SSACI - Swiss-South African Co-operation Initiative

The Swiss-South African Co-operation Initiative (SSACI) is a South African development-finance agency funded by Swiss companies active in South Africa in collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC). It is a unique public-private partnership between a government agency (SDC) and private-sector corporations, aimed at promoting the social and economic development of South African youth.

In line with Swiss Re’s Corporate Citizenship mission to foster environmental and social issues that are relevant to society and business, Swiss Re has been involved since 2001 as a corporate sponsor. The project is currently in its second phase of operations, scheduled to run through 2009. The Swiss-South African Co-operation Initiative reflects our mission in investing both in the future of society and in Swiss Re’s long-term business success.

The programme has a remarkably high success rate. During 2008, SSACI has implemented 15 projects for unemployed young South Africans from historically-disadvantaged communities.

SSACI’s interim report 2008 (below) provides insights into its activities and the positive impact the project has for the South African youths enrolled in its programmes.

SSACI creates multiple win-win-situations:

For the South African youths involved, the programme has proven effective in achieving a high rate of successful employment and encouragement of individual entrepreneurship among its graduates.

For the corporate sponsors, the project has a positive impact on the local community in which they operate. In particular, SSACI creates recognition under the Black Economic Empowerment Scorecard (BEE). In 2006, SSACI succeeded in enhancing its BEE credentials, thus further increasing the attractiveness of the initiative for corporate sponsors in South Africa.

Finally, the South African economy benefits from a direct positive impact on the employment situation, even though, of course, on a small scale. Employment creates stable living conditions for SSACI graduates, injects usable skills into the market and reflects positively on the local community.

Quote:

“The Swiss-South African Co-operation Initiative (SSACI) is a public-private partnership in development, the first of its kind, between Swiss and South African government agencies and Swiss companies trading in South Africa. It provides technical and financial support to skills training and job-creation projects for unskilled, unemployed, young South Africans. Swiss Re was a founder-member of SSACI in 2001 and has remained one of our most important partners ever since. The ongoing commitment of corporate partners like Swiss Re has enabled us to undertake projects that are large enough and long enough to have a positive impact on our national education and training system.“

^{Ken Duncan, CEO, Swiss South African Co-operation Initiative (SSACI)}