JA Africa, one of Africa’s largest and most-impactful youth-serving NGOs, with support from the Project Management Institute Educational Foundation (PMIEF), is introducing the JA Company Program to Rwanda. JA Company Program empowers high school students to fill a need or solve a problem in their community and teaches them practical skills required to conceptualize, capitalize, and manage their own business venture.
This partnership marks the introduction of JA programs in Rwanda and will aim to equip three high schools with entrepreneurship, financial literacy and project management skills. SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda will deliver the JA Company Program with the overarching goal of preparing the youth to become future business leaders in a highly vibrant national and global economy by offering them competitive business skills to solve problems and create wealth within their communities.
“The launch of the JA Company Program in the GS Gikomero, the SOS Children’s Villages Technical High School Kigali and the SOS Secondary School Kayonza is a great pride for us as young students in secondary school access entrepreneurship education at an early age. With our partner JA Africa, through the JA Company Program, the youth will have the opportunity to learn how to move a business idea from concept to reality and be empowered to start and run an enterprise or company,” explained Jean Bosco Kwizera, National Director of SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda.
Executive Director of Project Management Institute Educational Foundation (PMIEF), Dr. Ashley Forsyth, said, “By partnering with JA Africa, we have equipped over 25,000 emerging African leaders with project management skills in the past two years. The launch of JA Rwanda exemplifies our collective goal to inspire and prepare young people in Africa to succeed in a global economy. We’re truly excited to partner with such an exemplary and impactful organization.”
Simi Nwogugu, CEO of JA Africa, said, “We are grateful to PMIEF, our founding funder in Rwanda, for believing in JA Programs as a potent solution to Africa’s rising unemployment predicament and further integrating Project Management into the curriculum to help young people to strategize and execute and administrative functions. We look forward to making a lasting impact on the youth in collaboration with SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda.”
Rwanda’s ambitious goal to become an upper-middle-income economy by 2035 requires investing in industrial skills that meet employers’ demands. JA Africa believes that mainstreaming entrepreneurship education is key to job creation and helps young people understand the skill demands of the 21st-century job market. With this understanding, they can develop self-efficacy that will ensure that they will reach their goals, regardless of the challenges that lay ahead.
About JA Africa
JA Africa is one of Africa’s largest and most-impactful youth-serving NGOs. JA Africa’s mission is to prepare Africa’s youth for the future of jobs. Through the delivery of hands-on, blended learning in financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship, we empower young people to grow their entrepreneurial ideas, hone their work skills, manage their earnings, and secure better lives for themselves, their families, and their communities. JA Africa has a presence in 16 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and collectively reaches over 390,000 youth in more than 3,000 schools each year. Learn more at www.ja-africa.org
About PMI Educational Foundation
PMI Educational Foundation (PMIEF) is a 501(c)(3) supporting organization of the Project Management Institute (PMI), the world’s leading not-for-profit professional membership association for those who consider project, program, or portfolio management as their profession. Founded in 1990, PMIEF cultivates long-term relationships with nonprofits across the globe to help them integrate project management in their youth programs and to build their own project management capacity. The foundation achieves its mission to “enable youth to realize their potential and transform lives through project management” and its vision for “inspiring youth to achieve their goals, making dreams a reality” by investing in high-quality organizations that exemplify a commitment to preparing young people for 21st century success and an appreciation for both the societal application and value of project management.
Visit https://www.pmi.org/pmi-educational-foundation for more information.
About SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda
SOS Children’s Villages is a worldwide organization present in more than 130 countries that supports children who have lost or are at risk of losing parental care. In Rwanda, SOS Children’s Villages was established in 1979 and currently operates in 13 districts with field offices in Gicumbi, Kayonza, Nyamagabe and Gasabo districts. It is operating 10 schools including a Technical High School in Kigali and a Secondary School including TVET in Kayonza. In the community, SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda is supporting more than 108,458 beneficiaries through different projects such as family strengthening, youth empowerment, education, mental health and psychosocial support, adolescent sexual reproductive health and right, oral health, reintegration, community-based rehabilitation of children from the street situation, environmental protection and humanitarian emergency response. Learn more at https://www.soscv-rwanda.org.rw
