Message from the ROC

Issue 04 – December 2012

Empowering young people to own their economic success

Regional News

JA UGANDA ALUMNI, ANDREW MUPUYA —

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR!

FERD and Junior Achievement – Young Enterprise Europe, recently

announced the winner of the Ferd Award for Social

Entrepreneurship. This is a worldwide competition which aims to

celebrate current or past participants of JA entrepreneurship

programmes from anywhere in the world, who through their JA

enterprises have created a positive social impact in various fields of

activities.

By introducing new products, services or technologies, contestants

demonstrate a passion and ability for creating systemic social

change and individual human impact. The winner, Andrew Mupuya

from Uganda impressed the jury with his company which promotes

sustainable packaging while offering job opportunities to people in

need. Youth Entrepreneurial Link Investments (YELI) manufactures

environmentally friendly paper bags and envelopes to replace use of

polyethylene plastic bags that are non-biodegradable taking 15 to

1000 years to break down compared to paper bags that decompose.

The Jury made up of Johan H. Andresen, Chairman, FERD, Oscar

Lundin and Benjamin Kainz, FERD Award for Social Entrepreneurship

Winners 2011 and Jarle Tømmerbakke, Senior Advisor, JA-YE Europe

commented on the winner: “You have shown great strategic insight,

and the fact that you spread your idea for others to use and then

capitalize on the market created, to the benefit of local communities

This Issue

Message from the ROC P.1 JA Uganda Alumni, Andrew Mupuya P.1 JA Alumni in Tanzania Rise to the Challenge P.2

JA Namibia Builds Young Entrepreneurs P.3

JA South Africa Team Wins Top Prize P.4

JA Nigeria Students Meet the William Sisters P.5 Thanks to our Sponsors P.5

About JA Worldwide P.5

Dear friends and colleagues:

There is a groundswell of entrepreneurial activity

occurring across the Africa region and JA is right in the

middle of it. In the face of unemployment and limited

opportunities for higher education, young JA students and

alumni are tackling social problems and creating

employment opportunities for themselves and others.

It is not surprising that when the African Leadership

Academy (ALA) announced the thirteen finalists from

across the continent to compete for their 2012 Anzisha

Prize for Young Innovators, five of them were JA alumni.

To top it off, the grand prize went to JA Uganda alumni,

Andrew Mupuya and third prize to JA Ghana alumni , Yaw

Duffur. Andrew Mupuya has also recently received the

Ferd Social Entrepreneurship Award for his innovation and

social entrepreneurship.

As I travel across the region, I have had the pleasure of

meeting many young entrepreneurs like Andrew, Yaw, the

Sikongo twins and many other young men and women

who are doing amazing things with very little resources.

We celebrate all our young stars today and rededicate

ourselves to supporting their efforts. Keep up the great

work!

Chinwe Effiong

and the environment says a lot about the social impact

created. You are a true entrepreneur with a great

mindset and a big intellectual capital. Focus on your

growth strategy and keep your mindset of sharing the

idea!”

The award is in its second year of implementation.

During this time, more than 60 social entrepreneurs

have been identified worldwide.

JA TANZANIA ALUMNI RISE TO THE CHALLENGE! The power of alumni networking at its best!

That is the only way to describe the dynamic

JA Tanzania Alumni (JAT Alumni) as they

quickly establish themselves as a force for

social change across Tanzania. With a total

membership of 3,800, JAT Alumni are setting

a new model for social entrepreneurship and

community development in Tanzania. The

alumni network was created by its current

President, Innocent Robson, and his

colleagues in 2009 at the prompting of the

former JA Tanzania Executive Director, Mlon-

getcha Mkuku and current Executive Direc-

tor, Maria Ngowi.

Membership is selective and is only granted after a rigorous process of determining seriousness and commitment.

Recently the influence and potential for transformative change of the JAT alumni was put to the test when the JA Africa

ROC called upon them to brainstorm on how to mobilize human resources to support a new project working with

refugee populations in Tanzania. This project, which will be in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner

for Refugees (UNHCR) is designed to provide entrepreneurship training to thousands of young people living in refugee

settlements in rural Tanzania as well as an urban case load of Newly Naturalized Tanzanians (NNTs) who have relocated

to the capital city of Dar es Salaam.

The youth in these refugee communities have many needs including English language training, business education,

access to capital and markets. With a population of over 160,000 refugees residing in just two of the settlements and

about 40% of them under the age of 25, it is clear that making an impact in this population will require the concerted

effort of many stakeholders. When presented with this challenge, the leaders of the JAT alumni were undaunted. Within

days of learning of the project, executives of the JAT alumni mobilized themselves, identified members with specific

skills who could support the efforts of the JA Tanzania office and put out a call for applications to fill facilitator positions.

JAT alumni have also translated all relevant program documents into Kiswahili and developed a timeline of activities to

facilitate program implementation, all on a voluntary basis! This

model of alumni organization and networking is a best practice

that highlights JA’s role in promoting volunteerism and

mentoring of young people and speaks to the sustainability of JA

programs in Tanzania and potentially, across the Africa region.

Kudos to the JA Tanzania team. Keep blazing the trail!

Please visit us at www.jainafrica.org and interact with us on Facebook at Junior Achievement Africa and/or follow us on twitter at jaaroc.

JA Tanzania Board of Directors and Alumni leaders. Alumni

standing in back row.

