Aburi Girls SHS wins 2012 National Junior Achievement Company Competition

Nhyira Junior Achievement Company of Aburi Girls Senior High School has emerged as the National Junior Achievement (JA) Company champion for 2012.

Sikafie JA Company of St. Peter’s SHS and Apex JA Company of Accra Academy School were adjudged the second and third positions respectively.

The Junior Achievement Company competition seeks to award excellence amongst Junior and Senior High School students who display their entrepreneurial wits through a trade fair and series of business presentations and interviews in a competitive environment.

Some of the 20 schools that participated in this year’s competition included St Peter’s SHS, Ghana SHS, Mfantsipim School, Adisadel College, Archbishop Porter Girls SHS, Ghana Secondary Technical School, Keta SHS, Accra Academy, Holy Trinity Cathedral SHS, Aburi Girls SHS and the Presbyterian Boys SHS.

The goal of the JA Student Company of the Year competition was to balance the business achievements of each team as a whole and that of members' personal development.

For this year's competition, JA Student Companies appeared before a panel of independent judges, who determined a company's performance against the competition criteria, which was then compared with other JA Companies at each stage of the competition process.

For a team to win this award, competing companies were made to run a financial successful company which also included but not limited to adequate business acumen in the creation of an exciting product or services.

The judges selected from Nokia and Coca Cola Company, looked for evidence of innovation and the application of new ideas in all aspects of running the company.

The competition formed part of JA's worldwide annual celebration of the achievements of membership of the various JA Companies in schools.

Mr. Jefferson W. Agbai, Executive Director of JA Ghana, said the competition also formed part of a broader initiative of Junior Achievement to bring entrepreneurship to the door step of young people through hands-on learning to encourage students to inject seriousness in their operations.

He said this initiative was needed in this current global economic crisis to rebuild communities and provide the entrepreneurial wealth mechanisms for a stable society.

Mr. Kesiena Ogbemi, Head of Communication- Nokia West Africa, said he was happy to be associated with the event.

He said youth empowerment and leadership was critical for Nokia’s involvement in Corporate Social Responsibility.

“Our CSI approach is to use mobile technology, which is part of JA programmes to improve education and learning. This includes life skills and youth development to which this programme aligns perfectly”, he said.

Mr. Anthony Okyere, the Coca Cola Representative said the programme would enable young people to use their entrepreneurial capabilities to develop businesses that would soon have international recognition.

He encouraged the youth to build their entrepreneurial skills to contribute to the development of the nation.

Junior Achievement is the world’s largest organisation dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy.

Through a dedicated volunteer network, JA provides in-school and after-school programmes for students which focus on three key content areas: work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.

JA Ghana is an accredited member of JA Worldwide and has been in operation since 2007, inspiring and equipping young Ghanaians through practical and innovation programmes to equip them to contribute to national development.**