Money, meaning and the long road to participation

By Carel Nolte

There is something interesting about how things come full circle.

A few years ago, long before EasyEquities became such a central part of my life, I found myself involved in conversations around financial education in South Africa. It started, as many good things do, through people. Caroline da Silva, a long-time friend and one of the doyennes of the insurance world, was working at the regulator at the time. She reached out. Alongside Rob Christian at CN&CO, we helped think through what would become part of the strategy behind Money Smart Week South Africa.

At the time, it was one of many contributions. Interesting work, good people, an opportunity to be useful.

Fast forward, and I now sit at EasyEquities, part of a business that, in many ways, lives that same mission every day. Not in theory, but in practice. Not in policy documents, but in the hands of more than a million South Africans actively investing.

It reminds me that very little in life is linear.

I have spent close to 30 years in financial services. Insurance, investments and much in between. Along the way, I was part of the founding team of the Treating Customers Fairly committee at SAIA. That work helped shape legislation that still underpins how we think about fairness in financial services today. It also fundamentally shaped how I think about marketing in this industry. Not as persuasion, but as responsibility.

That philosophy aligns closely with what we try to do at EasyEquities. Radical transparency is not a slogan. It is a discipline.

There have been many other initiatives along the way. Proudly Insurance, which I co-founded with Margaret Nienaber, now COO at Standard Bank and one of the finest leaders in financial services. Work with regulators, with companies, with communities. Always with the same underlying belief: access matters.

The uncomfortable truth

But here is the uncomfortable truth, and one that is clearly articulated in the recently released draft National Consumer Financial Education Policy.

Access on its own is not enough. South Africa has achieved high levels of access to financial services, yet outcomes have not improved at the same pace. Financial literacy levels have remained broadly flat over time, and many consumers still struggle to translate access into meaningful financial progress.

That is the gap. That is the work. Financial education is not about definitions. It is about capability. Confidence. Behaviour. The ability to act. To make choices. To stay the course. To recover when things go wrong.

And that takes time. It also takes coordination. The policy makes this clear. Government, private sector, schools, communities, industry bodies. This is a shared responsibility. No single entity will solve it.

But here is where I think we need to be honest with ourselves.

We have spent years talking about financial education. What we now need is more participation.

At EasyEquities, we see what happens when people move from theory to action. Today, we have over 1.3 million active clients. Some invest a few rand. Some invest millions. Together, they are putting billions into the market every month.

That matters.

Because investing is not just for a few. It cannot be. If we want a more inclusive, more resilient society, we need broad-based, sustainable participation in financial markets.

If you have not yet started, you can do so here.

Start small. Learn. Build. Stay consistent. That is how wealth is created. Not through speculation, not through shortcuts, and certainly not through gambling, which remains a growing and worrying substitute for real investing for far too many people.

The bigger picture

As I write this, I am in the Philippines, working with the EasyEquities team and our partners at GCash. What we are seeing here is a reminder that access is not just a South African issue. Across Asia, across emerging markets, the opportunity to bring millions of people into meaningful participation in financial markets is enormous.

And necessary.

Because participation is dignity.

And because, to whom much is given, much is expected.

That line has stayed with me for years. It feels particularly relevant here.

If you understand money, help someone else understand it. If you have access, open the door. If you are already investing, bring someone with you.

Money Smart Week South Africa is one moment in the year. The work is daily. And it belongs to all of us.