Prosper films highlight local stories
JOBURG – Three young South Africans are making the future brighter through innovations.
“The future looks bright,” said 22-year-old Edward Motloung, walking down Berea Street in the Maboneng Precinct with its trademark street art at night.
“What I hope for South Africa and my continent, Africa, is that we become pioneers. We adopt technology and embrace innovation, and build a better continent for tomorrow,” 24-year-old Gopolang Lekoto said knowingly as he crosses a busy street in a bustling downtown Jozi at dusk.
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These are the closing scenes of Coding a better future – the latest film in Absa’s Prosper series – and it’s goosebump stuff. Not only because these youths are passionate and already making their mark in the world, but because above all of this, they are empowered visionaries who are proactively building South Africa’s future together.
The film is an on-point portrayal of Absa’s Shared Growth business strategy in action. The key focus areas of the strategy are those that will hopefully help solve some of the most pressing societal challenges the continent faces. This includes bridging the gap between education and the world of work and entrepreneurship, access to quality education, enterprise development and a shortage of affordable innovative financial services.
Stars of the movie, Lekoto, Motloung and Sanusha Naidoo have all come through the Digital Academy – a technological skills development programme that prepares the youth for jobs with partners like Absa – and today are part of Absa’s forward-thinking technology, innovations and product development teams.
More than just landing him his dream job, Motloung said his time at Digital Academy and now at Absa has taught him a fundamental life lesson every South African youth should have the opportunity to learn.
“I’ve managed to get rid of this ‘entitlement mentality’ so many of our country’s youth seem to have. You want something? Go get it,” he said.
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Naidoo said her journey from the Digital Academy to Absa had provided her with something even more vital that she would otherwise never have had access to – a solid foundation for a sustainable career as a woman in software development.
Coding a better future captures the enthusiasm and absolute lust for life exuded by these three young, bright South Africans. Like the other films in the series, this execution is fuelled by Absa’s inspirational Prosper philosophy, illustrating the power of people’s ability to realise their dreams and prosper when enabled by partners with the means to make this happen.
