The purpose of Junior Achievement SA is to prepare young people for life after school by raising their awareness of economic issues, teaching them entrepreneurial and life skills, providing them with an understanding of the business world and enhancing their sense of personal responsibility through practical business experience.

As a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide, one of the largest business education organisations in the world, operating in over 100 countries, Junior Achievement South Africa (Junior Achievement SA) was established in 1979 to address the serious unemployment situation in the country, with particular reference to young people.

“The Millennium Development Goals incorporate eight goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development challenges, which include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering of women, reducing child mortality, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a Global Partnership for Development.

“As one of the initiatives for achieving these goals, government has adopted the Accelerated and Shared Growth Strategy (ASGISA). In terms of this strategy, a shortage of skills, including professional, managerial and technical skills, has been identified as an impediment to economic development. … To further demonstrate its commitment to development and specifically youth development, the government has established the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) which seeks to ensure that our youth are skilled properly to respond to the needs of a growing economy.

“Junior Achievement SA is perfectly positioned to educate and train our youth in skills so desperately required.”
Ms Wendy Luhabe
Patron of Junior Achievement SA

Operational in all provinces in South Africa, Junior Achievement SA aims not only to develop entrepreneurial and business skills in young people but to provide the life skills required to become active citizens, through a range of programme interventions. Learners are encouraged to exercise their rights as well as their responsibilities in a balanced way.

Our profile

Supported by Junior Achievement Worldwide, Junior Achievement SA is a nationwide, autonomous, non-profit association which has obtained recorded status with the Services SETA (REC024).

Registered as an educational trust and subject to the governance of an independent Board of Directors and Board of Trustees, Junior Achievement SA provides its stakeholders with responsible, effective management and the tax advantages associated with an educational trust. Junior Achievement SA is managed by a small team based in Johannesburg with agents operating in all nine provinces. Programmes are offered throughout South Africa.

Independently audited by Deloitte, Junior Achievement SA has earned the reputation of a financially well managed organisation which effectively utilizes resources to achieve a far reaching impact on the lives of the youth of South Africa.