Stokvel Academy, a South African social enterprise focused on strengthening informal savings groups, has secured funding from E Squared Investments to scale its impact. The investment will support an ambitious pilot that digitizes stokvel operations while expanding financial literacy at the grassroots. By combining technology, community networks, and youth employment, the initiative seeks to unlock the economic potential of one of South Africa’s most entrenched financial practices.
Stokvel Academy’s Mission and Origins
Founded in 2017 by social entrepreneur and author Busisiwe Skenjana, Stokvel Academy is dedicated to turning stokvels into engines of generational wealth and economic inclusion. The organization works with savings groups across the country, delivering financial education, entrepreneurship training, and governance support. Its model is built on modernizing long-standing community structures rather than replacing them, helping stokvels operate more transparently and sustainably.
Strategic Backing from E Squared Investments
The new capital from E Squared Investments will fund the launch of the Stokvel Agent Accelerator, a youth-led program focused on digitizing stokvels at scale. E Squared views the initiative as a practical way to drive inclusive growth through entrepreneurial solutions embedded in local realities. The investment signals growing recognition that informal savings systems, when professionalized and supported by technology, can play a central role in building long-term financial resilience.
The Stokvel Agent Accelerator Pilot
The Stokvel Agent Accelerator is an 18-month pilot that will recruit and train 25 unemployed young people as community-based financial agents. These agents will digitize stokvel operations, onboard groups onto trusted digital platforms, and deliver structured financial literacy workshops. The program will initially roll out in Soweto and the Vaal region, targeting areas with dense networks of savings groups and high youth unemployment.
Scale and Expected Impact
Through the pilot, Stokvel Academy aims to digitize more than 3,400 stokvels, supporting close to 28,000 members across participating communities. In addition, the initiative is expected to reach more than 800 people through community financial education sessions that strengthen knowledge of saving, borrowing, and risk management. By improving record-keeping and governance, the program seeks to reduce fraud risk, improve accountability, and make groups more attractive to formal financial partners.
Strengthening Informal Finance and Youth Employment
Stokvels are a cornerstone of South Africa’s informal financial system, helping millions of households save, access informal insurance, and invest in community needs. Yet many groups still rely on manual processes, exposing them to governance weaknesses and limiting their ability to integrate with formal financial services. By training unemployed youth to digitize and support these groups, Stokvel Academy’s model links financial inclusion with job creation, addressing two urgent national priorities at once.
Skenjana said the funding will allow Stokvel Academy to prove that stokvels can be professionalized and digitized in ways that deliver lasting socio-economic impact for communities. E Squared’s chief investment officer, Pyi Maung, emphasized that the accelerator illustrates how trust, technology, and local knowledge can come together to expand meaningful economic participation. If the pilot delivers on its targets, it could provide a blueprint for scaling grassroots digitization of stokvels nationwide, strengthening South Africa’s informal economy while opening new pathways for youth employment and financial inclusion.