Z Zurich Foundation (ZZF) announced today\u2014International Youth Day\u2014that it will partner with JA Worldwide and JA Africa, building on relationships already established with JA Canada and Junior Achievement Espa\u00f1a (JA Spain). ZZF has made a strategic decision to venture and fund Africa, and has chosen us, Africa\u2019s largest and most-impactful youth-serving NGO, JA Africa, as their implementing partner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This three-year partnership will enable thousands of youth to access JA programs to set them on the path to success, not just as individuals but as leaders who will influence positive change within their communities. The partnership will also enable JA Africa to expand existing operations in four countries, and launch operations in five new countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the African Development Bank, each year, 10 to 12 million African students finish their education and compete for three million jobs, resulting in sub-Saharan African youth becoming entrepreneurs by necessity, not by choice. The ZZF-JA partnership empowers young people in Africa to succeed as both innovative job creators and well-qualified job seekers, following the path best suited to their economic realities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe partnership integrates the education and economic ecosystems of the countries in which we work,\u201d said JA Worldwide CEO Asheesh Advani, \u201cleading to long-term sustainability. Over the course of the next three years, this partnership will impact the lives of more than 550,000 young people across nine countries\u2014Burkina Faso, Congo, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda\u2014resulting in greater capacity in four current JA Africa countries and brand-new operations in five more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gr\u00e9gory Renand, Head of Z Zurich Foundation, agreed. \u201cJA is best known for utilizing volunteers to deliver educational experiences. We are very proud of this new partnership, delivering interventions and skill-based expertise with the aim to create brighter futures in Africa, building on impactful programs we\u2019ve already built with JA around the world. The Z Zurich Foundation\u2019s expertise on social equity and mental well-being nicely complements JA\u2019s track record in building resilience and self-efficacy in more than 12 million young people every year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
JA Africa CEO, Simi Nwogugu, has led efforts in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa for more than 25 years. \u201cMany young Africans are entrepreneurial by nature,\u201d she said, \u201cbut may be limited in their ability to develop solutions to the challenges around them and capture value from those solutions. The ZZF-JA partnership will help African youth develop the resilience, problem solving and design-thinking skills, and mental well-being they need to understand the complex problems in the region and design sustainable solutions, and mentorship will play an important role.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cExposing Africa youth to Zurich Insurance Group employees as global mentors,\u201d Nwogugu continued, \u201cas well as to JA Africa alumni and role models such as Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, who has founded not one but two unicorns in Nigeria, will help build the critical social skills and confidence necessary to validate their ideas and communicate them to a global audience of funders and clients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The announcement was made today at an event through which members of African media were able to ask questions, with a special interest in scaling and fast-tracking entrepreneurship education in Africa. The panelists noted that Z Zurich Foundation, JA Worldwide, JA Africa, and JA member countries in Africa are working to create a new breed of partnership that develops an ecosystem of role models and mentors, who work with youth through a mix of high-tech digital learning experiences; low-tech options like television, radio, and podcasts; and face-toface experiences. Then, after students graduate, regional and local vehicles that either match students with employers or help youth launch businesses through incubators and seed grants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor Africa to be successful as a continent,\u201d said Nwogugu, \u201call our youth need access to immersive education that leads to economic success. Through this partnership, we\u2019ll create entrepreneurship ecosystems that work together to fuel young Africans to become changemakers, creating businesses that solve the continent\u2019s challenges with climate change, food shortages, and inadequate infrastructures for health and education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About JA Worldwide <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As one of the world\u2019s largest and most-impactful youth-serving NGOs, JA Worldwide delivers hands on, immersive learning in work readiness, financial health, entrepreneurship, sustainability, STEM, economics, citizenship, ethics, and more. Reaching more than 12 million young people each year through over 400,000 teachers and business volunteers, JA Worldwide is one of few organizations with the scale, experience, and passion to build a boundless future for the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders. Visit us at jaworldwide.org.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n About JA Africa<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n As one of the Africa\u2019s 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 C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, Eswatini, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Visit jaafrica.org for details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n About Z Zurich Foundation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Z Zurich Foundation works alongside Zurich Insurance Group employees and other stakeholders as well as with governments and NGOs in pursuit of a future where people can thrive in the face of increasing climate hazards, where those of us feeling the stresses of life are empowered to speak up, and where the marginalized in our society can reach their full potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Z Zurich Foundation is a Swiss-based charitable foundation established by members of the Zurich Insurance Group. It is the main vehicle by which Zurich Insurance Group delivers on its global community investment strategy. Visit the Z Zurich Foundation\u2019s website to learn more about its work: https:\/\/zurich.foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Contact <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mujeni Aseli <\/p>\n\n\n\n Director, Marketing and Partnerships <\/p>\n\n\n\n JA Africa <\/p>\n\n\n\n mujeni.aseli@cms.ja-africa.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Z Zurich Foundation (ZZF) announced today\u2014International Youth Day\u2014that it will partner with JA Worldwide and JA Africa, building on relationships already established with JA Canada and Junior Achievement Espa\u00f1a (JA Spain). ZZF has made a strategic decision to venture and fund Africa, and has chosen us, Africa\u2019s largest and most-impactful youth-serving NGO, JA Africa, as …<\/p>\n