What works in Johannesburg
All catalogues · South Africa profile
Quality scores are 0–100 rubric scores; “strong evidence” reflects study design; adoptions count documented replications elsewhere. Know more
Evidence snapshot for Johannesburg
Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator was founded in Johannesburg in 2011 and operates a job-matching platform that has placed over 20,000 young people with more than 200 partner companies; a randomised controlled trial of 6,891 participants found its skills certificates raised employment by approximately 5 percentage points (17% relative to control) and weekly earnings by 34%. WeThinkCode_, a free coding academy with a Johannesburg campus, increased women's share of new student intake from 6% in 2016 to roughly 50% by 2021, with its 2023 class reporting a 98% employment rate. The practices demonstrate measurable employment and skills outcomes in Johannesburg, though the broader economic or population-level impact on the city is not quantified.
Drawn from: Harambee's Skills-Information Intervention — Closing South Africa's Youth Job-Matching Gap · WeThinkCode_ — Achieving Gender Parity in a Free South African Coding Academy · DHET–Google AI and Digital Skills Scholarships — 10,000 Career Certificates for South African Students and Educators · GovChat — South Africa's WhatsApp-Based Citizen Engagement Platform and Its Meta Access Dispute · Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct — Wits University's Braamfontein Tech Hub · Vulavula — Lelapa AI's Speech-to-Text and NLP Platform for South African Languages · MoUJi — University of Johannesburg's Multilingual AI Chatbot for Admissions, Registration and Financial Aid · Speaking Books — Sound-Chip Audiobooks for Low-Literacy Health Education
Generated from this place's cited practices only. Always check the linked sources.
Strengths & weaknesses vs peers
Strengths
Inclusiveness / equity +57 pts 100 here · 43 average
Effectiveness +34 pts 100 here · 66 average
Impact on gender equality +30 pts 100 here · 70 average
Curator validation +27 pts 100 here · 73 average
Demonstrated reach +24 pts 100 here · 76 average
Evaluated outcomes +22 pts 100 here · 78 average
Equity & inclusion +17 pts 67 here · 50 average
Achievement / evidence +13 pts 100 here · 87 average
Transparency, fairness & accountability +13 pts 67 here · 54 average
Multi-stakeholder collaboration +10 pts 83 here · 74 average
Evidence of impact / measured public value +10 pts 67 here · 57 average
Weaknesses
Sustainability -11 pts 67 here · 78 average
Evidence of learning impact -15 pts 11 here · 26 average
Documented learning -24 pts 50 here · 74 average
Governance, capability & sustainability -30 pts 33 here · 64 average
Efficiency -32 pts 0 here · 32 average
Evaluation evidence -49 pts 0 here · 49 average
Gender-mainstreaming embedding -89 pts 0 here · 89 average
Score profile vs peers
Coloured bar: Johannesburg. Grey bar: peer average across the corpus. Both on a common 0–100 scale.
Points compare this place's average on each dimension with the average across all evaluated places, on a common 0–100 scale. Know more
Top good practices here
Harambee's Skills-Information Intervention — Closing South Africa's Youth Job-Matching Gap · 81
WeThinkCode_ — Achieving Gender Parity in a Free South African Coding Academy · 74
GovChat — South Africa's WhatsApp-Based Citizen Engagement Platform and Its Meta Access Dispute · 67
Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct — Wits University's Braamfontein Tech Hub · 57
Vulavula — Lelapa AI's Speech-to-Text and NLP Platform for South African Languages · 56
Speaking Books — Sound-Chip Audiobooks for Low-Literacy Health Education · 52
Each number is the practice's overall 0–100 quality score against its catalogue's rubric. Know more
Recommended to adopt or replicate
Transferable practices from elsewhere that address this place's gaps.
Ciudad Mujer — El Salvador's Integrated Women's Services Programme · fit 100/100
- Rated highly transferable
- Backed by strong evidence
- Addresses this place's weak dimensions
Already adopted in 3 other places
SASA! Community Mobilisation Programme against Intimate Partner Violence — Uganda · fit 100/100
- Rated highly transferable
- Backed by strong evidence
- Addresses this place's weak dimensions
Already adopted in 4 other places
Karya — Fair-Wage AI Data-Work Platform Bringing Digital Income to Rural India · fit 100/100
- Backed by strong evidence
- Addresses this place's weak dimensions
safe+natal — Comadrona-Designed Smartphone Checklist for Maternal Risk Screening in Rural Guatemala · fit 100/100
- Backed by strong evidence
- Addresses this place's weak dimensions
Digital Green — Video-Mediated Agricultural Extension · fit 100/100
- Backed by strong evidence
- Addresses this place's weak dimensions
Kartu Prakerja – National Digital Skills and Financial Inclusion Programme · fit 100/100
- Backed by strong evidence
- Addresses this place's weak dimensions
Rwanda's Land Tenure Regularization Programme — Titling Land in Women's Names · fit 90/100
- Rated highly transferable
- Backed by strong evidence
- Addresses this place's weak dimensions
- Rated highly transferable
- Backed by strong evidence
- Addresses this place's weak dimensions
Already adopted in 6 other places
Fit estimates how well a practice matches this place, 0 (poor) to 100 (excellent); the list is ordered to favour practices that address this place's gaps. Know more