JA Namibia has an amazing story to tell us all. It is about a JA Achiever in Namibia who owns his own shop in Rundu in the North-East of Namibia. His name is Romanus Sipilikita. In 2007 he received an award and prize money from Namibia Beverages for being the Top Marketing Manager in the JA Company Program.

Romanus took up a job at a photo studio, made lots of money for the owner and decided to start his own photo studio early this year. He got a loan from First National Bank, bought equipment, rented a shop, and employs three people. He has repaid his first loan to the bank and received another loan of N$67,000 to diversify his business. He has also taken in a partner in his business.

Romanus has now become a business volunteer for JA Namibia. He travels a lot in the region to reach financial success in his photo studio.

JA Namibia is so proud of his success!

Amon was awarded National Top Achiever for his innovative business idea during 2004. He was the chair person of their JA Com- pany at the school that produced gift baskets made from recycled material. He then de- cided but he can also start his own company at the school. One day on our way to Job Shadow day Amon mentioned to me that JA has changed his life completely.

I enquired and found this amazing story which lead to a commercially viable busi- ness. Amon took the innovative idea to start a school’s newspaper at his school. He bor- rowed his uncle’s computer to compile the paper and reproduced a hundred copies twice a week.

The paper had all at school in state of sur- prise. He had these four to six page flyer type of newspaper about what was happening on the school grounds and it was sold out within 10 minutes of arrival. He employed two scholars to sell the paper at N$2-00 a copy. The exact same price a daily would fetch. Nobody complained about the prize. He made so much money that he could save a substan- tial amount for the next year’s college fees. When he completed high school he ap- proached the country director and asked for assistance and advice on how to continue with the newspaper on a regular basis and in colour copy.

Amon had his projections ready on request and we discussed on how to move on with the newspaper. His target market remained stu- dents. Today he distributes country wide with a reader number of 40 000 learners/students.

The advertisements in the paper takes care of the printing costs and the paper as from July 1, 2006 is distributed free to schools. Amon is the managing director and he is still the quiet young man he was at school, trying not to overspend on operations.

He sometimes says to me he never knew that real business was so tough but he further states that if he not been involved in JA he would never have gained the knowledge and experience he has now.

Amon has taken JA programs a step further and has become an active JA volunteer to in- spire others to realize their dreams like him. He supports his previous school in the JA Company program and Business Ethics and another school in the Company Program. We thank Achievers like Amon.

Andreas Mukoroli, a grade 12 learner from the Romanus Kamunoko Secondary School in Rundu, in the Kavango region is the Man- aging Director of the Lil-Amp Compu Lab. Andreas and his team of shareholders col- lected and saved money for a period of three months to have enough money to start and run their business. The plan was in place but the biggest obstacle was the start-up capital. They wanted to establish a computer lab where learners from their school can come and take computer literacy classes. The idea was to allow learners during non- examinable classes to utilize the lab and strengthen their extra curricular knowledge.

It was wonderful to learn from this JA Com- pany. It shows that the learners are taking charge of their own destiny but educating themselves. This is the most outstanding ef- fort that we have come across in 2006. The 540 learners in the school have all signed up for lessons at N$20 per month. Andreas and his team secured second hand computers and upgraded the hard drives to be compatible with the pro- grams that they bought for their operations. They did not have the know-how on how to teach the skills. They advertised and inter- viewed 8 applicants for the position of com- puter lab assistant/tutor. The assist is paid from the income that the company gets in

The management team employed a secu- rity guard and a cleaner. The security guard takes care of their valuable equip- ment after hours and over weekends. When asked about their company re- cords, they proudly announced that all the records are stored in their computers and they learned how to put it in Excel spread sheets. The tutor is a University of Namibia graduate. What is amazing is that they are not out of school yet and they are already combating unemploy- ment in Namibia.

Proud recipient of a Continental Award for outstanding leadership on a media project at the LEAD Camp in Lagos, Nigeria, Monica Konghola says that learning from role models is the ultimate inspiration she experienced in her life. Her leadership abilities improved tre- mendously by being involved in JA programs. She had been nominated by her JA company peers, to serve as the Managing Director of A. Shipena Internet Café at her school.

The internet café was established by the JA company shareholders realizing that they have unutilized computers on their premises. The underutilization of the computers mainly stemmed from the unavailability of computer science teachers at their school. Her entrepre- neurial spirit inspired by the JA company pro- cedures and principles, changed the situation to a profitable internet café in the area four suburbs without such facilities.

Under Monica’s leadership the team diversified their operations to include “hot dog” and “video” days. The diversification added value to their profit margins and allowed them to improve the interior of the café and their office by redecoration. Monica speaks regularly as a motivational speaker at Youth Events trying to encourage her peers not to despair.

Opportunity Ads is an advertising, marketing, promotion and learning company. It was founded in February 2007 and managed by a group of learners from A. Shipena Secondary School in Windhoek. They researched the idea of having a flyer with adverts for SMEs supported by corporate adverts and sold at a lower rate to SMEs making it affordable for their target market. The idea resulted from a survey that we conducted in theirs community.

