In spite of school closures and limits on physical gatherings, we moved implementation of the Company program online and went on to hold the first-ever Virtual Company of the Year competition. The program concluded with six students’ companies being selected to compete at the National Company of the Year which will hold virtually later this year.

With the support of 83 professional volunteers, over 600 students from 60 schools across Nigeria participated in the Virtual Company of the Year. 39 schools made it to the second stage, while 6 schools were selected for the final round – National Company of the Year competition later this year.

Haidee Kongpreecha a Learning and Development Expert who served as chief judge, attested to the students’ ingenuity and creativity to develop various innovative products and services. The student companies are:

1. Amazing Amazons from Government Girls Secondary School, Abaji, FCT Abuja: The girls developed an innovative healthcare application that connects hospitals to blood banks and blood banks to donors.
2. Jikoru from Alvana Secondary School, Owerri, Imo State, designed a web platform that connects freelancers to work opportunities.
3. Alpha Tech from Comprehensive School of Management & Technology, Ebonyi State developed a tyre fault detecting chip.
4. Masen from Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos State created a self-disseminating carbon dioxide fire extinguisher.
5. Innovative Vibrant Youth from International School, Lagos State focused on crowdfunding and supplying menstrual hygiene information and products to girls in underserved communities.
6. New Phase from Brookstone Secondary School, Rivers State developed an eco-friendly building block.

At the VCOY, awards were given for different categories including all-star awards for teachers, facilitators and volunteers. The top six student companies will be provided with seed funding and rewarded with mentoring sessions courtesy of Mastercard.

The VCOY was proudly supported by well-meaning individuals and corporate organizations through our #NoStudentLeftBehind campaigns. Some of the organizations are: Citi, Google, Ishk Tolaram Foundation, Ekpo Foundation, Sigma Pensions Limited and Tangerine Life Insurance among others.

For more information on how you can support, click here to learn more!

JA Company Program seeks to promote the spirit of entrepreneurship amongst senior secondary school students, alongside core skills which includes accountability, project management, presentation skills, and negotiation skills.

Click here to watch our students’ presentations!