Halifax-based Tribe Network’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation Program for African Nova Scotian youth will now be counted as a Personal Development half credit by the province’s education system.

During the last school year, the program engaged more than 80 African Nova Scotian students across various high schools, introducing them to entrepreneurship, business ownership, financial literacy, skilled trades and emerging technologies, Tribe, a group for Black, Indigenous, and racialized entrepreneurs, said in a statement.

The longer-term opportunity is to begin building that capacity earlier, Tribe said. Exposure to entrepreneurship, ownership and emerging technologies while students are still in high school can broaden the pathways available to them after graduation.

“Building a stronger economy means ensuring more young people have the tools and opportunities to participate in it,” said Dan Oshodin, Chief Operating Officer at Tribe Network.

“When African Nova Scotian students develop an understanding of ownership, financial literacy, entrepreneurship and emerging technologies like AI, they gain more options for creating value in their own lives and communities.

“Making this program available for high school credit allows us to start building that entrepreneurial capacity earlier and equip young people to see themselves as active participants in Nova Scotia’s future economy.”