Ja Africa Launches '10 Million African Girls' Campaign

The campaign is a call to action for governments, corporations, foundations, civil society organisations serving girls and individuals across Africa and the globe to partner with JA Africa to improve access to better quality education and economic participation opportunities for girls and young women in marginalised communities across Africa, JA Africa says.

The campaign will address critical challenges faced by girls and young women in Africa, which include high rates of child marriage and adolescent births, especially in West and Central Africa. Here, only 33% of girls complete high school and one in seven girls, and in some cases three in ten girls, are married before the age of 14. Even the young women lucky enough to finish their education and launch businesses have a tougher time getting access to financing required to grow their businesses — only 2% of venture capital funding in Africa went to women-led start-ups in 2024, JA Africa adds.

The campaign launch coincided with the graduation ceremony of 52 girls from seven African countries — Eswatini, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe — participating in the LEAD Camp in Accra during the first week of March. LEAD stands for leadership, empowerment, achievement and development, and is a week-long program that empowers high-achieving girls to become leaders in their communities and countries, the organisation says.

JA Africa says the camp, which is sponsored by Delta Air Lines, featured female volunteers from the airline and accomplished women from various industries, who served as role models to the girls and reinforced JA Africa's commitment to building a mindset and skill set for future success in each girl.

"We are proud to support the LEAD Camp and the 10MAG Campaign, as they represent a huge step toward empowering young girls across Africa," says Tad Hutcheson, Managing Director — Community Engagement, Delta Air Lines.

Empowering Young Women Through Education and Opportunity

10MAG, conceived by Simi Nwogugu as part of her Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN) fellowship, is designed to raise funding and support for multiple programs aimed at empowering young girls and women. In addition to JA programmes, the campaign will also support programming from other non-profit organisations serving marginalised girls across Africa, JA Africa says.

The official launch of the 10MAG campaign took place on Saturday, 8 March, in Accra, Ghana, alongside a special certification ceremony inducting the LEAD Camp girls as the inaugural cohort of the 10MAG network — a community that will provide them with continuous mentorship, resources and opportunities to advance their leadership and entrepreneurship journeys, the organisation adds.

"Africa cannot achieve its full potential if half of its youth population is denied access to quality education and economic participation opportunities," says Simi Nwogugu, President and CEO of JA Africa.

"The goal of the 10MAG campaign is to galvanise action to equip our young women with the tools they need to drive economic growth and raise themselves and their communities out of poverty. They will also be in leadership positions that enable them to build social safety nets for the girls coming behind them. We invite all corporations, governments, NGOs and individuals who share this vision to join us in developing the Africa of our dreams, where all young people, regardless of gender, can achieve their full potential," Nwogugu concludes.

For more information, visit www.ja-africa.org. You can also follow JA Africa on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or on Instagram.

*Image courtesy of contributor