January 12th 2018– JA Africa has entered into a partnership with Big Data for Africa (BDA), a consulting firm focused on providing data and analytics to inform and improve program targeting and investments in Africa. Through this partnership, BDA will work with the JA Africa leadership team to develop a long-term monitoring and evaluation strategy, and help JA Africa assess its success in equipping program participants with entrepreneurial, financial and work readiness skills.
The ability to demonstrate impact is critical to the success of all non-profit organizations, in part because it augments the credibility of the work of the organization, but also because it enables organizations to access funding for programs by giving donors and other stakeholders the assurance that their investment of resources will yield the desired outcomes. Organizations in Africa generate data but the data hides value that could be beneficial to the organization itself, the people they serve, and third-party stakeholders interested in the insights embedded in the data. By integrating rigorous monitoring and evaluating services with high quality analytical solutions, BDA will help JA Africa review and restructure its existing monitoring and evaluation process and bolster JA Africa’s internal capacity to monitor, evaluate, connect, analyze and report evidence more comprehensively in all its programs.
“JA Africa is committed to systematic impact measurement. We recognize the exercise as a pivotal way to monitor and demonstrate the value JA is delivering to young people. We are excited to work with Big Data for Africa as this collaboration will give us an objective view of the context of our work and how we contribute to the larger African Youth Development Agenda.” said Elizabeth Bintliff, CEO, JA Africa.
The Founder and Chief Research Scientist of BDA, Amarachi Utah also added that “Few organizations understand the power of the data they generate on a daily basis, others do not have the resources to pay for the technology or the expertise to strategically monitor their activities or measure their impact. The result is a massive knowledge gap with no insight on the effectiveness of current activities, and no foresight to predict, prepare for and respond to shifts. BDA is excited to work with JA Africa to fill this knowledge gap by comprehensively assessing the impact of its programs on African youth.”
About JA Africa:
JA Africa is a member of JA Worldwide, one of the largest global organizations focused on the economic empowerment of youth. JA activates youth for the future of jobs through the delivery of in financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship. JA Africa reaches over 230,000 young people in 14 countries in Africa each year.
About Big Data for Africa:
Big Data for Africa (BDA) is a data analytics lab. Founded on a mission to close the data gap in Africa, BDA helps firms, government agencies and NGOs across Africa mine and transform data into actionable insights to inform strategic decision-making and fuel growth. By integrating rigorous methodology, with innovative, analytical tools and machine learning techniques; BDA collects and analyzes actively and passively generated data, identifies relationships between key indicators, predicts future performance potential and creates opportunities for micro-level understanding of each client’s unique needs. Our brand of analysis has the power to enhance customer experience, improve program targeting and investment, inform policy and change lives. BDA has experience working with clients across a range of industries, including retail, agriculture, labor and employment, and education.
