Econo-Vative Productions, The Dynamites and Best Start Win Big!
Due to the Ebola crisis in 2014, we were unable to hold the 2014 Regional competition last year. Therefore we did things a little differently this year, and hosted for the first time ever, concurrent competitions (2014 & 2015)! The winning student teams for 2014 and 2015 from the national-level COY competitions all came together to compete. We also had the inaugural competition for our out of school youth program Immersion Training Strategy: Targeting Young Marginalized Entrepreneurs (ITS TYME).
On December 4th 2015, Junior Achievement crowned “Econo-Vative Productions” — a team of young entrepreneurs from Swaziland and ‘The Dynamites” from Nigeria— the winners of the 2014 & 2015 Africa Region JA Company of the Year Competitions.
“Econo-Vative Productions” is a company that produces dog food pellets made out of leftover meal scraps and a thermo bag made from Styrofoam that can be used to cook and keep food warm while “The Dynamites” produce purses, shopping bags and school bags made of twine.
BEST START from Kenya took home the ITS TYME Grand Prize. The company delivers clean, nutritious and delicious meals to low-income workers at affordable prices and with excellent customer service.
The other winners are as follows:
- 2014 Mini-Enterprise 2nd Place – Haus of Decor, Botswana
- 2014 Mini-Enterprise 3rd Place – CKOSA , Kenya
- 2015 Mini-Enterprise 2ndPlace – GreenBiz, Mauritius
- 2015 Mini-Enterprise 3rd Place – Excel Phenomenal Enterprise, Botswana
- ITS TYME 2nd Place – Uhuru Bricks, Tanzania
- ITS TYME 3rd Place – Terroir G, Gabon
Additional awards and winners given out that day were :
- 2014 FedEx Access Award : The Dynamites, Nigeria
- 2015 FedEx Access Award : GreenBiz, Mauritius
- 2014 Bechtel Entrepreneurial Spirit Award: Grou Pelagro, Senegal
- 2015 Bechtel Entrepreneurial Spirit Award : Washer Washer, South Africa
- 2014 Citi Client Satisfaction Award: The Dynamites, Nigeria
- 2015 Citi Client Satisfaction Award: GreenBiz, Mauritius
- 2015 Abraaj Social Entrepreneurship Award: Econo-Vative Productions, Swaziland
- Barclays Innovation Award: Uhuru Bricks, Tanzania
- Ecobank Best Regional CEO Award: Econo-Vative Productions, Swaziland
- Sobraga Excellence in Marketing Award: Faso Fouxe, Burkina Faso
- ANINF Excellence in Teamwork Award: Galerie Aleco, Burkina Faso
- Model Member Nation Award : Gabon
- 2nd Place Model Member Nation : Mauritius
- 3rd Place Model Member Nation : Zimbabwe
- Best Facilitator – Nisha Sewpal, Mauritius
