By Kingsley Samuel
Junior Achievement, JA, Africa has announced a major milestone in youth empowerment across the continent, delivering more than 1.6 million learning experiences in the 2025 fiscal year and achieving a twelve-fold increase in impact over the past five years.
The organisation disclosed this in its FY2025 Annual Impact Report, which highlighted significant growth in entrepreneurship, financial literacy, work readiness, STEM education, and sustainability programmes across 23 African countries.
According to the report, JA Africa delivered 1,637,137 learning experiences during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, compared to 131,260 experiences recorded in FY2021.
The organisation also revealed that it has provided a cumulative 4.27 million learning experiences over the past five years, making it the fastest-growing region within the global JA Worldwide network.
Speaking on the achievement, President and Chief Executive Officer of JA Africa, Simi Nwogugu, said the organisation’s focus had always been on creating meaningful impact rather than simply expanding its reach.”Scale was never the goal in itself; impact was. What stands out most is not only how much we have grown, but how intentionally we have grown,” Nwogugu stated.
She explained that the FY2025 report marks the conclusion of JA Africa’s five-year “Boundless” strategic plan, developed in partnership with Accenture and built around four key pillars: accelerating digital transformation, empowering underserved communities, cultivating strategic partnerships, and strengthening institutional capacity.
According to her, the strategy enabled the organisation to expand from operating in 12 countries and delivering about 200,000 learning experiences annually to reaching more than 1.5 million young people across 23 countries.One of the report’s most notable achievements was the success of the Social Equity Program, SEP, supported by the Z Zurich Foundation.
The programme surpassed all its targets during the year, reaching 53,970 young people who were not in education, employment, or training across seven African countries, representing 115 per cent of its target.JA Africa also reported conducting 476 bootcamps under the programme, more than double its initial projection.
The impact extended beyond training, with 554 participants launching social enterprises focused on tackling challenges such as climate change, water scarcity, malnutrition and waste management.In addition, 1,006 graduates secured employment within six months of completing the programme, while 521 jobs were created through SEP-supported businesses.
The report further showed that participants designed 3,618 social impact projects aimed at addressing community development challenges.
In Burkina Faso, the organisation strengthened its collaboration with government institutions through a three-year partnership agreement with the Ministry of Youth and Entrepreneurship Promotion, a move expected to enhance national youth empowerment efforts.
JA Africa’s Digital Entrepreneurship Education Program (JA DEEP), implemented with support from the Citi Foundation and later strengthened by the Z Zurich Foundation, also recorded its highest participation level to date.
The programme enrolled 66,546 participants who completed its core entrepreneurship modules during the fiscal year.
More than half of the beneficiaries were women, while over 2,000 participants progressed to business pitching opportunities, internships, or apprenticeship placements.
Highlighting one of the programme’s success stories, JA Africa cited the example of Tanzanian entrepreneur Mohammed Salim Suleiman, who leveraged the skills gained through JA DEEP to launch Akili Hub LMS, a digital learning platform for secondary school students.
The innovation later earned him a place in the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship 2025.JA Africa attributed its growth and impact to the support of its institutional partners and donors.
The organisation expressed appreciation to the Z Zurich Foundation, ExxonMobil Foundation, Prudence Foundation, Project Management Institute Educational Foundation, Delta Air Lines, Boeing, FedEx, Johnson & Johnson, and the Citi Foundation for their continued investment in youth development across Africa.
JA Africa also paid special tribute to the Citi Foundation as both organisations celebrate three decades of partnership focused on entrepreneurship and economic empowerment.”
To every partner, donor, volunteer, teacher, and government institution who has stood with us, thank you. You are not just funding programmes.
You are investing in the architects of Africa’s future,” the organisation stated.
