Some of the young people who attended the relaunch
Some of the young people who attended the relaunch

Junior Achievement relaunches activities in Ghana

Junior Achievement (JA) Ghana, a member of JA Worldwide, one of the largest organisations in the world dedicated to youth entrepreneurship, has been relaunched in Ghana after a two-year period of dormancy.

With the relaunch, JA Ghana will re-introduce its world-renowned programmes that focus on financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship to empower young people to generate and effectively manage wealth, create jobs for themselves and others, as well as apply entrepreneurial thinking in the workplace.

New board members introduced at the event are John Armah (CEO of Orios Group), Russ Farnsworth (Regional Controller Africa - Newmont Mining Corporation), Frances Ofori (Head of Marketing and Communication - Prudential Ghana), Kwadwo Adjei-Barwuah (Associate Director - Abraaj Group), Vera Adu-Amaning (Creative Director of Adu Amani Klodin) and Kenneth Yeboah (Personal Financial Consultant - Standard Chartered Bank).

Board chair

Mr Armah, the chair of Board of Directors, said “I am excited about the prospects of JA Ghana and the impact JA programmes will make on youth development in Ghana. There is a huge gap between what students are taught in schools and what skills they need to succeed in the workplace. JA programmes will help to bridge this gap and hopefully inspire a lot of young people in Ghana to become more successful in the corporate world and in starting their own businesses.”

In the past, JA Ghana had partnered with General Electric (GE) on one-day campaigns to raise students’ interest in pursuing careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Recently, JA Ghana also hosted a STEM Challenge with GE. The event was held at St. Kizito Parish on January 27, 2016 and brought together GE Ghana staff, 119 students from the Unity Cluster of Schools, teachers as well as external volunteers to work on a STEM challenge and apply STEM skills.

JA Ghana has also partnered with Prudential Life Insurance Ghana to implement a hands-on, financial literacy programme called Cha Ching, which teaches young children the basic concepts of how to earn, save, spend and donate money.

Prudential Life Insurance

Frances Ofori, Head of Marketing and Communications at Prudential Life, said “Prudential Life Insurance Ghana is passionate about impacting the lives of young people through education. We are happy to be associated with the relaunch of JA Ghana and hope the Cha Ching programme would help develop the right attitudes in young people towards money management, especially the culture of saving and donating, which is undervalued in the Ghanaian society”

Speaking at the launch, Elizabeth Bintliff, the CEO of JA Africa, said, “We are pleased to have JA Ghana rejoining the JA Africa family and the worldwide network. In its past, JA Ghana implemented high quality, programmes and we still hear often from the alumni about the impact the programmes had on their lives. I am excited that a new generation of Ghana’s youth will get to have similar experiences”.

The programmes Manager at JA Ghana, Abeiku Greene, said, “We are excited about the prospects for JA in Ghana. In the coming months, JA Ghana will be orchestrating a Job Shadow programme which will place high school students in local businesses for a day, allowing them to shadow professionals in their field of interest to gain exposure in their desired careers. This and other programmes we have lined up will make JA Ghana a desirable partner as it once was, for young people and organisations that are passionate about educating the youth.

About JA Ghana

JA Ghana is a nonprofit organization under the JA Africa & Worldwide network, dedicated to empowering young people to own their economic success by enhancing the relevance of education. Since its establishment in Ghana in 2008, JA Ghana has served over 15,000 Ghanaian youth in over 80 schools/institutions, across the ten regions of the country. JA Ghana’s unique, experiential programs focus on work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy and encourage young people to experience the realities of work and life in the 21st century. In addition, our programs show students the value of education, bridge the gap of what they are learning in the classroom with the real world, and equip them with the skills and tools they need to be more successful in school and their future careers.

About JA Africa

Junior Achievement (JA) is recognized throughout the world as the expert in providing business and economic education to young people. Since its founding in 1919, JA programs have served as a catalyst for bringing real-world business knowledge and hands-on experience to young people. JA has improved the lives of more than 125 million youth around the world, and last year alone, JA facilitated more than 10 million student experiences. Junior Achievement programs were first introduced in sub-Saharan Africa in 1979, and now JA has operations in 14 African nations reaching more than 200,000 youth annually. For further information about Junior Achievement, please visit www.ja-africa.org

 

Connect With Us : 0242202447 | 0551484843 | 0266361755 | 059 199 7513 |