Young Entrepreneurs Lead the Way at JA Africa’s 15th Company of the Year Competition
December 8, 2025
At JA Africa’s 15th Company of the Year Competition (COY), held in Abuja, Nigeria, student entrepreneurs from eight countries stepped onto the continental stage with a shared mission to ACT: Action for Climate Transformation. Their ventures reflected confidence, innovation, and purpose as they tackled climate challenges across energy, waste, agriculture, and sustainability.
Throughout the competition, teams combined powerful storytelling with practical problem-solving, reminding us that Africa’s young people aren’t waiting for climate solutions. They’re building them. Every pitch showed what’s possible when creativity meets courage, and when young leaders are given the space to turn ideas into action. JA Africa’s 2025 finalists proved that the future of climate action is already taking shape in the capable hands of Africa’s youth.
Meet the JA Africa Student Companies
Eswatini: Kwakhanya Plant IQ’s solar-powered, AI-enabled irrigation system supports climate-smart agriculture by conserving water and improving crop yields.
Mauritius: Plantura generates cleaner indoor environments with its plant-based air purification system enhanced with smart sensors, housed in a 3D-printed, eco-friendly casing.
Rwanda: AGROHAVEN, an IoT-powered aeroponics solution grows vegetables without soil while purifying indoor air and tackling food insecurity and environmental health.
Uganda: Renewablock transforms plastic waste into durable construction blocks, promoting recycling, reducing pollution, and supporting green construction.
Ghana: Xero Labs transforms harmful carbon soot from vehicle exhaust into high-quality ink, turning pollution into a sustainable product line.
Nigeria: SMARTGENIX’s precision agriculture drone reduces costs, saves time and labor, and enhances climate action through sustainable, efficient farming practices.
South Africa: Green Earth’s portable, 3D-printed Solar Pouch solar charger provides clean energy and offers affordable, renewable power access.
Zambia: Suncool Solution created a portable solar-powered cooler designed for clinics, hospitals, and pharmacies to keep medications and vaccines cool in hot weather.
The Competition
The JA Africa COY competition unfolds across four distinct phases:
Company Report: Before arriving at the event, each team prepares and submits a written report that captures the core of their venture, outlining its operations, performance, and overall business story.
Stage Pitches: During the pitch round, students present their companies to a judging panel made up of leaders from both local and international organizations. This segment allows teams to highlight their achievements, discuss obstacles they’ve encountered, and showcase how their venture has grown. JA continually raises expectations each year to motivate students to reach higher levels of professionalism.
Trade Booth: At their booths, teams display and demonstrate their products directly to judges, who ask about everything from the problem the product addresses to how it works and the audiences it serves.
Board Room: This final stage mirrors a real-world business review. Judges take a deep dive into company performance, ask detailed questions, and challenge student leaders to articulate what drove their results, what they learned, and how they would apply those lessons in future ventures.
The Awards
The Delta Air Lines Girls LEAD! Award recognized exceptional leadership, resilience, teamwork, and confidence among young women participating in the JA Company Program. This year’s honorees represented five countries:
Ekukhanyeni High School, Eswatini 🇸🇿
Loreto College St Pierre, Mauritius 🇲🇺
Rwanda Coding Academy, Rwanda 🇷🇼
Matero Girls Secondary School, Zambia 🇿🇲
Aga Khan High School Kampala, Uganda 🇺🇬
Award recipients earned a place at the Delta Air Lines LEAD Camp in Ghana in March 2026 for mentorship, leadership training, and personal development. After completing the camp, they’ll join the 10 Million African Girls Community, giving them access to additional opportunities that will support their future growth.
The EO Rising Leader Award recognizes initiative, resilience, and a founder mindset.
Winner: Ameydee Chocken of Plantura from Loreto College St. Pierre, Mauritius.
The Bank of America Best Financial Performance Award recognizes the student company that demonstrates excellence in financial strategy, revenue management, and business sustainability.
Winner: Renewablock from Aga Khan High School from Kampala, Uganda
The Boeing Sustainable Innovation Award celebrates the student company that best demonstrates a commitment to environmental sustainability through innovation.
Winner: XeroLabs from Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School, Ghana
The FirstBank CEO Entrepreneurship Award recognizes the JA student company that best demonstrates entrepreneurial vision, financial discipline, growth potential, strong commercial readiness, and leadership depth.
Winner: Plantura
The Kuda Young Entrepreneurs Award honors a tech-driven approach to climate resilience and digital entrepreneurship.
Winner: Kwakhanya PlantIQ from Ekukhanyeni High School, Eswatini
The PMIEF Best Application of Project Management Award recognizes excellence in project management.
Winner: Kwakhanya PlantIQ
The FedEx Global Possibilities Award honors the JA student company that best demonstrates innovation, global access, sustainability, and social responsibility.
Winner: XeroLabs
Company of the Year
Third place: Renewablock from Aga Khan High School Kampala, Uganda secured third place with their groundbreaking waste-to-construction innovation. Their approach demonstrated how climate action can create both economic and community value.
Second place: Plantura from Loreto College St Pierre, Mauritius earned second place with a sustainability-focused innovation that blended environmental impact with strong entrepreneurial execution. Their creativity and leadership stood out on the continental stage.
First Place, JA Africa Company of the Year: SmartGenix from Darul Noor by Intercontinental Schools, Nigeria captured the top honor at Africa COY 2025. Their venture reflected innovation, teamwork, leadership, and business excellence, bringing this year’s theme to life. SmartGenix showed how youth-led enterprises can build scalable solutions with measurable real-world impact.
As the JA Africa Company of the Year, SmartGenix will go on to compete for the 2026 De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award alongside regional champions Zester (JA Hong Kong SAR—China) from JA Asia Pacific, VerifyID (JA Denmark) from JA Europe, InnovaQuest (JA of Southeastern Pennsylvania) from Junior Achievement USA, EcoRock (INJAZ Palestine) from INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA, and SackyJA (JA Ecuador) from JA Americas.