📋 What they do

Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator dismantles barriers that keep millions of young South Africans unemployed. Its partners include the government, private sector, civil society, and a network of over 3.9 million youth.  

❓Why we’re watching

Harambee has introduced technologies to boost employment rates. It is an anchor partner in the SA Youth network (sayouth.mobi), a multichannel platform that provides youth with access to jobs and skilling opportunities. The platform also enables the private and public sectors to access young job seekers. It’s all free to use and data-free, so the high cost of data is bypassed while geomapping addresses transport cost barriers by matching young people to opportunities close to where they live.

Last year, the Harvard Kennedy School conducted a case study on Harambee’s model, using it as a tool for its graduate students to gain insights into building successful not-for-profit social enterprises.

🏢 Countries of operation

South Africa, with an office in Rwanda.

🗓️ Founding year

2011.

➕ Leadership

Kasthuri Soni, CEO.

📊 Impact snapshot

• Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator has supported 3.9 million young job seekers.

• In 2023, it enabled 1 million earning opportunities for unemployed youth. Since then, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator has connected another 400,000 young people to earning opportunities.

• Earning opportunities have generated $1.4 billion in income.

• It has a network of 2,524 employer partners.

💡Insider scoop

Harambee started as small cohorts of 80 to 100 young people receiving job support. A few years after opening its office in Johannesburg, it had a national footprint and was supporting over 100,000 young people annually.

A range of structural challenges, however, keep young people locked out of South Africa’s economy. Harambee thus partnered with the government to place over 1 million young people in short-term roles as school assistants and general assistants across more than 23,000 schools nationwide. This initiative represents the largest youth employment program in South Africa’s history, according to Harambee.