Sasol partners Junior Achievement Nigeria to empower 300 youth in Lagos

Junior Achievement Nigeria has collaborated with Sasol Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited to empower 300 out-of-school youth in Lagos through Junior Achievement’s Immersion Training Strategy: Targeting Young Marginalized Entrepreneurs (JA ITS TYME) program.

The JA ITS TYME curriculum delivered by staff and volunteers of Junior Achievement Nigeria is designed to provide basic business education to out-of-school youth through a variety of hands-on activities and supplements supporting a diverse range of learners. During the program, which will span through the period of one year, participants will have the liberty to select any skill from a wide range of options provided by the Lagos State Skill Acquisition Centre, Mushin, Lagos State.

Speaking on the program Ade Sofola, director of programs, JAN said “Junior Achievement Nigeria is excited to partner with Sasol to develop young people in Lagos. Nigeria faces the challenge of economic development occurring on the macro level in GDP figures, which often does not translate to the micro level in reduction of poverty and better economic reality for her citizens. With this program, we have created a tripod of support between Lagos state government who have identified the young people who will benefit from the program; Sasol who has kindly funded and supported the delivery of the program and ourselves at JAN who will deliver our innovative JA ITS TYME training to the young people.”

Toyin Cameron, public officer, Sasol said “Sasol strives to engage, collaborate and partner with established foundations like JAN in order to deliver credible skills enhancement solutions for Nigerian youths. Through the Immersion Training Strategy: Targeting Marginalized Entrepreneurs (ITS TYME) initiative, in partnership with Junior Achievement of Nigeria (JAN), Sasol will aim to achieve the transfer of tangible, marketable and sustainable skills to 300 Nigerian youth in Lagos, Nigeria in line with supporting other initiatives geared at improving the social and economic wellbeing of these youth.”

Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) is part of Junior Achievement Worldwide (JAWW), the world’s largest and fastest-growing non-profit economic education organization with a 121-country network. Since inception in 1999, JAN has reached over 690,000 students in over 1,000 schools in 29 locations across the country with the support of 2000 volunteers. Junior Achievement operations in Nigeria are governed and financed by its board of directors which include Accenture, Agile Communications, Channels Television, Citibank, The Dangote Group, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, FirstBank of Nigeria, Google, Oracle, Schlumberger and Stanbic IBTC. As part of a global network, JAN is able to leverage resources and expertise to deliver localized cutting-edge experiential programs built on JAWW’s three pillars of work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy, to in- and out-of-school youth ages 5 to 27 free of charge.

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE