Young Mauritian team shines on the regional platform

The 6th Annual Regional Junior Achievement (JA) Company of the Year Competition took place from 7 to 9 December in Harare, Zimbabwe. Beneficiaries of JA Mascareignes, a team of four young Mauritian students from Ebene SSS Girls presented their company project ‘PraSino Trypa Company’ (PST) which produces quality based products made from recycled waste. The Mauritian team shone by winning the First Runner Up place.

Mauritius has once again shone on the regional platform. From the 11 delegations and the 50 students entrepreneurs from across Africa which participated in the competition, the Mauritius delegation comprising of four students from Ebene SSS Girls have won the first runner up place. The girls were rewarded with a cash prize of $800 for their company project ‘PraSino Trypa Company’ (PST) which produces  and delivers quality products made from recycled waste.

The Company of the Year (COY) competition, which is an annual event and the culmination of JA’s highly acclaimed Company Program, took place in Harare, Zimbabwe this year on the theme “Start Young: Own Your Future”. Following their selection after a national competition, the team of Ebene SSS Girls flew to Zimbabwe from 7 to 9 December to not only represent our country at a regional level but also to showcase business and entrepreneurship progress taking place in Mauritius. Indeed the COY allows young people to demonstrate their business acumen and spirit of entrepreneurship in a competitive environment which engages business, education and policy leaders as well as the media.

Exposure

For the four students namely Ophélie, Shannon, Mishita, Rheeya, this competition is a chance to increase their knowledge and an opportunity to get greater exposure to the business world. “We are science students! But what motivated us to take part in this competition is that we will be learning something new and different,” explained Ophélie, prior to their departure to Zimbabwe. For the girls, their traveling to Zimbabwe and their participation in the competition was a once in a life time experience. 

How did things go there and how was the competition? “COY 2016 was definitely at a much higher level in Africa than at national level. We experienced how real life business is done. It was a tough one since the other teams were really good… Nevertheless, the atmosphere was friendly and we were able to meet teenagers with various cultures and traditions,” says Shannon. “It was an honour to represent Mauritius in Harare where we could compete with other African countries… Once in there, we were quite nervous, as everybody was good at answering the judges’ questions. We got the opportunity to see the creativity and innovative minds of students from other countries. No one was talking much about the competition but rather about each other’s country. We could hear laughter in the auditorium while others were taking selfies. It was a great experience indeed,” adds Rheeya. 

Indeed the COY enhances the students’ experience and creates significant practical exposure to the competitive world of international business. “We were able to deliver our best performance during the competition. When it came to answering questions, we were fully prepared as we had several training sessions with JA Mascareignes staff. This helped us a lot to face with the judges and to meet all the criteria on which we were to be assessed,” explains Shannon. For the team, the competition also allowed them to develop the team work spirit. “We had prepared ourselves for all challenges, so we could face them. We helped each other when they were out of ideas or words. We had a good team spirit. Maybe that made us stand out from the others,” utters Rheeya.

The JA Company Program aims at teaching students how to start and run their own businesses, develop and market a product or service. So what have they learned through out the competition? “It has been a once in a lifetime experience to participate in COY 2016. We have gained much knowledge and maturity through this experience. We have learned not only to shoulder our own responsibilities and duties but also to always persevere and have faith and courage in whatever we do in life,” says Shannon. “We have also learned a lot about how businesses operate. Our respective tasks allowed us to explore the world more and more. We learned many strategies, principles and ideas which we had never heard of as science students,” highlights Rheeya. 

The students competed by showcasing their products to panels of judges among business people and influencers from across Zimbabwe. It was an opportunity for the Ebene SSS girls to showcase their ‘Smiley Led Pillows’ and ‘Vintage Notebooks’. The Smiley Led Pillows consisted of cloth for the cushion cover, while the stuffing was from textile waste collected from factories. The Vintage Notebooks are made with pages from students’ exercise books. For the cover, rejected cardboard and decorative paper are used.

Reward

Despite not winning the first prize, Ophélie, Shannon, Mishita, Rheeya say that they are all proud of being the First Runner Up of the competition. “We were dying to hear our company’s name. But after the five signature awards were given away, we kind of lost hope that we would win something. But as soon as we heard the word “emojis” while announcing the 1st Runner Up Award, we jumped up out of happiness. Our CEO was in tears… Honestly, it was one of the best moments I ever experienced. We made our flag rise in the African sky. We were proud of ourselves,” says Rheeya.  For Shannon, the team and the whole delegation’s hard work has been rewarded. “We feel proud, as we really hoped that we would be rewarded for our efforts. There is a feeling of satisfaction which prevails among us, as we rest assured that we have not disappointed those who put their trust in us and in our company.” 

Would they encourage other students to participate in the COY competition? “Junior Achievement Mini Company is definitely worth the try. It opens new doors and offers lots of opportunities, which one cannot get anywhere else. Prasino Trypa’s advice for the youth in Mauritius is: When you have a plan in mind, first, gather as much knowledge as you can, then look out for the smallest opportunity which will help you draw your path to excel in your future,” utters Shannon. “The skills and knowledge acquired are for a lifetime. The trainings that the JA Mascareignes provided were very important and no other competition provides this facility. We got to explore the world around us and this helped us build our communication skills. My advice to the youth: be confident, be positive, believe in yourself, learn from your mistakes and from others,” adds Rheeya. 

The JA Mini Company program focuses on entrepreneurship, one of the three pillars of all Junior Achievement programs. This program was launched in Mauritius in 2011 and was implemented to the support of Rogers Capital.