Delta Air Lines and Junior Achievement (JA) Africa have renewed their partnership to advance business and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education among young people in Africa.
JA Africa is one of Africa’s largest and most impactful youth-serving non-governmental organisations delivering hands-on, immersive learning in work, financial health, entrepreneurship, sustainability, STEM, economics, citizenship and ethics.
As part of its partnership with JA Africa, the airline will present the Delta Social Impact Award at JA Africa’s flagship Company of the Year Competition, taking place in Lagos, Nigeria from December 7-9, 2022.
The event is the culmination of a year’s work for the young participants from Ghana, Eswatini, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, who have created and run their own businesses over the past academic year as part of the JA Company Programme.
Nicolas Ferri, Delta’s Vice President Europe, Middle East, Africa and India, commenting on the partnership said “As the next generation of business leaders – and global travellers – we work with Junior Achievement across the globe to facilitate education programmes for young people.”
“We have seen the positive impact of this work here in Africa and look forward to continuing our partnership as we support the next generation to meet their full educational potential and move into meaningful employment,” he said.
Mr Ferri said in the next 12 months, Delta would also sponsor JA Africa’s STEM innovation camps for 50 school children each in Accra and Dakar – two of the cities from where the airline flies nonstop to the United States.
The one-day camp, he said, was to encourage creativity, critical thinking, teamwork and problem solving as young people must put forward solutions to solve a specific business challenge.
“Colleagues from Delta will be on-hand to support JA Africa’s team and provide coaching and mentoring to the students throughout the day,” stated Mr Ferri.
Simi Nwogugu, Chief Executive Officer of JA Africa, said “We are honoured to have Delta Air Lines as a long-standing partner. Their sponsorship for JA Africa’s 2022 Company of the Year Competition, through the Social Impact Award, will encourage our young entrepreneurs to use innovative approaches to solving societal issues. This grant will also support Innovation Camps in Ghana and Senegal which provides a forum for our students to work in groups to address real-life business challenges. These programmes give our students the exposure and skilling they need to thrive in the 21st century workforce.”
The CEO said Junior Achievement Africa, part of JA Worldwide, is one of Africa’s largest organisations working on youth economic empowerment, adding that Delta supported 32 JA chapters across five continents to teach students about financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship.
JA Africa, the CEO said had a presence in 13 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and collectively reaches more than 300,000 young people and more than 3000 schools every year and works in Côte d’Ivoire, Eswatini, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe with a goal to secure better lives for the young, their families, and their communities.
BY TIMES REPORTER