Ryan Passmore - The "Missing Middle"

Ryan Passmore - The "Missing Middle"

From BizNews Radio by BizNews

May 8, 2026 · 15 min

About this episode

Ryan Passmore discusses the shortcomings of South Africa's student funding system and proposes solutions through ZenFund Connect.

In this interview with BizNews, Ryan Passmore – Durban-based fintech founder of ZenFund Connect – unpacks why he believes South Africa's student funding system is broken, and how he proposes to fix it. Passmore points to the "missing middle": households earning between R350,000 and R600,000 a year, who are too well-off to qualify for NSFAS but cannot afford the R19,000 a month the University of Pretoria says it costs to put a child through an undergraduate degree. He cites stark 2026 figures – NSFAS received over 900,000 first-time applications, with more than 100,000 rejected outright, while of 500,000 continuing students assessed, only 100,000 were approved. Passmore says: "I believe the missing middle is South Africa's policy blind spot." He outlines how ZenFund Connect – a nonprofit student life ecosystem associated with the Chad le Clos Foundation, spanning South Africa's 26 public universities – aims to plug the gap through three integrated modules: finance, DHET-verified student accommodation, and career placement. Passmore argues that bursaries and loans alone will not solve graduate unemployment; only an end-to-end ecosystem that walks with the student from matric…

People in this episode

Host: BizNews

Guest: Ryan Passmore

Topics covered

  • student funding
  • South Africa
  • fintech
  • education
  • graduate unemployment
  • policy

Keywords

  • student funding
  • missing middle
  • NSFAS
  • graduate unemployment
  • fintech
  • education policy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ZenFund Connect, NSFAS, Chad le Clos Foundation

Places: South Africa, University of Pretoria

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