The responses from the community were quite positive and they tried by all means to execute the idea. They sold shares to get collect start-up capital. The management team negotiated a printing sponsorship with Capital Press, a local printing company. Opportunity Ads distributed copies free to the community.

The main aim of the business is to cater for advertising needs that are not freely available in the community where the shareholders live. The company provides a reliable platform to improve market share for businesses, SME’s and individuals.

The business does not only provide advertising but it also offers services and products like business cards, typing of Resume’s, Certificates, Programs, Invitation cards and operating a school tuck- shop.

Opportunity Ads have been hard at work gearing itself to take on the advertising challenges by introducing a new service in their community.

During the financial year 2007, the business recorded a net profit before tax of N$2,235.00. The company declared 30% on the value of individual shareholders as dividends. The company paid tax amounting to N$400 to the school where they operated the business. The wages and commission per learner was N$240 and the total dividends paid to shareholders were N$155.00.
This year we are aiming at a higher return and they are ready to achieve greater results.

The company scooped up the following awards for their operations in 2007.

• The Top business Idea
• Top JA Company in the Junior Achievement Namibia’s
• Some individuals were awarded with Trophies and Certificates and this includes
• Top Achiever in the male section,
• Top communicator,
• Top Marketing Manager and
• Top Regional Achiever.

The learning experience urged the management team to open small shops at home to provide a service to the streets in which they live, which is not close to a shopping mall.

The company existed for three years and has been successfull. They specialised in event management. They had three top achievers in the regions with whom they were competing.

Twapunikwa, in short known as Puniko, was the driving force behind all the events at their company. They have an office at the school and they proudly showed it off to the Country Director. She also presented their company (Erundu Junior Traders) and how JA has changed her life with the social responsibility committee of Nedbank Namibia securing N$100 000 with her input.

When not busy with events the team tutor learners with learning difficulties assisting them to better cope with mathematics, economics and the English language. English because they live in an area where people only started to speak English 15 years. The Junior Primary classes are still taught in the indigenous languages.

Tuqa’s father is a medical practitioner in the town where they operate. Asking her whether she wants to be an entrepreneur one day she says no, she is going to be a medical practitioner like her father but she is enjoying JA so much she does not want to be excluded from the activities of the Erundu Junior Traders at her shool, Erundu Secondary School.

UNAM VISUAL ARTS DEPARTMENT JA STUDENT COMPANY
Breshnev Handura, a Visual Arts student at UNAM was awarded top entrepreneurial student for 2003 by his fellow students, the Programs Manager, and their business volunteer, Mrs. Elize Fahl. He earned this accolade through his special entrepreneurial skills portrayed during the running of the Coctale Company at the Visual Arts Department.

The arts students realized that they also needed entrepreneurial skills to ensure that they will be able to sell their pieces of art. Breshnev was the Marketing Manager of the group and he made sure that they realized the profit of 800%.

They designed a special logo for Junior Achievement T-shirts. This logo represented Junior Achievement’s triangle with steps and how one should help the other to come out at the top of Mazlow’s pyramid of self-actualisation. The lesson he shared with us that he learned from being involved in a JA company, was that you should be disciplined in everything that you attempt.

He outlined the necessity of selfdiscipline to be successful in what you do. He concluded his time as Marketing Manager at the Coctale company at a high note with a notable profit margin.

Margaret Nashandi, a Grade 12 learner of Suiderlig High School in Keetmanshoop, joined Junior Achievement Company program as the Managing Director. Her company was nominated by the volunteers, coordinator, and Programs Manager as the best entrepreneurial company for 2003.

The company collected remnants of candles in the suburb where they live and melted it down, creating new candles with recycled materials. The candles were brightly coloured with melted down crayons. These students live in an area where electricity is a luxury and candles are the main source of light during night time. This innovative business idea earned them the top company award.

Margaret’s speech at the award ceremony aroused emotion with many high profile business people in attendance. Her confidence while delivering her speech sparked surprise and the audience listened in amazement. She was nominated to attend the Global Women’s Summit in Seoul, Korea.

She was also nominated to represent Namibia at the Continental LEAD Camp in Lagos, Nigeria organized by JA Nigeria.

Twapunikwa who prefers to be called Puniko, attempted to join the JA Company program when she was in grade 7. The principal refused her participation. She negotiated until she was allowed to be an ordinary shareholder of the Erundu Junior Traders at her school. She was not satisfied with being an ordinary share holders and became actively involved with the operations. Her peers saw the ability displayed by this young participant and allowed her to come on board as a management member when she started grade 8.

She attended winter school and displayed presentation abilities that astonished business people at the winter school. During grade 9 and 14 years old, she was chosen to represent her country in Canada at the Canada Conference for JA Company students. Her presentation entailed Namibian Women and Economics. She was supported by local economists to prepare her for the challenge. She traveled to Ottawa, Canada and called the Country Director in Namibia to express her fear of not having enough knowledge on economics to do a good job. We assured her that she is well equipped, she presented and scooped the first prize for her presentation at the conference attended by Achievers from all over the world.

