Save the Children backs South Africa's BluLever to train youth for skilled trades
What's the deal? Save the Children Global VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (SCGV) has made a grant investment in BluLever Education, a South African vocational training company that prepares young people for careers as plumbers, electricians, mechanics, and solar technicians. The investment came through SCGV's Children's Impact Multiplier FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → with support from private donors.
What's the endgame? BluLever, founded in 2019, designs its three-year apprenticeships with employers, combining campus learning with paid placements so graduates leave with a qualification, an employer, and a wage. Of its graduates who have passed the trade test, 88% are employed or continuing their studies.
The expansion: The funding will support a second campus in Cape Town, where 90 employers have already signed letters of intent to host apprentices. BluLever opened its first campus in Johannesburg in 2021 and is also working with Rwanda's Ministry of Education to create the country's first formal qualification for plumbers.
Why now? The announcement coincides with the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok. Over the next decade, 1.2 billion young people in developing countries will reach working age, but only around 400 million jobs are projected for them, according to World Bank figures.
The gap: South Africa illustrates the scale of the problem. Official figures put youth unemployment at 61% among 15- to 24-year-olds, while more than one in five employers say they struggle to recruit qualified artisans.
The signal: BluLever reflects a push to tie vocational training directly to employer demand, closing the gap between education and work. Women make up 35% of its apprentices, in trades such as plumbing where fewer than 3% of workers are women. "That is how investment turns into opportunity," said Paul Ronalds, chief executive officer of SCGV.
Read more: savethechildren.net
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
