INNOVATIVE MIND TO REPRESENT NIGERIA IN JA AFRICA COMPANY OF THE YEAR CONTEST

INTERESTING!!!!

Innovative Mind to represent
Nigeria in JA Africa Company
of the Year competition
By Editor | 03 November 2016 | 3:39 am
Vice President, Human Resources, Team Innovative
Minds, from Caro Favored College, Agejunle, Lagos
State, Ogechi Amadi (left); President Diko Bright;
Kelechukwu Igwe, an engineer and JAN volunteer
mentor; the team’s vice president, in charge of finance
Ifediora Chiamaka, and its managing director,
Athanesius Virginia, shortly after the team emerged
victorious in the Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN)
National Company of the Year Competition.
Innovative Minds Company, from Caro Favoured
School, Ajegunle, Lagos State, will represent Nigeria
at the 2016 Junior Achievement (JA) Africa Company
of the Year competition in Zimbabwe, between
December 7th and 9th.
The team got the mandate for the task at the
recently held senior secondary school
entreprenurship competition, the “National Company
of the Year Compeition (NCOY), which took place at
The Orchid Hotel, Ikota-Epe Expressway Lekki, Lagos
State.
The NCOY is an annual event that brings regional
winners of JA Company Programme across the
country together to compete for the national award.
The programme, among other things teaches senior
secondary students how to start, and run their
businesses from inception to liquidation. They sell
shares, raise start-up capital, pay dividends to
shareholders and use 10 per cent of their profit for a
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity.
In the course of the programme, participants must
demonstrate a holistic understanding of the
company’s performance as a team, and their
contributions as they defend their annual reports and
host trade booth displays.
The judges in this year’s competition were JAN
ambassador and alumnus of JA Company Programme,
Tunji Eleso; Audu Maikori, Founder/President,
Chocolate City, Mrs Bukky Karibi-Whyte CEO/
Founder The Bobby Taylor Company & Invicta
Communications Limited, and Country Public Affairs
Officer, (Nigeria and Ghana) of CitiBank, Mrs. Lola
Oyeka.
In her keynote address, CEO/President, JA Africa,
Mrs. Elizabeth Bintliff, encouraged students to push
through with their vision, despite the peculiar
obstacles faced by African youths, whom she said
hold the key to successfully strengthening our
nations’ economies.
This years competition showcased ingenuity in areas
of technology, and the use of recyled products, as
confirmed by the rise in the number young women
exploring areas of technology.
Members of Innovative Minds Company, from
Caro Favoured School, Ajegunle, Lagos State,
produced a programmable DOT Matrix LED
displays, which they were able to sell to small
business owners within the Ajegunle community,
who were unable to afford such elegant way of
advertising their products and services. The product
sold alongside a smart remote control that enabled
owners to change the messages scrolling across the
screen, as often as they deemed necessary, without
engaging the services of relevant professionals.
Over the course of the school year, the
team upgraded their product to an eco-friendly
version that didn’t require a power source due to
shortage of electricity supply in their community.
Despite it being a fierce competition, Team Innovative
Minds emerged tops because of the combination of
their savvy use of technology, effective marketing
strategy, and their efforts in meeting a critical need
in their community.
The team, however, attributes its success to
encouragement of Kelechukwu Igwe, who enlisted as
JAN volunteer mentor to them for the duration of
their programme.

SOURCE: GUARDIAN