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President & CEO of Junior Achievement (JA) Africa, Simi Nwogugu, has announced the launch of a campaign to equip 10 million girls across Africa with entrepreneurship, leadership and advocacy skills to build thriving and sustainable communities, eliminate extreme poverty and reduce gender-based violence in sub-Saharan Africa by 2050.
The campaign, tagged 10 Million African Girls (10MAG), 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.
The 10MAG 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, where 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.
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 programme that empowers high-achieving girls to become leaders in their communities and countries.
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,” said 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 programmes aimed at empowering young African girls and women. In addition to JA programmes, the campaign will also support programming from other non-profit organizations serving marginalised girls across Africa.
The official launch of the 10MAG campaign took place on March 8, 2025, 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 education, leadership and entrepreneurship journeys.
“Africa cannot achieve its full potential if half of its youth population is denied access to quality education and economic participation opportunities,” said Nwogugu.
She added: “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.”
