Potential is everywhere. Access is not.
South Africa's youth unemployment challenge is not only about skills. It is also about what happens after training. Too many young people complete programmes without a practical route into work, customers or sustainable income.
POPA was established by Mafoko Global to help close that gap. It is a permanent youth employment and enterprise platform that develops skills, connects employers to trained talent and enables structured routes into work and income.
We treat certification as an important milestone, not the final outcome. The wider journey includes workplace exposure, assessment, transition support and ongoing measurement.
Built by an operating business
POPA draws on Mafoko Global's practical experience in telecommunications retail, franchising, food service, sales operations and employment. Across its operating businesses, the group runs established retail and franchise operations with teams in customer-facing roles.
This operating base gives POPA access to real workplaces, managers, sales systems, customer environments and employer insight. The academy is designed around skills that businesses use, not training in isolation.
A South Africa in which every young person's potential can become meaningful and sustainable economic participation.
To build an accountable national platform that connects relevant training, workplace experience, employers and enterprise opportunities so that young people can participate meaningfully in the economy.
What makes POPA different
- We start with employment, enterprise and market demand, then design learning around those opportunities.
- We measure transitions and sustained participation, not attendance alone.
- Learners receive practical and workplace-integrated experience.
- Multiple pathways connect learning with the economy.
- Employers participate in skills design, workplace learning and recruitment.
- Enterprise participants receive structured enablement and market access, subject to programme rules.
- The platform can host programmes funded by different partners without becoming dependent on one funder.
- We track placement, activity, earnings indicators and retention.
Our values
Potential
We focus on what each young person can become.
Dignity
Economic participation should build agency, confidence and choice.
Opportunity
Skills matter when they connect to a real market.
Accountability
We report outcomes honestly and transparently.
Inclusion
We prioritise historically disadvantaged youth, women and persons with disabilities.
Partnership
Lasting impact requires educators, employers, funders and communities to work together.