2024 JSE investment challenge highlights: South Africa’s brightest young minds excel in financial literacy

The winners of the 2024 JSE Investment Challenge have been announced, with teams from Stellenbosch University, the University of Pretoria and Mpumelelo Secondary School taking top honours. Notably, Mpumelelo Secondary School achieved a repeat victory, taking all five top positions in the Schools Income category.

The challenge, now in its 51st year, aims to cultivate an investment culture and improve financial literacy among South African pupils and students. This year’s competition attracted 49,000 participants.

The JSE Investment Challenge has benefited from strategic partnerships with Standard Bank, Nedbank and the Western Cape Education Department. These collaborations drove the programme’s expansion, successfully increasing its presence in South African schools and higher education institutions.

The programme’s impact was further highlighted by the impressive results achieved by this year’s winners. The winning portfolios demonstrated outstanding financial prowess in investing a virtual amount of R1-million on the stock market in real stocks listed on the JSE over six months.

Sizwe Mtsweni, a teacher at Mpumelelo Secondary School, said his pupils are feeling good after winning the income portfolio category for the second time this year. The school took all five prizes in the income category. Coming from a rural area and having to overcome the challenges of not having enough resources and relying on one computer to prepare for the competition were hiccups, but they managed to come out victorious.

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The road to Mpumelelo Secondary's success is paved with grit, dreams and determination. 

Building on this achievement, Ralph Speirs, senior CSI officer at the JSE, said he was impressed by the energy, strategic thinking and fervour that pupils and students demonstrated in developing competitive strategies to get ahead in the competition this year.

Category winners

Schools Income Portfolio:

Schools Equity Portfolio:

Schools Speculator Portfolio:

Schools ETF/ETN Portfolio:

University ETF/ETN Portfolio:

University Speculator Portfolio:

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.