For Martin Sweet, Group CEO of Prime Impact Holdings, creating opportunities that empower South Africa’s young people to realise their potential has never just been about corporate social investment. It has been about building bridges between possibility and opportunity.
For 21 years, Sweet has been at the helm of Primestars, one of South Africa’s leading developers of youth upliftment programmes. What began as a bold idea has grown into a national engine of opportunity, touching more than 1.7 million learners and now reaching more than 90 000 young people every year.
Sweet was recently named Best CEO at the national CSI Legacy Awards, which recognise individuals and businesses that have made significant contributions to addressing South Africa’s biggest education challenges.
It’s timely recognition for Sweet, who this year took on the title of Group CEO of Prime Impact Holdings, which is made up of Primestars, Signa, Seed Academy, School Media and InternFit. The new company structure creates an integrated ecosystem “from Learning to Earning” that allows corporate partners to invest in young people, communities and enterprise development in a way that delivers real impact and value.
According to Sweet, when Primestars (originally Marketing Stars) began in 2004 there was a small team with a big idea: that South Africa’s youngsters deserved more than hope. “They deserved access, opportunity, and a bridge between where they were and where they aspired to go. In those early days, I learned to listen before acting — to understand the true state of what we were building and to make the handful of foundational decisions that would set our direction.”
A turning point was the novel concept of using Ster Kinekor and Nu Metro cinemas as “theatres of learning”. According to Sweet, the reimagining of an entertainment space as a national classroom taught him and his team to think differently. These theatres of learning became the venue for Primestars’ first national edutainment programme – EduCate. This project continues to be a vital free revision tool for South African matriculants, with the 2026 launch taking place this wee
From this foundation, Primestars expanded its reach far beyond academic support, developing programmes that prepare young people for the realities of work, entrepreneurship and leadership while addressing some of the country’s most pressing social challenges.
“We helped young people explore careers they didn’t know existed. We encouraged them to step into entrepreneurship, to see themselves as creators of jobs rather than seekers of them. We challenged stereotypes around gender and masculinity. We taught financial literacy in ways that spoke to human behaviour. We built leadership programmes that helped young people find their voice, their agency, their purpose,” says Sweet.
Both the Department of Basic Education and Department of Higher Education and Training have been long-term partners. Corporate sponsors who have supported Sweet’s work over the years include Liberty, Standard Bank, Cell C, First National Bank, Anglo American, Seriti and AECI.
Sweet believes the common thread running through every initiative has been a simple conviction that South Africa’s young people are not lacking in potential, but in access to the opportunities and support that allow that potential to flourish.
“The youth of this country are not broken. They are brilliant. They simply need scaffolding, encouragement and environments that allow their gifts to rise,” he says.
For Sweet, the award is recognition not of one individual, but of the collective effort behind programmes that have helped millions of young South Africans imagine bigger futures for themselves. It also marks the beginning of a new chapter as he leads Prime Impact Holdings in extending the reach and influence of its portfolio of purpose-driven businesses by developing youth and accelerating growth.
