Pretoria and Empangeni learners win 2026 Allan Gray entrepreneurship challenge
Makhado Rendani of Curro Hazeldean High School in Pretoria won the online game category, while Philasande Makhathini of Khombindlela High School in Empangeni was named the winner of the business pitching competition.
The awards ceremony took place in Sandton on 10 October.
The competition also recognised strong performances from schools across the country. Deutsche Schule Johannesburg secured two of the top five positions in the online game category, while St Bernard’s High School in Bloemfontein took second and third place in the pitching competition.
Royal Schools Alberton claimed fourth, fifth and sixth places in the pitching category.
In the school awards, Sacred Heart College in Gauteng was named Top School, receiving R20,000 in prize money. Knysna Montessori School in the Western Cape came second, winning R15,000, while Mbulawa Secondary School in Mpumalanga received the Highest Lower Quintile School award and R10,000.
Competition expands access to entrepreneurship education
The Allan Gray Entrepreneurship Challenge (AGEC), launched in 2016, uses games and business-pitching activities to introduce learners to entrepreneurial thinking and decision-making.
Participation from quintile 1 and 2 schools increased by 26.5% between April 2026 and the latest reporting period, rising from 574 to 726 schools, according to the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation. Its print-to-play game is among the initiatives aimed at making the competition more accessible.
Since 2024, approximately 1,350 teachers have received training across all nine provinces. The high school online game, which launched in the same year, has recorded 400,000 game starts and approximately 130,000 completed games.
Together, learners spent more than 87,000 hours playing the game between 2024 and 2026, with average engagement of about 55 minutes per player per session.
The competition has also expanded beyond South Africa into Botswana, Namibia and Eswatini.
Charleen Duncan, head of public affairs and communications at the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, said the initiative aims to give learners an early, practical introduction to entrepreneurship while they are still at school.
The foundation's CEO, Nontobeko Mabizela, said the competition had evolved over the past decade from an online game into a broader platform for exposing young people to business concepts and entrepreneurial opportunities.