings, while Makera covered a range of iron and metal goods, including keys, gates, tools, shields, and horse gear. Takardawa was associated with paper production, publishing, media, and communication, while Zoramawa linked horse rearing and racing with tourism and veterinary medicine. Together, they formed a surprisingly modern-sounding industrial map.
Why it matters now
The strongest part of the presentation was its development argument. It did not stop at heritage; it connected heritage to jobs, youth empowerment, and economic renewal. The document states that when fully revitalized, these industries could provide hundreds of thousands of jobs, generate wealth, and reduce poverty in Sokoto State and Nigeria.
That argument fits neatly with the SSASASNET conference theme, especially because informal economies across Africa still depend heavily on apprenticeship and small-scale production. By showing that Sokoto once organized production around specialized skills hubs, the presentation offered a historical example of structured vocational development. It also suggested that African policy conversations should look beyond imported models and recover local systems that already proved productive.
There was also a broader cultural message. The paper reminded participants that while Sokoto is widely known for scholarship and Islamic learning, its history also includes manufacturing, trade, and technical skill. That balance between intellect and industry gave the presentation its force, especially in a forum focused on employability and decent work.
Heritage as policy
The inclusion of Sheikh Abdullahi Fodiyo’s similar cottage industries in Gwandu and Birnin Kebbi widened the story beyond Sokoto alone. It suggested that the region had a wider tradition of organized production and specialized labor, not merely isolated craft activity. This makes the heritage argument stronger because it points to a regional economic philosophy rather than a single historical example.
For contemporary policymakers, the lesson is clear. Heritage industries can be studied not only as cultural assets, but as templates for skills development, enterprise policy, and industrial clustering. In a period when youth unemployment and informal sector fragility remain urgent challenges, such historical models can enrich current debates with practical inspiration.
The Abuja presentation, therefore, shone because it did more than celebrate the past. It translated history into a development conversation and invited Africa to see Sokoto’s industrial memory as part of a wider future of work. That is what made the moment memorable at SSASASNET.
