Abidjan, 17th October, 22: JA Africa, one of the largest and most-impactful youth-serving NGOs in Africa, has partnered with The Coca-Cola Foundation and Tomorrow Foundation to launch programs that will focus on equipping youth in Francophone Africa with the requisite digital literacy, financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness skills to thrive in the new digital economy.
With Africa graduating over 11 million young people into a workforce that only creates three million jobs annually, it has become imperative to equip young Africans to be job creators rather than job seekers. This is even more pronounced in the more vulnerable Sub-Saharan Africa French speaking countries where the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked significant havoc on education and their economies. In response to this need, JA Africa is partnering with the Tomorrow Foundation to translate its digital entrepreneurship program, JA DEEP (Digital Entrepreneurship Education Program) which builds on JA’s existing entrepreneurship programs in an online format, into French.
The partnership with The Coca Cola Foundation, will see more than 30,000 African youth, in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritius and Senegal, equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to become leaders in their chosen fields through JA DEEP, project management workshops, business competitions and seed grants.
Saadia Madsbjerg, President of The Coca-Cola Foundation, said, “Achieving equality and empowerment for youth has broad ripple effects that positively affect communities. Our strategy is to strengthen communities, create a better-shared future, and reach ambitious sustainability goals through prioritization, perseverance, and partnerships. We believe in JA Africa’s ability to bring a positive change with this project in Africa.” The Coca-Cola Foundation is supporting JA Africa’s action in Francophone Africa with a contribution of $160,000.
Tomorrow Foundation strongly believes in JA’s approach to unearthing entrepreneurial talent on the continent. Since 2018, the foundation has supported JA Africa’s Company Program and Company of the Year Competition and, with this new partnership, is investing in making JA DEEP more accessible to benefit youth in Francophone Africa.
“We are very excited to join forces again with JA Africa to inspire entrepreneurship and open new professional horizons to the youth of Francophone Africa at a scale never reached before thanks to digitization. JA shows the way toward innovation and technology that should be at the heart of all African policies.” said Mrs. Gu, founder of Tomorrow Foundation.
Simi Nwogugu, JA Africa’s CEO said, “We have seen tremendous success stories come out of our Anglophone countries, with JA alumni building unicorn businesses that go on to create thousands of jobs. We are excited to bring this opportunity to French-speaking countries in Africa, most of whom have been left out of participating in the digital economy. We are grateful to the Coca-Cola Foundation and the Tomorrow Foundation for making this possible.”
For over 40 years, JA Africa has delivered hands-on, immersive learning in work readiness, financial health, entrepreneurship, sustainability, STEM, economics, citizenship, ethics, and more. JA Africa’s mission is to inspire and prepare Africa’s youth for success in the global economy.
About JA Africa
As one of Africa’s largest and most-impactful youth-serving NGOs, JA Africa has a presence in 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and collectively reaches over 300,000 youth in more than 3,000 schools each year. JA Africa works in Côte d’Ivoire, Eswatini, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Visit ja-africa.org for details.
About The Coca-Cola Foundation
The Coca-Cola Foundation is the global philanthropic arm of The Coca-Cola Company. Since its inception in 1984, the Foundation has awarded more than $1 billion in grants to support sustainable community initiatives around the world. For more information about The Coca-Cola Foundation, please go to www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/foundation_coke.html
About Tomorrow Foundation
Tomorrow Foundation supports African development. They harness technology and bring the most useful techniques and technologies affordably to all Africans to improve their living standards and boost the economies of African countries.
