Citi Bank Sandton awards young entrepreneurs Company of the Year

Twelve high school youngsters have been celebrated for their entrepreneurial skills during Junior Achievement South Africa and Citi Bank’s Company of the Year awards.

From 9 July, one team, consisting of two children, from each province were invited to Johannesburg to participate in workshops to grow their business skills. The teams also had an opportunity to present their business to a panel of judges. From there, five teams are selected to present their business at a final awards ceremony at Citi Bank in Sandton.

However, this year the competition was stiff and the judges decided to select six teams for the award ceremony. Gugulethu Ngwenyama and Amohelang Molefi from McAuley House walked away with the prestigious award which includes R5 000 for their school and a trip to Ghana to compete in the Junior Achiever Africa Regional Company of the Year competition taking place in December.

Dolly Mokgatle, a board member of Junior Achievement South Africa said, “The greatest achievement anyone can have is having creativity and nurturing that creativity and applying it.”

Nelly Mofokeng, the managing director of Junior Achievement South Africa said that the experiential entrepreneurship programmes help bridge the gap from ideas to execution at a young age. “It’s essential for our youth to be introduced to the world of work and sustainable business at an early age, and the creative business ideas put forward at this year’s Company of the Year competition are a testament to the success of our programmes.”

The judges of the panel were all graduates of the Junior Achievement programme and thus understand what is required to pursue entrepreneurship. Vumile Msweli, the keynote speaker for the evening, won the Company of the Year award seventeen years ago.

“The seed that was planted seventeen years ago came to fruition when I opened my own company. Do not ever look down on small beginnings, this was just seventeen years ago, imagine where you will be… the reason why you have made it this far is because you’re committed, not only to your education but to the expansion of your own skill set – don’t stop committing,” concluded Msweli.

Details: Junior Achievement South Africa 011 331 3150.

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