Nigerian Afrobeats star Tiwa Savage has announced a partnership with Berklee College of Music to train 100 emerging African creatives. She will be doing this through the Tiwa Savage Music Foundation, which she just launched as “a new initiative dedicated to empowering emerging African creatives through access, mentorship and world-class music education.”
The initiative will bring Berklee College of Music, the world’s largest independent college of contemporary music, to Lagos, Nigeria, for the first time.
Announcing this on her social media platform on Wednesday, Savage said, “After years of building globally… It’s time to build at home.”
“For the first time ever, Berklee comes to Lagos with the Tiwa Savage Intensive Music Programme empowering Africa’s next generation of talent, the 46-year-old added.
The first major project of the foundation is Berklee in Nigeria: Tiwa Savage Intensive Music Programme. This will bring Berklee faculty from Boston to Lagos from April 23 to 26, 2026, to lead a fully funded four-day training for 100 emerging Nigerian music creators. This will be the first Berklee College of Music event in West Africa, a region where music consumption is rising. As of 2025, streaming platforms have seen a 163.5% year-on-year increase in listening in Nigeria alone over the past five years.
“Afrobeats has captured the world’s attention, but attention alone is not enough to sustain an industry. Talent is universal — but access is not,” the singer told CNN.
Savage’s program will blend music theory with practical, real-world application. Participants will be trained in music production, songwriting, harmony, ear training and sound engineering. Music publishing, copyright, and elements of entertainment law will also be covered by the program.
The initiative will come with live ensemble performances, and those who will excel may be considered for future scholarships to study at Berklee in Boston or enroll in its online courses.
“You’d be surprised how much you can learn in four days,” Savage said of the program. “It gives you a taste of what’s possible and exposes you to parts of music you may not even realize you’re drawn to.”
Savage was inspired to start the foundation by her personal experience and urgency. She expressed concern that most young creatives in Nigeria and the continent as a whole are unable to access formal music education at leading international music schools because the annual tuition alone can range from $40,000 to $60,000, excluding living expenses. She said her foundation is here to address the issue by covering all costs of the training.
“It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for years,” she said.
Savage herself once received a scholarship to Berklee as a young artist, a move that reshaped her understanding of the music industry.
“That experience changed how I saw music,” she said. “It made me realise that talent alone isn’t enough. Structure, education, and exposure are what allow creatives to compete globally.”
Her foundation, which will certainly not focus only on the talent, will support vocalists and performers alongside producers, composers, sound engineers and music business professionals.
“The music industry is a value chain,” she said. “You can be the most talented artist in the world, but without the people who create, capture, protect, and monetize music, there is no industry. If we want African music to last five, 10, 20 years from now, we have to invest in the entire ecosystem.”
Savage’s foundation hopes to establish a permanent music school in Nigeria in the future.
