Rwanda is hosting the 13th edition of the prestigious JA Africa Company of the Year Competition (COY), a continent’s premier pitch competition for high school-aged youth who have completed the flagship JA Company Program.
Under the theme ‘Breaking Barriers’, the highly anticipated gathering is scheduled from December 6 to 8, with an aim to empower high school students to identify community needs, devise solutions, and acquire the practical skills necessary to establish and manage their own enterprises.
The three-day event brings together 40 students aged 14 to 17, from countries across Africa to compete in teams for cash and prizes, in this contest of business skills, ingenuity and innovation.
How it works in qualification stages
Through qualification rounds at the national level, finalists are given the opportunity to demonstrate their business acumen, creativity and entrepreneurial thinking at the regional level through four stages: company report, stage pitch, trade fair and board room interview.
Thereafter, the JA companies are evaluated by the panel of independent judges who determine company performance against the competition criteria as compared with other JA companies.
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Notably, JA student entrepreneurs hailing from Ivory Coast, Eswatini, Ghana, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the host nation, Rwanda, will converge in Kigali. At the event, they will face the challenge of impressing a panel of international business professionals serving as judges.
These enterprising youth will compete for the prestigious title of Company of the Year, along with signature awards from sponsors and the opportunity to compete on a global arena against JA teams from five other regions for the De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Prize. This global competition offers a USD15,000 cash reward and worldwide educational prospects.
Annually, over 30,000 students from 16 African countries engage in the JA Company Program, producing more than 1,000 companies.
Facilitating this growth are over 500 business volunteers and mentors, offering invaluable real-world experience to these student-led startups. Teams compete at the national level for the chance to represent their countries at the JA Africa COY competition.
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Simi Nwogugu, JA Africa’s CEO, expressed that, "The stakes are notably high this year, following last year’s winner, Hekima Inc. from Zimbabwe, who clinched the De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award, marking the first African team to register that success.”
"I am confident in discovering yet another global leader at this year’s competition,” he noted.
He added: "These students, I believe, will be the pioneers and visionaries propelling us towards the Africa we aspire to be.”
"My sincere gratitude extends to FedEx, Citi Foundation, PMIEF, Johnson & Johnson, Delta Air Lines, and NASCON Allied Industries for their unwavering support for this competition,” he added.
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JA Africa is a leading youth-serving NGO in Africa, offering immersive learning in various areas like work readiness, financial health, entrepreneurship, sustainability, STEM, economics, citizenship, and ethics.
Equally, it is present in 16 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and collectively reaches more than 900,000 youth each year. Notably, in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Eswatini, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
Equally, they work in partnership with local ministries of education in each country to deliver their programs, in over 3,000 schools each year. Explore further at www.ja-africa.org.