Mastercard partners JA Nigeria to empower young entrepreneurs
Leading digital payment solutions provider, Mastercard, has partnered with Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) to provide a series of programmes that will enhance school students and young adults in Nigeria with essential skills to bridge the digital and financial literacy gap and prepare them for future success as digital entrepreneurs.
Leveraging the expertise of Mastercard employee volunteers, the partnership with JAN will inspire young adults across Nigeria through three unique activations.
The partnership will help young girls to build the skills they need in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math program (STEM), become problem solvers and leaders of tomorrow, thereby expanding the employment pool for women STEM professionals in the future.
JAN Company Programme teaches senior secondary level students how to start and run their own business, develop a product or service, and market their brands. Mastercard employees will volunteer as mentors to the six finalist teams (companies) who emerged from JAN’s Virtual Company of the Year competition, by helping them refine their business proposals as they compete for the National Company of the Year Award.
Mastercard and JAN will educate over 200 young adults on the future of payments in Nigeria. Participants will range from senior secondary students to National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members. This session will enlighten the next generation on their role in building and driving the digital economy through technology.
Speaking about the partnership, the Director Marketing and Communications, Sub-Saharan Africa, Mastercard, Ifeoma Dozie, said: “Creating inclusive, equal opportunities is a key priority for Mastercard. Through this partnership with Junior Achievement Nigeria, we are able to broaden our commitment to Nigeria’s next generation of women leaders and young entrepreneurs. By encouraging students to embrace subjects and mentoring them through challenges that will prepare them to be part of tomorrow’s workforce, we are collaborating to develop a talented supply of skilled professionals to aid the country’s future economy.”
Also commenting on the partnership, the Director of Marketing and Innovation, Junior Achievement Nigeria, Oduolayinka Osunloye, expressed her gratitude to Mastercard, saying that the partnership is a huge step in achieving JAN’s vision of developing 1 million digital entrepreneurs over the next five years.
Her words: “We are very pleased to be partnering with Mastercard to develop young digital entrepreneurs. It took us 20 years to reach our first million students, but with technology and the support of organizations like Mastercard, we are determined to equip and empower another million digital entrepreneurs over the next five years. We are certain our efforts will help our beneficiaries own their economic future, as JAN is committed, more than ever to build conscientious business leaders leading a vibrant economy.”
JAN is part of Junior Achievement Worldwide, the world’s oldest and largest non-profit economic education organization operating in 120 countries.
Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) delivers practical, experiential hands-on programs under the three pillars of financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship to young people between the ages of 5 and 27. In addition to its own original, home-grown programs designed to meet the unique needs of Nigerian youth, JAN also has access to hundreds of JA programs and initiatives, tried and tested in several countries around the world, which are facing the same issues of developing youth that can compete globally in the 21st Century and beyond.
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