Youth Skills Crisis Threatens South Africa's Economic Future; Tech Training Program Seeks

Youth unemployment in South Africa remains one of the country’s most stubborn civic challenges, and the skills gap in technology sectors leaves many young people locked out of the economy’s fastest-growing opportunities. Samsung’s Equity Equivalent Investment Programme, now in its sixth year, is attempting to change that at scale.

The ten-year initiative, launched in 2019 in partnership with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, represents an R280-million investment targeting youth unemployment, digital literacy, and economic inclusion. Samsung frames the programme as aligned with South Africa’s National Development Plan and broader transformation objectives.

The results reported so far are concrete. Through the Samsung Innovation Campus, the company partnered with Durban University of Technology, Nelson Mandela University, Walter Sisulu University, and Central University of Technology to deliver coding, programming, software development, and artificial intelligence training to students from previously disadvantaged communities. Of graduates from the Introduction to Software Development and Social Digital Innovation Programme at the University of the Western Cape and University of Limpopo, over 90 percent were placed into tech industry jobs. A separate internship programme involving Samsung, Tshimologong, and the University of the Western Cape achieved near 100 percent industry uptake, with graduates moving directly into roles at software firms.

Those numbers matter in provinces where unemployment among young people runs deep.

Meanwhile, technician training is reaching communities where the shortage of qualified repair artisans is most acute. Working with Ocule IT, Samsung has trained 162 artisans across KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, and Gauteng in consumer electronic repair. An additional 40 unemployed youth are enrolled in the 2026 programme, with another 40 planned for the year after that.

A second flagship initiative, Samsung Solve For Tomorrow, launched in South Africa in 2023 as a global STEM-based competition. This year it engages Grade 10 and 11 learners from public schools, challenging them to apply science and technology to local community problems. The 2026 competition is themed around social change through sports and technology, and environmental sustainability. A significant shift this year opened participation to all public schools, including the highest-income quintile, making the initiative more nationally representative than in previous cycles.

Nicky Beukes, Samsung’s EEIP and B-BBEE Manager, described the programmes as delivering tangible results across job creation, business growth, women’s empowerment, and technical skills development. “Our continued investment in education-focused and technology-driven initiatives is aimed at combating youth unemployment and fostering local entrepreneurship,” Beukes said. “We therefore remain dedicated to our goal of investing in programmes that contribute to skills development, education, job creation and entrepreneurship opportunities for the South African youth.”

Samsung says its approach depends on partnerships with universities, government agencies, non-governmental organisations, and private sector actors. The EEIP is structured around four core areas: STEM education, fourth industrial revolution skills development, youth entrepreneurship, and environmental sustainability. The company positions these investments as tools for bridging the digital divide and creating a more inclusive economy.

The Innovation Campus has also expanded beyond South Africa’s borders, with the programme now operating in Kenya as well.

Beukes said Samsung believes its transformation efforts have empowered the country’s future innovators to achieve their potential, positioning South Africa’s youth as the next generation of leaders driving positive social change.

Whether the programme’s employment outcomes hold as it scales to more provinces and more schools in the years ahead will be the real test of its civic impact.