Nigeria, seven others vie for Africa’s top student enterprise prize

Nigeria and seven other African countries are competing for the continent’s biggest student enterprise prize as Junior Achievement Africa opens the 15th edition of its Company of the Year competition in Abuja.

The event, which runs from 3 to 5 December 2025, brings together top student-run firms for a chance to represent Africa at the global finals and secure cash awards, scholarships and long-term support for their ventures.

The student teams, drawn from Eswatini, Ghana, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia, are showcasing climate-focused innovations built around this year’s theme, Action for Climate Transformation.

The competition challenges the teenagers to design solutions across technology, renewable energy, the circular economy, financial technology and digital media

JA Africa’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Simi Nwogugu, said the competition has become a launchpad for young Africans who are already developing real businesses from challenges in their communities.

She told journalists after the pre-event briefing on Wednesday in Abuja that the organisation believes young Africans “know the problems and the solutions; they just don’t have the resources,” adding that JA’s role is to provide the skills, training and access that allow them to build functional enterprises.

She explained that Junior Achievement Africa, which operates in 23 countries, reaches more than 1.5 million young people each year with programmes designed to build entrepreneurial thinking early.

“What we do is go into secondary schools and start putting that mindset in them that nobody is coming to save you,” she said. “How can you come up with the solutions? ”

She cited the example of students who tackled plastic pollution by turning waste plastics into construction materials, reducing building costs while running a profitable venture.

Nwogugu said JA’s impact is visible across government, business and technology ecosystems. She pointed to alumni such as Andela and Flutterwave co-founder Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Bosun Tijani as evidence of how early entrepreneurship exposure can shape national development.

“We have reached over five million young people from when we started counting, and probably about 10 million now,” she said.

The 2025 competition will produce Africa’s representative for the Ralph de la Vega Global Entrepreneurship Competition.

Winners will earn $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 for first, second and third places, respectively, while the global prize stands at $15,000.

Nigeria and seven other African countries are competing for the continent’s biggest student enterprise prize as Junior Achievement Africa opens the 15th edition of its Company of the Year competition in Abuja.

The event, which runs from 3 to 5 December 2025, brings together top student-run firms for a chance to represent Africa at the global finals and secure cash awards, scholarships and long-term support for their ventures.

The student teams, drawn from Eswatini, Ghana, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia, are showcasing climate-focused innovations built around this year’s theme, Action for Climate Transformation.

The competition challenges the teenagers to design solutions across technology, renewable energy, the circular economy, financial technology and digital media.

JA Africa’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Simi Nwogugu, said the competition has become a launchpad for young Africans who are already developing real businesses from challenges in their communities.

She told journalists after the pre-event briefing on Wednesday in Abuja that the organisation believes young Africans “know the problems and the solutions; they just don’t have the resources,” adding that JA’s role is to provide the skills, training and access that allow them to build functional enterprises.

She explained that Junior Achievement Africa, which operates in 23 countries, reaches more than 1.5 million young people each year with programmes designed to build entrepreneurial thinking early.

“What we do is go into secondary schools and start putting that mindset in them that nobody is coming to save you,” she said. “How can you come up with the solutions? ”

She cited the example of students who tackled plastic pollution by turning waste plastics into construction materials, reducing building costs while running a profitable venture.

Nwogugu said JA’s impact is visible across government, business and technology ecosystems. She pointed to alumni such as Andela and Flutterwave co-founder Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Bosun Tijani as evidence of how early entrepreneurship exposure can shape national development.

“We have reached over five million young people from when we started counting, and probably about 10 million now,” she said.

The 2025 competition will produce Africa’s representative for the Ralph de la Vega Global Entrepreneurship Competition.

Winners will earn $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 for first, second and third places, respectively, while the global prize stands at $15,000.