What It Takes to Make Early Learning a Viable Livelihood for Women

Developed by SmartStart and Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, with a foreword by IMBE MD Samantha Maasdorp, this report examines how scaffolded support can help women build sustainable early learning enterprises, creating lasting benefits for children, families and South Africa’s wider economy.

The Ripple Effect: How ECD Businesses Power Women’s Economic Participation

Every thriving ECD business creates opportunities that extend far beyond its own walls. From enabling mothers to participate in the economy to strengthening children’s early learning and building more resilient communities, the impact reaches further than many realise. Discover how IMBE is helping women-led ECD businesses grow stronger today while laying the foundations for greater impact tomorrow.

More Than a Score: Why Feedback Matters as Much as Funding for ECD Entrepreneurs

Parents choose early learning programmes they trust to give their children the best possible start. That makes programme quality one of an ECD entrepreneur’s greatest business assets. Discover how IMBE and DataDrive2030 are helping practitioners strengthen quality through structured assessment, personalised feedback and the information they need to make meaningful improvements.

Youth, Purpose and Possibility: Why ECD is One of South Africa’s Most Rewarding Career Paths for Young Women

South Africa’s youth unemployment rate stands at 45.8% and young women bear a disproportionate share of that burden. This Youth Month, we spotlight one of the most powerful responses to this inequality: the early childhood development sector and why it offers young women a genuine pathway into employment, business ownership and community leadership.

Leading with Purpose: Welcoming Samantha Maasdorp to IMBE

IMBE is pleased to welcome Samantha Maasdorp as its new Managing Director. Bringing over a decade of experience across early childhood development, women’s enterprise support and sustainable economic development in Africa, Samantha will lead IMBE’s next phase of growth as it continues to strengthen women-led ECD businesses and expand opportunities for the children and communities they serve.

Small Events, Big Returns: How The Right Tools Help ECD Owners Grow Income and Build Community

IMBE is helping ECD practitioners grow their income in practical, low-cost ways. Through tools like an Events Guide and a branded gazebo, recipients are able to turn everyday activities into opportunities that build visibility, strengthen parent relationships and support more sustainable businesses.

Feeding the Future: How Better Meals Support Learning and Build Stronger ECD Businesses

IMBE’s Nutriwallet Programme responds to South Africa’s growing focus on tackling child stunting by showing how better nutrition can strengthen both child development and ECD business sustainability. Piloted with 475 ECDs serving more than 15,000 children in Gauteng, the programme helps practitioners improve meals, manage costs and build more resilient centres.

South Africa Has Spoken: Early Childhood Development Is an Economic Imperative

In the space of a few weeks, South Africa’s ECD Lekgotla, the State of the Nation Address and the Budget Speech all delivered the same message: Early Childhood Development is an economic imperative. With R12.8 billion in additional ECD funding announced over the next three years, discover what this policy convergence means for the women delivering early learning on the ground.

Measuring What Matters: How IMBE Is Strengthening ECD Businesses and Expanding Early Learning Access

Over three years, IMBE-supported ECDs increased child enrolment by 32% and fee income by 9%, outpacing inflation. Our Annual Business Diagnostics survey shows how women-led centres are building stronger, more sustainable businesses and expanding access to early learning.

Safe Spaces, Secure Futures: Building Registration-Ready ECDs

IMBE has conducted more than 2,000 infrastructure assessments across six provinces, helping women-led ECDs create safer, registration-ready centres that meet Department of Basic Education standards. Discover how safer spaces are unlocking subsidies, building trust with families and strengthening the long-term sustainability of ECDs across South Africa.

Empowering Women ECD Entrepreneurs for a Fairer Start

Black women make up more than 90% of South Africa’s 200,000-strong ECD workforce, yet too many of the small businesses they run are underfunded and unstable. The latest Thrive by Five Index shows only 42% of four-year-olds in early learning programmes are developmentally on track. Investing in the women behind these centres is key to changing that.

Food for Growth: Why Managing Food Costs is Key to Stronger ECD Businesses

Food can account for as much as a third of an ECD’s total costs, yet prices are rising faster than school fees. IMBE’s Nutriwallet pilot, informed by 353 interviews with practitioners across nine Gauteng townships serving over 10,000 children, is exploring how to help women-led centres manage food costs, improve nutrition and build more resilient businesses.

Keeping the Doors Open: ECDs During the July Holidays

Nearly three-quarters of the 1,680 ECD practitioners surveyed by IMBE kept their doors open during the July school holidays, even when only a handful of children arrived each day. Discover what this mid-year snapshot reveals about the resilience, financial pressures and entrepreneurial spirit of women-led ECD businesses.

Planting Seeds, Growing Futures: How Ma Kekana is Nurturing the Next Generation of ECD Leaders

After more than a decade running a day care centre in Cosmo City, Ma Kekana has become far more than an ECD owner. She’s a mentor, a connector and a quiet force for transformation among the women-led ECDs in her community. Discover how entrepreneurs like her are nurturing stronger businesses and stronger futures for the children they serve.

Youth at the Centre: How IMBE is Building Careers and Confidence Through Purposeful Work

From field support to data insights, IMBE is tackling South Africa’s youth unemployment crisis by intentionally recruiting young people for its team, from the communities its ECD practitioners serve. With 85% of the IMBE team under the age of 35 and 90% Black South Africans, IMBE is building careers and confidence amongst the country’s youth while helping practitioners grow stronger, more sustainable businesses.

The Future is in This Room: Meet the 25-Year-Old ECD Owner Building Bright Futures in Brakpan

At just 25, Thandiwe Mahlangu opened her ECD in Brakpan with no funding and no outside help, cleaning and painting the space herself. In less than a year she grew from 15 to 30 children. Meet the young entrepreneur building bright futures for her community and her own.

Building Better Businesses for Early Learning: Inside IMBE’s Accelerator Programme

Since 2021, more than 2,500 women-led ECD businesses across four provinces have completed IMBE’s Accelerator Programme, with participants reporting an average 35% increase in monthly fees and a 30% rise in learner numbers. Discover how the programme is building the financial and operational skills that drive long-term impact.

Beyond Good Intentions: Building a Stronger ECD Sector in South Africa by Getting Public Funding to Where it’s Needed Most

South Africa has announced a R10 billion investment in ECD over the next three years, the largest public investment in the sector to date. But with 1.3 million children still not enrolled in any early learning programme, public funding only matters if it reaches the women-led businesses working at the frontline. Discover how IMBE is helping make that happen.