THE CHALLENGE: South Africa’s youth unemployment crisis sits at a staggering 45.3%, one of the highest in the world. While university graduates fare far better, with only 9.3% unemployment, the path to a degree is often blocked by financial barriers. Many students, particularly those from low- and middle-income families, are unable to complete their studies due to historical debt and inadequate access to funding. This leaves thousands of young people stuck in limbo: educated enough to dream big but disqualified from opportunity due to the absence of a certificate. Traditional funding models like unsecured loans and scholarships are either financially unsustainable or woefully insufficient. Government funding (like NSFAS), intended to fill the gap, is increasingly strained, often delayed, and has failed to deliver consistent, equitable support. Into this broken system stepped Leana de Beer with WaFunda, a for-profit social impact enterprise reimagining how education is funded in South Africa. Her goal is to tear down financial barriers and give students the tools and funding to own their futures without being shackled by traditional debt.

THE PROCESS: WaFunda, under De Beer’s leadership, is rewriting the rules of education finance using a model called Income Share Agreements (ISAs). Through this model, students receive upfront funding to complete their education in exchange for committing a fixed percentage of their future income for a set period. Unlike loans, ISAs are not debt – they’re an investment in potential, and repayment is tied to actual income, protecting students from the burden of repayments they can’t afford. Leveraging seven years of experience in bursary management via its non-profit partner, Feenix, and three years of ISA pilot testing, WaFunda has developed the first ISA model aimed at public universities in South Africa. After a successful three-year pilot where 750 students at private institutions were funded with a 95% graduation rate and 90% repayment rate, WaFunda is scaling up. WaFunda also runs Blackbullion South Africa, a financial literacy platform, and offers education crowdfunding tech, reinforcing their holistic approach to student empowerment. The team’s ability to manage funding, understand tertiary ecosystems, and navigate student behaviour has uniquely positioned them as the bridge between potential and prosperity.

THE RESULTS: From an idea rooted in fairness to a nationally-scaled innovation, WaFunda has already proven it can change lives. With 750 students funded to date, most of whom graduated and are already repaying through income-based contributions, the pilot alone validated the ISA model’s promise. Now, the focus is expansion. With a R150 million raise underway, WaFunda is launching its new ISA offering across five public universities, directly addressing a market of over 35,000 students in need. Over the next decade, they expect to disburse over R300 million to students, while generating R80 million in revenue and ensuring sustainability through a 10% administrative fee model. But De Beer’s vision doesn’t stop at sustainability, it stretches toward systemic transformation. Her goal is to raise R500 million in the next three years, build a scalable, data-driven education fund, and ultimately reshape public financing models. The aim is not just to fund education, but to redefine it – ensuring funding systems are ethical, student-centred, and rooted in outcomes. Within five years, she wants NSFAS to adopt WaFunda’s data-informed system to manage billions in public funding with greater efficiency and impact. WaFunda isn’t just filling the gap—it’s changing the system, one student, one contract, and one future at a time.