Junior Achievement (JA), a two-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee just concluded its 13th Africa Company of the Year Competition in Kigali from December 6-8, awarding the best high school students aged between 14 and 17 years in entrepreneurship, sustainability, innovation among others.
The organisation empowers young people to own their future economic success starting at a young age.
Currently, JA Africa has a presence in 16 countries, impacting over900,000 youth in more than 3,000 schools each year and producing up to 1,000 companies.
The 2023 Company of the Year Competition drew 40 young entrepreneurs from 10 African countries, namely Ivory Coast, Eswatini, Ghana, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Rwanda.
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"The future is Africa,” said Asheesh Advani, JA Worldwide President and CEO. "It's never been a better time to be a young person, particularly in Rwanda, but I'd say all of sub-Saharan Africa. Look at the population growth. Look at the economic trends.”
Advani said young people in Africa have the potential to make the continent’s desired economic development a reality. JA Africa plans to expand to five more African countries in 2024.
"For a young person to realize that now and to have people tell them that over and over again, they're going to start to believe it and they're going to be less tempted to go abroad just for a short-term gain,” he said.
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He noted that the benefits of staying in Africa and building the economy are not just for the economy, but also for the individual.
"So, one of the most exciting things about Junior Achievement is we help young people realize that success is not just about you as an individual, but it&039;s also about what you can bring to the community,” Advani said.
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During the 2023 Company of the Year, Team Zimbabwe emerged the first winner and got $1,000 of prize money. They will represent Africa at the Global Junior Academy, where the winner gets up to $15,000 of prize money.
Team Ghana emerged the second winner, and got $800 of prize money. Team South Africa took third place, and got $500 of prize money.
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JA Africa CEO Simi Nwogugu, who is also the 2023 Africa Education Medal Winner, said the competition prepares the students for bigger ambitions.
"We are preparing them for global leadership, not just African leadership,” Nwogugu said.
"The corporations funding and supporting us such as FedEx, Citi Foundation, PMIEF, Nascon, Boeing, Johnson & Johnson, MTN Rwanda, Delta Airlines, to name a few, will one day be run by these young Africans. They have to see themselves as global leaders from age 14, 15, 16, 17, so that by the time there are 25, 26 and they are put in positions of leadership they will not be afraid because they’ve been doing it for 10 years.”
Among other teams that were recognised during the awarding ceremony were Team Rwanda, who got the best innovation award.
"It was so refreshing to see teenagers from ten African countries compete, showcasing their entrepreneurship potential,” said Emery Rubagenga, the chair of JA Rwanda Steering Committee and Board Member of JA Africa.
"For me, being part of this empowering, impactful initiative is such a blessing. I’m thrilled to see how exposure to financial literacy, leadership skills, and an understanding of market dynamics can completely change their mindset, we are definitely building great future business leaders.”
Connecting training and career
JA Africa recently launched a platform called Career Connect, through which its alumni can hire talent.
"We created Career Connect because we know that JA operates in secondary schools and usually the employment can be quite far in the future if you go to university,” Nwogugu explained.
"But now we're closing that gap, because even if you're in secondary school or in university, you can also come to Career Connect for an internship. You're building your career readiness from now, until you're ready to be in the working world.”
Through another platform called Gather, Junior Achievement has brought together thousands of its growing alumni.
With more than 100 years of impact, JA has a presence in more than 150 countries worldwide.