Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) Set to Host National Student Entrepreneurship Competition | Thursday, October 6th

Junior Achievement Nigeria’s (JAN) annual flagship event, National Company of the Year Competition (NCOY) will be taking place Thursday, October 6th, and is proudly sponsored by Dangote Foundation, Minerva University and Deloitte Nigeria. JAN’s National Company of the Year Competition is an annual event that brings the JA Company Program winners of our Regional Competitions across Nigeria together to compete for the National Company of the Year Award.  JA Company Program teaches Senior Secondary students how to set-up and run their own business from start to liquidation. They sell shares, raise start-up capital, pay dividends to shareholders and use 10% of their profit for a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity. The national winner will proceed to represent Nigeria against other JA Africa member-nation companies for the title of JA Africa Company of the Year in Zimbabwe this December.

At NCOY, JA student companies present the results of their enterprise and evidence of innovation before a panel of independent judges and for a team to win this award it is not sufficient just to run a financially successful JA company or create an exciting product/service. JAN Students must demonstrate a holistic understanding of the company’s performance as a team and their contributions as they present an Annual Report and host a Trade booth display. The judges for this year’s competition are JAN Ambassador and Alumnus of JA Company Program, Tunji Eleso, Co-Founder, CoCreation Hub. Also Audu Maikori, Founder/President, Chocolate City,  Bukky Karibi-Whyte CEO/Founder The Bobby Taylor Company & Invicta Communications Limited and Lola Oyeka, Country Public Affairs Officer, Nigeria and Ghana, CitiBank. In addition to this esteemed panel of judges, this year’s Keynote Speaker will be JA Africa CEO/President, Elizabeth Blintiff.

In December 2015, JA Nigeria’s team “The Dynamites; Government Girls College, Abaaji” emerged the winners of the 2014 JA Africa Company of the Year Award, 2014 FedEx & Citi Client Satisfaction Award held in Libreville, Gabon. The Dynamites developed products from twine and bags called “Pink Lady.” They recorded a gross profit of N 662,000; a net profit of N165,000 and sold 250 shares at N200 per unit. For CSR they provided scholarships to two (2) children and planted 250 trees in their school.

Efua Edeh, Executive Director, JAN added, “The National Company of the Year Competition 2016 is an opportunity for us to showcase the weight of potential that lies within these young minds and Junior Achievement Nigeria’s role in grooming the next generation of leading entrepreneurs. This is a call-to-action for corporate stakeholders, teachers, youths, entrepreneurs and all who support the cause of empowering youths to becoming not just leaders, but conscientious leaders leading a vibrant economy.”

Zouera Youssoufou CEO of Dangote Foundation had this to say in support of NCOY 2016, “Dangote Foundation supports the development of our youth across Nigeria. As a member of the Junior Achievement Board of Directors, we are proud to support their efforts to prepare our youth for the future by igniting in them the seed of entrepreneurship and giving them hands-on practical experience of what it means to actually run a business.”

This event is strictly by Invitation. Find us on social media @JANigeria. Check out footage from our Regional Competition https://www.facebook.com/JANigeria

_______________________________________________________________
This content has been published for free as part of BellaNaija.com‘s commitment to youth, education, healthcare and community development as part of our corporate social responsibility programme.