What are the hot topics in Impact Investing and Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) in South Africa?
With so many big challenges facing South Africa, it is critical that we keep our finger on the pulse of key issues and opportunities.
We utilise a variety of different sources and platforms to help us track these trends and work with our clients around their strategies.
Let’s take a look at the trends for May 2025:
What does our Google data tell us?
Based on our analysis of our Google Trends data, the following keywords or search phrases have been popular over the last month:
- Youth Employment Service / Youth Employment Services
- ESD
- Impact Investing South Africa
- Loadshedding Solutions
The Youth Employment Service (YES) will always be a popular search phrase as persistently high levels of youth unemployment continues to impact South Africa. If you would like to discuss integrating YES into an impact project, we have extensive experience in building these initiatives.
“ESD” or Enterprise and Supplier Development remains topical with discussions around the proposed “Transformation Fund”.
It was interesting to note the spike in searches for “Loadshedding Solutions” although this could partially be explained by power interruptions experienced in early May. With winter around the corner, there will be pressure on the grid and it would not be surprising to see further interest in this topic. We work with organisations who wish to deploy ESD funding into solar solutions for both impact and commercial projects.
Speaking of Google…
Media plays a key role in ensuring accountability and standards of governance but the sector has faced significant headwinds in South Africa over the last 10 years as Google and Meta have captured a significant amount of digital ad spend from local businesses.
This has resulted in an investigation from the Competition Commission and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) and there have been a variety of proposed measures being served on Google including a 5% – 10% tax on advertising revenue extracted from South African businesses.
Google has responded saying that this would be: “unlawful, unconstitutional, unfair, unreasonable, irrational and impractical”.
The frictional cost of B-BBEE and its future
We are seeing an increasing amount of discussion around the frictional cost of B-BBEE for businesses and what is the future of B-BBEE. This has been particularly topical with the comments made by US President Donald Trump and the South African delegation visit to the White House.
There was an insightful column from Shayne Krige – head of Investment Funds Practice at Werksmans Attorneys – writing for Citywire where he indirectly raises this issue in the Private Equity space.
Krige notes:
“While global ESG themes like climate and governance are relevant, the dominant theme in South Africa historically has been social impact through BEE, as compliance with BEE overlaps with the ‘S’ (social) in ESG. Local PE firms carry significant costs to manage structures in place to achieve BEE targets and there’s increasing focus on impact and developmental outcomes and reporting on job creation and community impact. “
World Menstrual Hygiene Day:
By tackling Period Poverty, we can empower young women to take control of their futures. 28 May 2025 is World Menstrual Hygiene Day and we are proud to work with our partners from Blossom Care Solutions to help businesses who want to deliver high-impact solutions in this space.
If you would like to build a campaign in conjunction with the team, then please do not hesitate to contact us.
A review of SASSA and Social Grants in South Africa
A story we are keeping our eye on is around the proposed overhaul of the social grant system in South Africa. With 28 million people receiving some form of grant monthly, disruptions or developments in this sector can have far-reaching consequences for the country.
As explained by GroundUp and Moneyweb:
“The plan is to re-examine the Master Service Agreement and Service Level Agreement between Sassa, the SA Post Office (Sapo), and Postbank. These agreements have guided grant payments since 2018, when Sapo became Sassa’s payment partner. After Sapo’s financial collapse, Postbank took over in 2022, but payment problems”
Connect with us around these trends:
We love to talk to like-minded professionals. If you would like to setup a meeting with us to discuss your Enterprise and Supplier Development strategies and alignment with social impact or sustainability goals, please do not hesitate to contact us.
