Rhodesfield Engineering School of Specialisation in Kempton Park recently hosted Junior Achievement (JA) South Africa’s Company of the Year masterclass, bringing young aspiring entrepreneurs together ahead of the 2026 national competition.

The hybrid masterclass, which was livestreamed nationally on Facebook, connected approximately 1 250 Grade 10 and 11 learners from schools across all nine provinces with the 2024 and 2025 national Company of the Year champions.

This year’s programme, themed ‘AI Augmenting Innovation’, challenges learners to explore how artificial intelligence can enhance critical thinking, strengthen business ideas and help address real-world problems.

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“As artificial intelligence, automation and digital technologies continue reshaping the global economy, domestic success will depend on creativity, adaptability, entrepreneurial thinking and digital capability,” said the executive director at JA South Africa, Nelo Spies.

“It is this challenge that sits at the heart of the Company of the Year Programme, which brings together aspiring young entrepreneurs from across the country for its annual Company of the Year Masterclass, proudly sponsored by Absa.”

South Africa’s youth unemployment rate among 15- to 24-year-olds stands at almost 61%, highlighting the need to equip young people with skills that extend beyond traditional employment pathways.

Having completed the classroom component of the programme, learners are now developing mini companies aimed at addressing real-life challenges in their schools and communities.

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During the innovation phase, they receive practical guidance to refine their products, strengthen their business models and develop their pitches before competing in provincial Company of the Year competitions.

The top three teams from each province will progress to the national Company of the Year finals in Johannesburg in October.

The national winning team will then have the opportunity to represent South Africa at the JA Africa Company of the Year Competition in Cape Town from December 2 to 4.

Spies said young people needed to be prepared for an economy increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, automation and changing industries.

“Preparing them for the future means equipping them with a lot more than academic knowledge. They need digital capability, financial literacy and the confidence to continuously adapt to change throughout their careers,” she said.

One of the highlights of the masterclass was a live pitching session, during which Company of the Year alumni presented their award-winning businesses to a panel of judges.

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The panel unpacked the strengths of each presentation and provided constructive feedback, giving participating learners practical lessons and strategies ahead of the provincial competitions.

“Many of our education-to-employment systems have been designed for a very different economy where stable career paths were more predictable,” Spies said.

“Our goal has never simply been to create winning businesses but to help young people recognise opportunities, solve meaningful problems and develop the skills they will need to succeed in an economy that will continue changing throughout their lives.”

The programmes manager at JA South Africa, Bonga Khumalo, said the AI theme had been deliberately incorporated throughout this year’s programme.

“It has been intentionally integrated throughout this year’s programme to help learners gain practical insight into how AI can strengthen their mini business enterprises, while learning directly from our national champions about the level of innovation, entrepreneurship and presentation skills needed to succeed in the provincial, national and continental competitions,” Khumalo said.

For Thandolwenkosi Lebese of the Green Earth Team from Elukhanyisweni in Mpumalanga, the programme has helped develop skills extending beyond entrepreneurship.

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“The programme has given us the opportunity to develop our business skills, improve our teamwork, build confidence in public speaking, learn how to solve real-world problems, and turn our idea into a real business,” Lebese said.

“It has also taught us leadership, financial management and entrepreneurship.”

Absa continues to support the programme, with the managing executive for corporate citizenship at Absa Group, Setlogane Manchidi, saying exposure to successful young entrepreneurs could make entrepreneurship seem more achievable to participants.

“When learners engage with entrepreneurs who are only a few years older than themselves and have already built successful businesses, entrepreneurship becomes more tangible and attainable,” Manchidi said.

“Through our partnership with Junior Achievement South Africa, we are proud to create opportunities that inspire ambition, build practical skills and empower young people to shape South Africa’s entrepreneurial future.”