For Immediate Release
Tiso Foundation and Verdure Fund collaborate to Empower Future Engineers in South Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa 15 October 2025. The Tiso Foundation is proud to announce their collaboration with Verdure Fund to launch a pilot Undergraduate Bursary Programme aimed at addressing South Africa’s critical engineering skills shortage and advancing transformation in the sector.
At the commencement of a period lasting for five years, Verdure Fund will donate R1.15 million which will escalate at 6% p.a. Through this engagement, Verdure Fund will contribute to a five-year bursary programme supporting black South African students, particularly women pursuing Electrical Engineering degrees at one of South Africa’s top universities. The initiative will commence in the 2026 academic year, with the first cohort of four students.
“This collaboration with Verdure Fund is a powerful step toward building a more inclusive and skilled engineering workforce in South Africa. By investing in young talent, we are investing in the future of our country”, said Bridget Shibambu General Manager Programmes of Tiso Foundation.
“As custodians of KfW development funding, Verdure is proud to partner with Tiso Foundation so as to fund the empowering of South African students from disadvantaged backgrounds to thrive and lead in a changing energy landscape where new skills are demanded to keep pace with the transition to a nature-positive industry”, said Greg Ansermino, Director of Verdure.
Addressing a National Skills Gap
Despite progress in transformation, only 29% of professionally registered engineers in South Africa are black, and just 11% are black women (ECSA Report 2023). Furthermore, South Africa has one engineer for every 31,000 people, underscoring the urgent need for interventions to expand access, retention, and success in engineering education.
The bursary programme will provide comprehensive financial support covering tuition, accommodation, living stipends, textbooks, meals, and laptops—alongside mentorship, career development workshops, psychosocial support, and networking opportunities with clients of Verdure Fund.
Programme Objectives
The initiative is designed to:
- Provide financial support for undergraduate engineering students over a five-year period.
- Develop skilled professionals equipped to excel in their careers.
- Promote transformation by increasing representation of historically disadvantaged groups, with at least 50% of the beneficiaries being women.
- Create a pipeline of talent to contribute to South Africa’s economic growth and mentor future generations.
A Shared Vision for Impact
By investing in these students, Verdure Fund will not only transform individual lives but also help build a skilled workforce capable of driving innovation in infrastructure development and meeting the needs of its clients who operate in the renewable energy sector.
About the Tiso Foundation
Established in 2001, the Tiso Foundation is a public benefit and non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing socio-economic development in South Africa.
Guided by the belief that education is the most powerful path to empowerment, the Foundation works to redress historical inequalities by providing both financial and non-financial support to deserving young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Its programmes span education, training, and leadership development, equipping beneficiaries with the tools to thrive personally and professionally.
Since its inception, the Foundation has enabled young South Africans to access opportunities that uplift not only their own lives, but also their families, communities, and the nation at large.
About Verdure Fund
Verdure Fund is a South African specialist debt fund making finance available to small- to mid-scale renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, a critical gap in the South African lending market. Established on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) in 2018 by KfW, the German promotional bank, the Fund provides a channel for leading South African institutional partners to invest in this sector, while providing developers in this sector access to sophisticated level of technical, commercial, and legal expertise in their funding. Verdure’s streamlined processes and experienced advisory team deliver efficient project evaluations and robust funding solutions tailored to the needs of energy developers, commercial and industrial clients, and asset owners.
