We are Champions!!! The JA Nigeria team broke out in some famous Nigerian dance steps as they were announced the new AFRICA COMPANY OF THE YEAR 2018 Champions in Accra, Ghana on December 7, 2018. Inventive Explorers from Caro Favoured School, Ajegunle won the overall prize as the best student company in Africa, beating out teams from nine other countries – Uganda, Mauritius, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Eswatini and Zimbabwe.

The Africa Company of the Year competition is Africa’s premier pitch competition for secondary school students who have run their own business for four to six months through participation in the JA Company Program.

The students participate in stage presentations and pitches of their products to a panel of seasoned judges, as well as board room meetings which gives each student company the opportunity to talk more about their company and products, as well as have a one-on-one Q&A session with the panel of judges.

The Inventive Explorers also won the Coca-Cola Excellence in Teamwork Award for demonstration of excellent team spirit in achieving the goals of the business, and the FedEx Access Award, which recognizes the business that best demonstrates the ability to cross national boundaries to provide value to different communities and succeed as a global business.

Additionally, the Caro Favoured teacher and school administrator, Ebuka Ughamadu, who accompanied the students to Accra, won the Best Facilitator in Africa Award!
This was a marvelous way for us to end what has been an incredible year of achievement for JAN and it is an excellent example of partnership at work, especially with our Board Members, because Citi sponsored the Company Program at Caro Favoured School and FirstBank Nigeria sponsored the National Company of the Year (NCOY) competition in Lagos and its winners (the Inventive Explorers) to Accra, Ghana! Thank you Citi and FirstBank for bringing this amazing opportunity to our students and congratulations to the brand new AFRICA COMPANY OF THE YEAR CHAMPIONS!