Absa opens $723,000 grant fund for young Black-owned South African businesses

What's the deal? AbsaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has opened applications for its Youth Entrepreneurship Fund, a R12 million (≈$723,000) pool of grants for Black-owned businesses led by South African entrepreneurs aged 18 to 35. The corporate fund is backed by the Absa CSI Trust and delivered by the Tshiamo Foundation, with applications closing on October 31, 2026.

What's the endgame? Money is only part of the offer. Successful applicants also receive mentorship, leadership support, business-development help, and market-access opportunities, with support covering businesses from early ideas to enterprises ready to scale.

Why now? Absa says it designed the fund around feedback from young entrepreneurs who flagged access to finance, markets, mentorship, and networks as their biggest hurdles. The launch lands against stubborn youth unemployment, which Stats SA put at 47.4% in the second quarter of 2026.

What sets it apart? The grants are non-repayable and take no equity, unlike conventional bank lending that weighs trading history and collateral. The fund also adds a voluntary "pay-it-forward" model, letting successful founders share knowledge with the next cohort.

"The fund has been designed in direct response to what young entrepreneurs told us," said Setlogane Manchidi, Absa's managing executive for corporate citizenship.

The signal: The fund joins a wider push by South African banks — including Standard BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and FNBDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → — to channel capital to Black-owned SMEs. Its R12 million pool is modest beside larger schemes such as Absa's R1.2 billion supplier-development tie-up with Heineken Beverages, so its impact will hinge on how much reaches each business and whether recipients turn the support into durable jobs.

Read more: ubuntutimes.co.za

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