Junior Achievement (JA) Africa has announced that more than 200,000 young Nigerians are expected to benefit every year from its youth entrepreneurship programmes, as the organisation hosts the 15th edition of the JA Africa Company of the Year (COY) Competition in Abuja. The continental business pitch event, described as Africa’s premier contest for secondary school students, runs from December 3 to 5, 2025. It brings together student entrepreneurs aged 14 to 17 from eight African countries, who will compete for a chance to showcase their ideas globally.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, JA Africa president and CEO, Simi Nwogugu, said the competition highlights the organisation’s commitment to grooming young innovators capable of driving development across the region. She explained that JA Africa now reaches 1.5 million young people annually in 23 African countries, while its Nigerian operations impact about 200,000 youths every year. According to her, 20,000 secondary school students in Nigeria received training this year through the Company Programme.
Nwogugu said this year’s theme, “Action for Climate Transformation (ACT!),” calls attention to the need for youth-led climate solutions and the power of innovation. “Africa’s greatest resource is the brilliance of its young people. Climate action is not only an environmental issue but a development imperative. Through COY, we see students transforming ideas into action and shaping a greener, more resilient Africa,” she stated. The programme aims to help students create solutions that align with sustainability and economic growth.
Participants from Eswatini, Ghana, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia will pitch their projects across six sectors: Innovation and Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Financial Technology, Digital Media and Creation, Renewable Energy, and Circular Economy and Sustainability. The winning team will represent Africa at the Ralph de la Vega Global Entrepreneurship Competition. Organisers say the competition gives young people access to mentorship, investment exposure, and real-world business experience.
Also speaking, president and CEO of JA Worldwide, Asheesh Advani, revealed that the organisation has deployed more than $1 billion globally over the past three years to support youth empowerment programmes. He said JA uses rigorous global standards to measure the long-term impact of its work. “We do three types of impact studies—predictive analytics, pre-and-post assessments, and alumni tracking. This allows us to monitor educational outcomes, entrepreneurial progress, and employment pathways. Our partners value transparency, and this data ensures accountability at every level,” Advani noted.
Advani added that JA is increasingly integrating AI literacy and digital skills into its curriculum through global partnerships, including collaborations with Microsoft. For this year’s competition, student teams are encouraged to embed AI solutions into their business concepts. “We believe African youth can leapfrog challenges and introduce innovations to the world, just like M-PESA did,” he stated. According to him, modern entrepreneurship demands technology awareness and the ability to solve problems with scalable solutions.
On inclusiveness, Nwogugu reaffirmed that JA Africa ensures that at least 5 to 10 percent of Nigerian participants are young persons with disabilities. She explained that the organisation works with specialist partners to provide accessible learning materials such as braille and sign-language-supported content. “We are committed to ensuring no young person is left behind,” she said. She further revealed that JA tracks its students through a digital dashboard and supports them with university scholarship guidance and leadership opportunities.
The Abuja event will end with the JA Africa Stakeholder Convening on December 5, themed “Unlocking Africa’s Youth Dividend: Radical Pathways for Inclusive Skills, Entrepreneurship, and Employment Systems.” The gathering will bring together policymakers, educators, private-sector leaders, philanthropists, and civil society representatives to strengthen support systems around entrepreneurship education.
The 15th COY is supported by headline sponsors FedEx, PMIEF, and First Bank Nigeria, along with development partners. Nwogugu said their contribution enables JA Africa to maintain an average programme cost of between $20 and $25 per student. “Running a year-long Company Programme is more expensive than shorter innovation camps, but the impact is significantly deeper,” she explained. JA Africa maintains that it will keep expanding its reach and improving its data-driven approach to youth empowerment. “When young people gain the confidence to innovate, they don’t just prepare for the future—they create it,” Nwogugu said.
