First Bank partners JA Africa on entrepreneurship competition

First Bank has partnered with JA Africa on Company of the Year (COY) competition, scheduled to hold in Lagos from December 7 to 9, 2022 with the theme, “fuelling change makers.”

The JA Africa COY competition which is in its 12th edition and the first in-person meeting post-COVID, after two successful virtual competitions, is designed to equip senior secondary school students with the entrepreneurial skillset and mindset to solve problems in their communities by launching a business venture and unleashing their entrepreneurial spirit.

The young entrepreneurs who compete at JA Africa’s COY go through qualifying competitions at national and sub-national levels, competing against thousands of youth startups to qualify for the regional competition.

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This programme transitions them into employment and employers. Having emerged as national winners, they will represent their countries at the continental stage where they have the arduous task to impress a panel of international business professionals who serve as judges.

According to Simi Nwogugu, the chief executive officer at JA Africa, First Bank’s sponsored winners of the 2022 Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN), National Company of the Year (NCOY) competition, Green Apex from the International School, University of Lagos, will represent Nigeria in the JA Africa Company of the Year Competition.

“Given the increasingly complex set of global challenges facing young people around the world, from unemployment to climate change, and food shortage, we focus on equipping our students to be solution providers and bring about positive change within their communities while developing businesses that generate wealth.