Johannesburg, 29 January 2016 – After months of gruelling assessments that led to final presentations being made in front of the Unilever Africa Leadership Team, which comprises of the Head of Africa and the other Africa regional heads, Team Apex from Nigeria emerged as the winners Unilever Africa Idea Trophy 2016. Team Samba from South Africa were the runners-up.
The Unilever Africa Idea Trophy, now in its second year, is a student business competition that provides them with a unique opportunity to work on real-life business challenges and get access to Unilever’s world-class training and insights from its leaders. The 2nd and 3rd year students that made it to the final, held in South Africa, were selected after winning their respective country competitions. By completing each stage in their country competition, students gained experience and developed their employability, as well as real business acumen.
“With Africa’s youth between the ages of 15 and 25 representing 60% of the continents’ population, it is our duty as a top employer on the continent to do our bit in eradicating youth unemployment,” said Patrick Hull, Leadership Development Director, Africa. “All the students that participated in the country competition gained valuable skills and information that will make them job ready and employable while they leverage off their tertiary education.”
The winning team of Jennifer Ikeokwu, Olamide Popoola and Adenkunle Adepoju, and the runners-up (Kwazini Zulu, Bongeka Dlamini and Lilly Nijila), will represent Africa at the Global competition that will take place in London. “The case study we worked on tested our ability to solve real business problem and conceptualise an engaging and scalable marketing campaign for one of Unilever’s power brands,” said Jennifer Ikeokwu from Babcock University in Nigeria. “We are excited about the opportunity of competing against the best in the world and to make our families, countries and the rest of Africa proud.”
As part of the UAIT Final, a Class of Confidence Youth Employability workshop which hosted 100 South African students at the Gordon Institute of Business. The students had the opportunity to hear speakers talk to them about ‘Building their personal brand’, ‘Enhancing their digital skills’ and ‘Unlocking career and entrepreneurial opportunities’.
“Being a purpose driven organisation that wants to create a bright future for all, means that Unilever will continue to invest in such initiatives that not only expose us to the future talent that the continent has to offer but also gives the students an opportunity to get a glimpse of the working world they may enter in a few years,” concluded Patrick.
About Unilever South Africa
Unilever South Africa (Pty Ltd) is one of the largest FMCG companies in South Africa. The Company is over 100 years old, with brands like Sunlight, OMO, Lux, Knorr, Vaseline, Shield, Sunsilk, Flora etc that are household names throughout the country. Unilever South Africa has over 3 500 employees based across two offices and five manufacturing locations in South Africa. It is rated as one of South Africa’s best employers. For more information visit – www.unilever.co.za