The academy programme comprises six modules and is run over 10 months.  It is designed to give learners an overview of the property industry through a mix of lectures, group work, reading, individual assignments, external visits and a final exam and group presentation.

In order to maintain the necessary academic rigour, the Academy is run in partnership with Wits Enterprise, with Professor Francois Viruly and Graeme Jay the appointed programme directors.  The programme is also supported by SAPOA, the representative body of commercial and industrial property in South Africa.

The inaugural phase of the academy was launched in Gauteng in February 2008 and this Inaugural Class, along with the Class of 2008 for Gauteng were awarded their Wits Certificates in Property Finance Practice last Wednesday. 

The full programme was officially launched in KZN, the Cape and Gauteng in August 2008 and the Class of 2009 commenced in February of this year in all three regions. 

The academy is currently only available to Nedbank Corporate Property Finance employee, and the rollout plan is to have 175 graduates by the end of 2009, with 75 learners graduating per year thereafter.  The Academy is a Category B offering and helps Nedbank Corporate Property Finance to exceed its DTI targets for Learnerships. 

Says Frank Berkeley, managing executive of Nedbank Corporate Property Finance, "We elected to create the Property Academy in response to the limited availability of specialist skilled individuals in the property industry.  Offering in-house training of this calibre supports Nedbank’s values of equipping staff with the necessary tools to thrive in our high performance culture, which in turn benefits the industry" .