Junior Achievement South Africa and Investec launch the Junior Innovators Competition
JA South Africa and Investec are proud to announce the launch of the Junior Innovators Competition. The competition is aimed at rewarding one winner with entrepreneurship potential and characteristics. The competition is open to all grade 10 and 11 learners participating in JASA’s Mini Enterprise or Entrepreneurship Academy programmes during 2012.
The first round of the competition will take place from 15 May to 9 August 2012 and entrants will be required to complete a comprehensive application form, collect letters of motivation from community leaders and identify a socially innovative business concept to enter the competition. From these entries the top 45 candidates will be selected from across the country, these finalists will be invited to participate in the final, in Johannesburg. “Not only does this competition aim to reward the highest scoring entrepreneur, it also aims at getting our youth to identify sustainable business ideas that positively impacts their immediate community’s. We look forward to seeing what concepts the learners come up with. There will also be bi-weekly sms competitions during the first round and learners must be prepared to answer some tough questions, the prizes make it well worth it,” stated Namhla Saba from Investec.
The final will be held at Investec’s Sandton offices over four days from Sunday 30 September to Thursday 4 October 2012. Investec is sponsoring this all expenses-paid competition that includes meals, refreshments and accommodation for the finalists. During these four days, finalists will be mentored by various Investec and JASA staff to develop their business concept into a feasible business plan, this business plan will then be presented to a panel of judges (all of whom will be successful entrepreneurs) on the final day. The event will culminate in an awards event on the final evening. The winner of the Junior Innovators competition will be awarded R60 000 towards either the start-up of their business or their tertiary education.
