South Africa, 17 March 2025: The Youth Employment Service (YES) and Sanlam have partnered to launch an exciting initiative to support 60 youth-owned businesses across South Africa’s creative, green, and digital economy sectors. This partnership marks a logical next step in evolving YES’s approach to tackling structural unemployment challenges in South Africa.

According to The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), young people display a high interest in pursuing entrepreneurship but are less likely to be operating an established business. The OECD suggests that the large drop-off of young entrepreneurs, can be attributed to the struggle to grow a business to be a stable source of income. It believes that coherent packages of financial and non-financial support are the most impactful solutions. 

This partnership leverages the YES programme’s extensive alumni and partner network to identify promising youth-owned enterprises for development. YES, to date, has created over 178 000 youth work experiences, with 17% of these young people engaged in entrepreneurial activity. These youth now have one year’s work experience under their belts, making them much more likely to succeed in their future ventures. Through this initiative, selected YES alumni businesses receive comprehensive support, including grant funding, professional development and access to the programme’s extensive corporate network.

“YES is a key player in the youth employment ecosystem and we recognise the important role that youth-owned businesses play in the creation of jobs. The programme is the largest 12-month full-time jobs programme in the country and this is a natural next evolution in our offering,” says Ravi Naidoo, CEO of YES.

The programme’s key differentiator is its model of upskilling young people to be employable and entrepreneurial. The proven track record of bringing stakeholders together for maximum impact is evident in the number of corporates that have already joined the programme. This builds on Sanlam and YES’s 2024 Youth4Tourism initiative, which garnered R75 million in corporate funding to capacitate young people in gig-economy skills. The model supported small businesses in the tourism sector, while giving youths viable capabilities to compete globally.

YES’s research reveals that women and youth SMME owners have identified the lack of access to finance and funding as the single greatest challenge that they face. Additional challenges include technical support and difficulties accessing markets, including limited access to information and social capital.

YES’s partnership with Sanlam brings additional strategic value through the finance institution’s extensive business expertise and commitment to economic transformation. Ray-Ann Sedres, Chief Transformation Officer at Sanlam, notes, “Sanlam is committed to the development of a vibrant and inclusive economy in South Africa. To achieve this, we need to embrace youth-owned businesses and bring them into active economic environments. Sanlam has seen tangible success in the incorporation of some of these businesses and we challenge other corporates to consider these as future suppliers.”

YES’s approach is strengthened by partnerships with organisations like RLabs, known for its expertise in SME mentoring and development. This collaboration ensures that participating businesses receive world-class support while maintaining efficient resource allocation through YES’s non-profit structure.

“This partnership represents more than just business support – it’s about creating sustainable pathways for youth-owned businesses to become active participants in South Africa’s formal economy,” says Naidoo. “By combining grant funding with market access and mentorship, we’re building a model that can be replicated and scaled across different sectors.”