{"id":5389,"date":"2020-09-25T16:00:46","date_gmt":"2020-09-25T16:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/?p=5389"},"modified":"2026-01-15T12:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T12:32:11","slug":"ja-africa-appoints-simi-nwogugu-as-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/ja-africa-appoints-simi-nwogugu-as-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"JA Africa Appoints Simi Nwogugu as CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Accra, Ghana\u2014September 25, 2020:<\/strong> The Board of Directors of JA Africa has announced the appointment of Simi Nwogugu as the new Chief Executive Officer of JA Africa, effective November 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Nwogugu brings to her new role valuable entrepreneurship and consulting knowledge and 23 years of experience at JA\u2014including as a volunteer, board member and executive director of JA Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As CEO of JA Africa, Simi will provide leadership and strategic execution for JA\u2019s youth development agenda in Africa. She will drive JA\u2019s regional initiatives and programs, including the organisation\u2019s expansion into new markets, while securing the partnerships and resources needed for JA\u2019s education and digital skills development programs on the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reacting to her appointment, Simi acknowledged that \u201cthe new role offers me an exciting opportunity to work more closely with colleagues on the continent as we deepen and expand JA\u2019s mission of empowering young Africans for a successful future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am grateful to the JA Africa and JA Worldwide board of directors for entrusting me with this responsibility. I look forward to working with stakeholders and partners to make their vision a reality,\u201d she remarked, stating that JA invests in and believes strongly in Africa\u2019s youth development, as it seeks to contribute to achieving the Global Goals (SDGs) on the continent. \u201cIt is my goal to increase the impact of our work to significantly reduce youth unemployment and poverty across the continent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A graduate of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts and Harvard Business School, Nwogugu is a Goldman Sachs alumna. She also holds a professional certificate in Organizational and Executive Coaching from New York University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born and raised in Nigeria, Simi helped bring JA to the country in 1999. JA Nigeria has since grown to become one of the strongest JA member countries in Africa, reaching 1 million youth across Africa\u2019s most populous nation. In recent years, JA Nigeria has been particularly focused on communities in northern Nigeria, especially youth displaced by the Boko Haram crisis. Read more about Simi\u2019s career and JAN\u2019s impact at jaworldwide.org\/news\/simi-nwogugu-appointed-ja-africa-ceo<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JA Africa Board Chair, Charles Olumuyiwa Moyela said, \u201cSimi\u2019s appointment as CEO of JA Africa is timely and heralds a new era of growth and accelerated development for JA in Africa. She comes well prepared for the tasks ahead and is poised to scale up and surpass the laudable accomplishments of the JA Nigeria team, which she led passionately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs the lingering aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic begins to redefine the global landscape and opportunity space for jobs and work, Simi\u2019s leadership, energy, vision and partnership credentials will be pivotal to the delivery of JA\u2019s work readiness, financial literacy and entrepreneurship offerings to Africa\u2019s fast-growing youth population,\u201d Moyela further remarked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The JA Africa network currently spans 14 countries, namely, Botswana, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, eSwatini, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. JA programs and activities in The Gambia, Mozambique, Namibia, and Rwanda are scheduled to be flagged off in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asheesh Advani, CEO of JA Worldwide, sees Simi as a natural fit in her new role. \u201cJA helps prepare entrepreneurial leaders for the global economy. Simi is a leader of leaders with a proven track record of serving the youth of Nigeria, and we are delighted to have her join the Senior Leadership Team of JA Worldwide and oversee JA Africa,\u201d Advani said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JA, one of the leading global nonprofit organizations serving youth, which marked its 100th<\/sup> year anniversary in 2019, reaches over 250,000 African youth each year, equipping Africa\u2019s fast expanding youth population with the knowledge and skills required to start their own businesses, succeed in the global job market, and make sound financial decisions as adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JA\u2019s mandate in Africa, and globally, aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDGs 4, 8 and 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About JA Africa<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit: www.ja-africa.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About JA Worldwide<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit: www.jaworldwide.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For further enquiries, contact:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senanu Adiku<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marketing and Communications Officer, JA Africa<\/p>\n\n\n\n

+233 577 680 373<\/p>\n\n\n\n

senanu.adiku@ja-africa.org<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Accra, Ghana\u2014September 25, 2020: The Board of Directors of JA Africa has announced the appointment of Simi Nwogugu as the new Chief Executive Officer of JA Africa, effective November 2020. Mrs. Nwogugu brings to her new role valuable entrepreneurship and consulting knowledge and 23 years of experience at JA\u2014including as a volunteer, board member and …<\/p>\n

JA Africa Appoints Simi Nwogugu as CEO<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":{"featured_alumni_video":"","year":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/simi.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5389"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10244,"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5389\/revisions\/10244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.ja-africa.org\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}