Junior Achievement (JA) Ghana at a launch ceremony in Accra, announced that it will host the 2022 National Business Pitch Competition on the 15th and 16th of September at the Academic City University College in Accra.
The National Business Pitch Competition is Ghana’s equivalent of JA Worldwide’s internationally acclaimed Company of the Year Competition.
The yearly competition gives high school kids the chance to showcase their business savvy and entrepreneurial zeal in front of business, educational, and policy professionals as well as the media.
Over 150 students, chaperones, judges, partners, and other stakeholders are expected to attend this year’s event, themed “Fuelling Changemakers” in an effort to provide a catalyst for young people to identify Africa’s largest concerns and generate solutions.
The students will showcase creative business ideas in the fields of agribusiness, water, sanitation & hygiene (WASH), climate change & renewable energy, and health technology.
The Competition serves as the culmination of the JA Company Program®, a business education program that teaches high school students how to launch and manage their own firms.
JA is passionate about educating youth entrepreneurship as a means of job creation since the official sector is unable to meet the expectations of the expanding youth population in terms of employment.
In the 43 years that JA has operated in Africa, the Company Program has taught business management skills to thousands of secondary school students.
The Ghana competition will bring together students from 16 Senior High Schools across the country: St. Augustines College, Achimota School, Aburi Girls SHS, Bolgatanga SHS, St. Francis Girls SHS, Peki SHS, Northern Business School – Tamale, Accra Academy, Presbyterian Boys SHS – Legon, Tarkwa SHS, Archbishop Porter Girls SHS, Efutu SHS, Ghana SHS – Koforidua, Serwaa Kesse SHS, Adukrom Presbyterian SHS, and Keta SHS.
Over the two-day competition, the competing teams will pitch business ideas to a panel of judges to showcase their understanding of business concepts and explain how and why their businesses performed as they did.
The judges will consider the business’ present efficiency and potential for growth as well as the team members’ individual growth. The competition’s winners will get a GHS 10,000 cash reward in addition to gifts from the sponsors.
The main prize winner will have the chance to compete against students from 12 other African nations for cash prizes, awards, and a trip to compete on a global stage at the 2022 JA Africa Company of the Year Competition, which will be held from December 7 to 9 in Lagos, Nigeria.
Abeiku Greene, the Executive Director of JA Ghana said “Harnessing the potential of Ghana’s youth through entrepreneurship education has immense benefits for the country by creating jobs and promoting economic growth. Having the experience of running their own businesses gives these budding entrepreneurs the confidence to take on the challenges and opportunities that entrepreneurship brings and emancipate them from being job seekers to job creators.”
This year’s competition is being backed by Project Management Institute Educational Foundation, the Tomorrow Foundation, Gold Fields Ghana, Academic City College, Primetime Limited (producers of the National Science and Maths Quiz), and Peter Gbedemah.
