NBI Powering Futures 

Methodology 

As its leading principle, the JET SEP strives to be demand-led, taking its cues from projects as they evolve over time. To make sense of both the immediate and emerging demand for skills, a four-step process is adopted. Firstly, the researchers reviewed over 20 authoritative public documents and databases – including the Integrated Resource Plan, the Eskom Renewable Energy Survey, the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) – to identify upcoming energy projects and their timelines. Secondly, we detailed operational activities required for each step of each value chain and translated them into occupations. These activities were translated into occupations using South Africa’s Organising Framework for Occupations (OFO) and augmented with international classification systems to identify additional occupations that may be relevant but may not yet be reflected in the OFO. Thirdly, researchers calculated the number of jobs required per year to execute each project, taking into account the duration of need. Lastly, the team conducted scenario analysis to understand how demand estimates change based on the level of local manufacturing and assembly (localisation). 

Key findings 

Private sector taking the lead 

South Africa’s clean-energy future is being driven from boardrooms. 

Since its April 2024 launch, the JET SEP has mobilised over 30 chief executive officers and business titans across South Africa’s largest companies. Around 50 stakeholders across business, government, academia and the nonprofit sector have come together to create a unified voice to deliver the JET Skills Implementation Plan.  

Structured governance through the CEO Champions Board, advisory groups and working teams enables coordinated, industry-informed action. The programme’s strategic structure includes: 

• CEO Champions Board: directional input from top executives 
• Steering committee: decision-making authority with Lead CEO Champions, PMU, BUSA and PCC representatives 
• Advisory board and working groups: strategic and technical support across key sectors (e.g. solar, green hydrogen, electric vehicles and battery storage). 

Beyond construction to building sustainable careers 

South Africa’s path to a truly ‘just’ net-zero relies heavily on the development of 150 gigawatts of new renewables over 30 years. According to the JET Implementation Plan: 2023–2027, success lies in moving past initial short-term infrastructure jobs to sustained employment in operations, maintenance and manufacturing.  

Maintenance of infrastructure, local manufacturing and procurement, as well as end-of-life management open the door for long-term job security. Upskilling, linked to skills retention, is the key process that unlocks that door. 

Since training without opportunity is futile, the JET SEP emphasises demand-led skilling, including integrated workplace learning, as the key enabler for successful labour market entry. This approach aligns with evidence showing that employer-linked training builds the employability skills necessary for successful career and job transitions. 

Localisation and inclusive ecosystems 

South Africa needs to grow its own green economy to achieve economic success. To support this, the JET SEP promotes the concept of skills development zones (SDZs), or geographically anchored clusters linked to clean-energy value chains that are accessible to small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), youth and under-represented communities. A US$1 million Fund for Africa Private Sector Assistance grant from the African Development Bank (AfDB), awarded in July 2025 for NBI to implement, will fund feasibility studies and capacity building efforts for technical institutions, laying the groundwork for these SDZs. 

South Africa has secured significant financial capital to support the broader JET transition. This includes a US$474.6-million concessional loan from AfDB in July 2025 and earlier pledges totalling US$8.5 billion, which later rose to US$11.6 billion, from the International Partners Group at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties 26 to fund infrastructure, green hydrogen, skills and municipal capacity. 

However, without allocating resources and funding to bolster local management and procurement, there is a risk of creating a workforce ecosystem that stalls, with an oversupply of the wrong skills and an undersupply of the right skills. Having the necessary skills supply (to match and meet the demand as it arises) is essential to enabling a successful green economy rollout. 

Requirements for growing JET jobs 

The success of the JET SEP relies on the alignment of the following: 

1. Reliable funding: Beyond grants, sustainable public–private financing models must underwrite training infrastructure, learner support and SDZ operations. 
2. Demand-led skilling alignment: Continuous labour-market intelligence to ensure training meets real-time industry needs as they arise. 
3. Workplace access: companies, SMMEs and government must transition training opportunities into formal work placements, internships and apprenticeships. 
4. Institutional capacity: Public technical and vocational institutions must be strengthened to deliver programmes for skills in demand as the green economy evolves. 
5. Ecosystem coordination: SDZs must integrate private, public, academic and NGO resources for agile, place-based delivery. 

The JET SEP is more than an economic, social and moral imperative. It provides the roadmap for strategic insight and engagement to meet the future as it arrives. By uniting private sector voices, anchoring training in real demand, embedding workplace-based learning and orienting for localisation and inclusion, the JET SEP is building a green-skilling ecosystem that can unfold over the coming decades. 

Key takeaways 

• The private sector is a crucial catalyst: CEO-led collaboration is fuelling coordinated, demand-led skilling aligned to national strategy and must be scaled at pace. 
• Skilling that counts: Data-driven job mapping ensures skills are relevant and matched to jobs as they arise. 
• Sustainable, local, inclusive: SDZs, funding and workplace training are laying the foundation for a green-skills economy. Bolstering these resources will have important long-term job benefits.