Leaders of JA Tanzania alumni at a strategic meeting

JA NAMIBIA BUILDS YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS

Few people, however, know about the entrepreneurial beginnings of Taramo Live. Philip and Andrew began participating in JA

programs in 2003 at the age of 14 which helped nurture their entrepreneurial skills. They explored different business

ventures including school movie nights, video games, a school computer lab, and PC repairs workshop throughout their early

years. In 2007, Lil Amp Computer Lab won the Best Business Idea countrywide from JA Namibia. The twins were granted one

week at Harvard Business School as part of the Growing Up CEO Competition. This trip provided Andrew and Philip a

tremendous opportunity to grow their entrepreneurial skills. Since then, the twins have been off and running in the world of

business. In 2011 at the age of 22, they started Taramo Live through their company, Moon Vision IT Research CC, which

specializes in mobile applications, internet and premium SMS solutions. The show has become a household name in Namibia.

These days, the Sikongos are two of the most successful young Namibian entrepreneurs, winning the 2012 Creative Business

Cup in October. JA is proud that two of its alumni have grown into such great examples for future generations to follow. As

the story of the Sikongos shows, entrepreneurs can be nurtured from an early age with hard work, motivation, and a keen eye

for opportunities.

In October, the Global Entrepreneurship

Week Namibia announced that Philip

and Andrew Sikongo are the winners of

Namibia’s 2012 Creative Business Cup.

The twins are JA Namibia alumni and

founders of Taramo Live, a television

program that links businesses with their

market by profiling businesses and of-

fering prizes for an SMS competition.

Today, Namibians all over the country

watch Taramo Live on NBC and One

Africa TV.

Philip and Andrew Sikongo with Dr. Effiong

JA SOUTH AFRICA TEAM WINS TOP PRIZE IN GLOBAL SOCIAL INNOVATION RELAY Emulsified Environmentalists, a team of learners from Sandton

View Combined School in Alexandra, Johannesburg, won the

second annual Social Innovation Relay. The relay is a global

challenge developed by Junior Achievement and HP for high school

students to create and develop new business concepts intended to

have a positive social or environmental impact.

The team won the global competition with a concept for a

solar-powered lamp made from recycled materials that will bring

light to disadvantaged communities, while also eliminating the

environmental and health damage caused by traditional kerosene

lamps. Working with HP mentors, the team developed their concept

in response to the problems of electricity shortages and growing respiratory problems in South Africa. With over 20,000 students

from 13 countries participating, the Social Innovation Relay is the largest global educational initiative to be run with a blend of

virtual and face-to-face mentoring. 1,564 teams around the world registered for this year’s relay. 13 teams competed in the final

round of the competition.

The team also got the opportunity to participate in the 9th JA-YE Alumni Europe Conference, Porto 2012 with participants from

more than 20 countries under the theme: “On the Edge of Success: Discovering the Path Forward”. The purpose of the event is to

inspire, foster networking and self-development opportunities for all the participants, as well as to give participants the unique

chance to strengthen their relations with innovative and creative people. The team had this to say about their experience in Porto,

“Participating in the conference was an important boost of our motivation. We actually decided to carry on with our project!

Before we came we were lacking information, we didn’t know what it means to start your own business, and being here helped us

see how to have the best approach in the implementation.”

Congratulations to Emulsified Environmentalists for their success!

AT THE ROC… Alice K. Kiprono joined JA Africa on June 25th , 2012 as Assistant to the JA Africa

President . Alice has a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Nairobi and

a Diploma in Community Development and Social work. She has worked in

Administration as a Research Assistant and Project Assistant for two other Non-Profit

Organizations: Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) - IFLEA Project and Coptic

Mission Hospital. Alice comes to us with a strong track record in Research and

Development and Human Resources Management. One of Alice’s first tasks has been to

set up a Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) for the ROC.

Welcome Alice!

Lebogang Ledwaba, Kgotso Mothoa, Siphesihle Madlala, and Tessy

Odiley, display their solar lamp prototype, the Emu Lamp.

If you would like to help Junior Achievement Africa change the lives of young people in your community, contact: Chinwe A. Effiong, President Koffi Assouan, Dir. of Operations chinwe.effiong@ja.org koffi.assouan@ja.org

Peter Gbedemah

Junior Achievement (JA) Worldwide is the largest global, nonprofit

organization dedicated to teaching and empowering young people to

own their economic success by enhancing the relevance of education.

JA Worldwide reaches over 10 million young people annually. Four

hundred and two thousand volunteers taught more than 406,500

classes in 2012, bringing “real world” experiential learning to young

people across the globe. Junior Achievement’s unique programs —

focusing on the core content areas of work readiness, entrepreneur-

ship and financial literacy — ignite the spark in young people to ex-

perience and realize their unique potential. JA’S pedagogic approach

is highly experiential and “hands-on,” with volunteers serving as

teachers, mentors and role models for the students.

ABOUT JA WORLDWIDE

APHRC Campus

Manga Close, Off Kirawa Road

P.O. Box 2586-00621

Nairobi, Kenya

info@jainafrica.org

www.jainafrica.org

Around the world, Junior Achievement relies on the financial support of

corporations, foundations and individuals to empower young people to

own their economic success and live productive lives. The Africa

Regional Operating Center extends its thanks to the following regional

sponsors:

JA NIGERIA STUDENTS MEET THE WILLIAM SISTERS

Photos courtesy of Junior Achievement Nigeria

Venus and Serena Williams were in Nigeria for an international friendly

match and JA Nigeria students (girls) were invited by the U.S Ambassador,