E10k awaits Eswatini’s next Creative project

Local creatives with ideas they want to turn into working projects will have a chance to develop those ideas, learn about funding and compete for E10,000 through the 2026 edition of Ensha.Catalyse.

The programme, presented by Ludziwo Arts Foundation, is currently inviting applications for its Manzini edition, which will be held at the American Corner at the National Library in Manzini.

Ensha.Catalyse is aimed at creatives at different stages of their careers, from those entering the industry to practitioners who are already developing work.

The programme focuses on the part of creative work that often happens behind the scenes: planning, finding funding, building audiences and turning an idea into something that can actually be delivered.

Ludziwo Arts Foundation founder Musonda Loncwala Chimba, who will lead the training, has emphasised the importance of projects to the creative economy.

“Projects drive creative businesses. There is no creative industry without projects,” Chimba said in a LinkedIn post about the programme.

Participants will work on developing actionable plans for their ideas while learning more about financing and funding opportunities and how to build audiences around creative projects.

The programme will also bring in guest speakers from different areas of Eswatini’s creative sector, including creative director, artist and designer Khulekani Msweli, Khetsiwe Dlamini, Siphilele ‘Sips’Magagula and Sibongseni ‘DJ Cybos’ Lukhele.

Msweli, who is based in Vuvulane, works across design, visual arts, fashion and community development.

He is the founder of JEREMPAUL, a design and art lifestyle business, and has experience combining creative practice with entrepreneurship.

The programme’s biggest incentive comes at the end of the training, with Ludziwo Arts Foundation offering E10,000 in seed funding to the most promising project.

The money will be released in two stages. 80 % will be made available once the successful participant submits a financing plan and budget, while the remaining 20 % will follow the completion of the project and submission of the required financial and narrative reports.

This means participants will not simply pitch an idea and receive funding. They will be expected to demonstrate how the project can be planned, financed and completed.

The initiative previously ran in Mbabane in 2025, with Siyethemba Dlamini receiving the E10,000 seed funding.

Her project, Theatre As Testimony, was an eight-week playwriting programme for emerging storytellers, using theatre to encourage social dialogue around gender-based violence.

For the 2026 Manzini edition, Ludziwo Arts Foundation says priority will be given to young people as well as gender and sexual minorities.

Applicants will also be able to disclose information they are comfortable sharing, with the organisation stating that such information will remain private.

The programme ultimately asks creatives to look beyond the finished artwork or performance and consider what their ideas could become when given structure, planning and the right resources.

Applications for Ensha.Catalyse are now open to creatives interested in developing their ideas into viable projects.