🧭 Overview
The SayPro – BANKSETA Partnership is a strategic alliance designed to promote skills development, economic inclusion, and employment readiness within South Africa’s banking and broader financial services sectors. This partnership brings together SayPro’s extensive grassroots implementation capacity and youth development expertise with BANKSETA’s mandate to drive transformation and capacity-building in the sector.
By focusing on training, upskilling, work readiness, and enterprise development, SayPro and BANKSETA are building a pipeline of future bankers, financial professionals, and entrepreneurs, particularly from marginalised communities, including youth, women, and people with disabilities.
🎯 Objectives
- Equip unemployed youth with banking, finance, and digital skills to improve employability
- Support Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) through financial literacy and access to banking services
- Promote transformation and inclusion in the financial services sector
- Build leadership and management capacity in underserved communities
- Align training programmes with the National Skills Development Plan (NSDP) and sectoral needs
- Facilitate workplace-based learning, internships, and graduate placements
🏛️ Key Focus Areas
| Focus Area | Description |
|---|---|
| Skills Development | Short courses and accredited qualifications in banking, compliance, financial management, customer service, and digital banking |
| Work Readiness Programmes | Career development, CV writing, mock interviews, and job readiness training for unemployed graduates |
| Entrepreneurial Support | Financial education, mentorship, and business plan development for informal businesses and township entrepreneurs |
| Digital and Financial Literacy | Training to close the digital divide and promote responsible use of financial products |
| Leadership & Transformation | Capacity-building for youth, women, and historically disadvantaged individuals in leadership roles |
📚 Training & Capacity-Building Programmes
SayPro implements a wide range of customised, BANKSETA-aligned learning programmes, including:
- National Certificate in Banking (NQF Level 5)
- Financial Literacy & Money Management for youth and informal entrepreneurs
- Call Centre Operations & Customer Services training for entry-level banking careers
- Credit & Risk Management short courses
- Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Compliance awareness workshops
- Internship and Learnership Placements in banking institutions
- Digital Skills Bootcamps in mobile banking, fintech tools, and cybersecurity basics
👥 Target Beneficiaries
- Unemployed youth aged 18–35
- Graduates seeking entry into the banking sector
- Township-based micro-business owners and informal traders
- Women and youth-led cooperatives
- People living with disabilities
- Community-based organisations working in financial inclusion
📈 Impact and Outcomes
| Impact Area | Results |
|---|---|
| Youth Employment | Placement of trained candidates into entry-level banking roles and internships |
| Entrepreneurship | Growth in the number of financially literate, banked, and supported SMMEs |
| Transformation | More historically disadvantaged individuals entering and advancing in financial careers |
| Skills Pipeline | Trained and certified individuals ready for long-term careers in banking and finance |
| Community Financial Literacy | Broader public understanding of budgeting, saving, credit use, and debt management |
🧩 Innovative Approaches
| Innovation | Description |
|---|---|
| Mobile Finance Labs | Pop-up training centres in rural and township communities with computers and trainers |
| Financial Freedom Digital App (Pilot) | An app delivering bite-sized financial learning modules and resources |
| Women in Finance Leadership Series | A mentorship and networking platform for aspiring women professionals |
| Banking Skills for the Informal Economy | Targeted education for spaza shops, vendors, and stokvels on using formal banking services |
| Gamified Financial Education Workshops | Interactive workshops that use storytelling and games to teach budgeting and savings |
🤝 Strategic Alignment
This partnership aligns with the goals of:
- National Skills Development Plan (NSDP 2030)
- BANKSETA’s Sector Skills Plan
- Financial Sector Code (FSC) on transformation and inclusion
- National Development Plan (NDP) outcomes related to youth employment
- South African Reserve Bank’s Vision 2025 for inclusive finance
🌟 Success Stories
- 📌 “Youth in Banking” Learnership Programme placed over 100 SayPro-trained learners in entry-level roles at partner banks
- 💡 Township Banking Bootcamp delivered financial literacy training to over 1,000 informal traders across Cape Flats
- 👩🏽💼 Women in Finance Incubator supported 45 women-led SMMEs with mentorship and banking access
- 🧑🏽🎓 Graduate Support Programme helped university graduates transition into the finance sector through CV development, mentorship, and job coaching
- 📲 Community Banking Dialogues helped increase uptake of mobile banking among previously unbanked populations
✅ Conclusion
The SayPro – BANKSETA Partnership is a powerful example of how collaboration between the public sector and civil society can drive transformation, create economic opportunities, and equip communities with the financial tools they need to thrive. By fostering a new generation of financially literate, empowered individuals, this partnership helps unlock the full potential of South Africa’s human capital while building a more inclusive, skilled, and equitable banking sector.
Together, SayPro and BANKSETA are not just preparing individuals for jobs—they are preparing communities for sustainable prosperity.
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