Johannesburg: Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Sindisiwe Chikunga has called on the banking sector to be intentional in designing financial systems that assist the underserved and empower the marginalised. Addressing the Group of Twenty (G20) Breakfast-Round Table on the Empowerment of Women and Disability Inclusion in the Banking Sector, the Minister emphasised that financial inclusion is not a luxury but a critical enabler of economic independence, dignity, and equality.
According to South African Government News Agency, Chikunga highlighted the exclusion of many women worldwide, particularly in South Africa, from basic financial services. She noted that women are often without bank accounts, denied access to credit, and disconnected from investment opportunities. This exclusion is more pronounced for women living with disabilities, rural women, young women, and women in informal employment. The breakfast meeting aimed to engage the banking sector in investing in th
e Empowerment of Women Working Group and the G20 Disability Inclusion Initiatives.
The Minister encouraged the banking sector to reimagine financial systems by ensuring they serve women entrepreneurs, especially those leading micro and small enterprises. She urged the creation of demand-driven financial products tailored to women’s lived realities and incentivised financial institutions to become more inclusive through policy and innovation. Furthermore, Chikunga suggested investing in digital literacy, infrastructure, and access to technology for women and persons with disabilities, integrating inclusion into the architecture of economic planning.
Chikunga stressed the importance of viewing care infrastructure as an economic multiplier rather than a social cost, highlighting its potential for job creation, community wellbeing, and women’s workforce participation. She called for practical strategies, sharing of success stories, breaking barriers, challenging stereotypes, and fast-tracking the development of
financing models that unlock the economic potential of women and persons with disabilities.
The Minister outlined the G20 Empowerment of Women Working Group’s commitment to advancing priorities such as the care economy, financial inclusion for women, and addressing gender-based violence and femicide. As part of this group, several empowerment programmes have been developed as legacy projects, aiming to partner with private sector entities beyond South Africa’s G20 Presidency.
Emerging women industrialists in key sectors, including energy security, maritime, defence, aerospace, platform economies, and agriculture, will benefit from these programmes. They will receive support from ideation to product development, financing, market access, and commercialisation pathways, working alongside experienced industry associations.
To advance disability inclusion, an investment case has been developed for establishing a Disability Inclusion Nerve Centre as a legacy project of South Africa’s Chairship of the G20 Empowe
rment of Women Working Group. This centre will focus on research on mainstreaming disability rights, establishing a national disability data observatory, strengthening data collection and reporting systems, and developing early childhood disability screening protocols.
The centre aims to enhance institutional capacity, leverage AI for disability inclusion, support special schools in South Africa, and develop a model disability-inclusive classroom and school. South Africa assumed the G20 Presidency from 1 December 2024 to 30 November 2025 under the theme: ‘Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability’.