She presented her experiences at different fora and astonished business people with her drive to succeed, confidence and passion for entrepreunial activities. Twapunikwa became the Managing Director at her Mini Company and managed the company as a profitable consern during her term of office. She continued to be involved when she continued her high school career at Etosha Secondary School in Tsumeb. Her school entered a team in the Bank of Namibia’s competition and won the first prize of N$50 000. Born and raised in Oshakati we look forward to where she will end up on the corporate ladder or managing her own business. She received Top Female Achiever award from JA Namibia, Top Managing Director, and Top Communicator awards. She is a results and excellence oriented person who is focussed on success.

Michelle was selected as the Managing Director at her JA Mini company at Academia Secondary School. She served the term of operation as a determined MD who wanted to achieve her targets as agreed on by the management team who presented it to the board of directors meeting early 2007.

During the basic business training, it was feared that her interest would not last long as the MD because it appeared that she had other interests than being a successful entrepreneur. She however, decided that whatever she is going to attempt with her team would be successful. She made her parents proud with this determination and scored Top Female JA Achiever Award at the end of 2007. She had to face challenges like security and team building in business.

She ended her year as the MD of the Gekko JACO with pride having achieved the targets and building a consistent team of managers.

The JA Company (JACO) under her leadership made a turnover of close to N$14 000 at school hav ing t wo days per week during when t hey wou ld sell ‘slap chips.’ The demand was too big to satisf y in prev ious years but she made it work and streamlined t he operations to include enough rations for hungr y learners at her school during break.

She managed the team and operations with meticulousness that would give her that special advantage in the job market.

Lahja Enkali had two other siblings who had to go to university and college when she finished grade 12 at Concordia College. She and her family agreed that her brothers would attend university before her and that she would stay at home for a year or so to find a job. Lahja did not like this situation much but she had to consider the family decision.

She started a small business at her house in which she used her artistic skills, making jewellery to keep herself busy and earn some money. Even though Lahja and her mother had small beginnings in the business, nothing stopped Lahja from applying her skills. She realised she had to learn how to run a business and understand the concepts of making something from nothing. Her mother paid for her first business course. It gave her a better idea of how to market her products.

She heard an advert on the radio about the SLOT programme that Junior Achievment Namibia offered and applied. Lahja’s application and interview were successful and even though the Junior Achievement team took into consideration the fact that she had the opportunity to learn about business previously, she was determined to enter the programme and convinced the team that she would benefit from the training and mentoring. Her business was entered into the Growing up CEO competition of ICIC in Boston, USA and to Lahja’s surprise, she was announced as one of the winners in the competition.

She will be leaving Namibia to present her business to 500 Inner City businesses in Boston amongst young people from all over the world. Lahja is excited as can be and says she is looking forward to attend Harvard Business School Classes, come back and do even better.

She currently attends the Peninsula Technikon (PENTech) in Cape Town where she studies art to improve her skills. What Lahja did is not rocket science, but she has proven that with determination, you can do

Marina van Zyl earned the Top Female Achiever Award in 2005. It was not an easy task taking over from Tertius van Vuuren the previous Managing Director at the Gekko Company. She followed the example that Tertius set and managed the company to be a profitable business once more.

The team, who consisted of girls, were nominated to attend CANJAC, the Canadian Conference for JA Companies in Canada. The team managed to source funding but not enough to be able to travel to Canada. Another tragedy struck a week away from departing to Canada. One of the team members lost her father.

Marina stayed cool through all the challenges they experienced and led her team to victory as Top Company nationally. She comforted her friend and kept her busy in the operations of the company. She performed so well that she was allowed to tell the success story of their company at a cocktail for business people hosted by JA Namibia.

The spirit of Marina supported a successful company although she was a little hesitant in the beginning. She was not only working hard to make a success of the company but she also did not hesitate to discipline her friend who was part of the management team. Marina was an outstanding learner, eager to learn and at the end successful in achieving her goals.

A Shipena Internet CafeThe Shipena Secondary School in Windhoek was one of the first schools that benefited from the JA Company programme. The Junior Achievement members at Shipena realized that computers that had been donated by SchoolNet Namibia were not being utilized to their full potential. Using their newly acquired entrepreneurial skills, the students conducted market research on the best use of their computer lab. Based on their findings, they decided to set up an Internet café at their school that would serve not only Shipena students, but also the general public.

The Shipena Internet Café has become a popular spot for computer users that stream in on a daily basis. Many drop in to send e-mail, chat with friends or do Internet research, while others work to improve their typing skills.

Please also refer to: http://www.usaid.gov/stories/namibia/pc_nm_juniorachievement.html

Marvellous acting as a mentorMarvellous Boois attended Academia Secondary School and is currently studying finance and accounting at the University of Cape Town UCT. He qualified as an Allan Gray Fellow in 2008. Marvellous won the National Top Finance Manager award in the JA Company program 2008. This award inspired him to apply for the fellowship program. He enjoys the studies at UCT and is mentoring the Allan Gray Scholars when on holiday in Namibia. He is an example for anyone who wishes to become successful obtaining good bursaries. The record keeping in the student company was as good as for a full time worker in the finance department in a mature business.