Nedbank and Brimstone Invest R15m in Early Childhood Development

Nedbank and Brimstone have invested R15 million in the United States Agency for International Development’s Catalyse EduFinance fund to improve early childhood development (ECD) in South Africa and increase access to capital. The investment is expected to benefit between 500 and 1,000 South African ECD centres, as well as provide financial training. The investment was made by Nedbank through its Black Business Partners Legacy Trust, which aims to raise R110 million from private sector investors over a five-year period. The investment will allow new and existing ECD centres to provide high-quality education that would otherwise be out of reach for low-income families.

According to Nedbank CEO Mike Brown, the investment is significant because it helps to improve the quality of education at the grassroots level. “Nedbank is fully committed to supporting the education sector and strongly believes that this is a critical component of creating a prosperous and thriving South Africa,” Brown says. The Department of Basic Education recently announced that all children will be required to attend ECD for two years before entering the formal school system in grade one. This fund has arrived at an opportune time and is well-positioned to assist the school system in meeting this objective.

According to Thrive by Five research, more than half of four- to five-year-old children enrolled in early childhood programmes in South Africa are unable to perform tasks expected of children their age. The fund will be managed by Kaizenvest, an education investment firm with global experience in education financing and implementing innovative learning programmes.

“It addresses literacy at an early age and lays a useful and important foundation for further learning in the formal school system,” says Zanele Mocumi, programme director at Kaizenvest for Sub-Saharan Africa. The fund, which is currently accepting investors, is scheduled to close at the end of next year.

Finally, the investment by Nedbank and Brimstone in the Catalyse EduFinance fund is a significant boost for South Africa’s early childhood development sector. The investment will help provide high-quality education to children from low-income families who would not otherwise have access to it. With the recent announcement by the Department of Basic Education that two years of ECD will be mandatory for all children before entering the formal school system in grade one, this investment comes at an opportune time and is well-positioned to assist the school system in meeting its goal.