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 it is a right that is a critical enabler of economic independence, dignity, and equality.
“Yet, across the world and particularly here in South Africa, too many women remain excluded from basic financial services without bank accounts, denied access to credit and disconnected from investment opportunities.
“This exclusion is even more pronounced for women living with disabilities, rural women, young women and women in the informal employment,” Chikunga said on Monday in Johannesburg.
The breakfast meeting was aimed at engaging the banking sector in investing in the work of the 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; create demand-driven financial products tailored to women’s lived realities and incentivise financial institutions to become more inclusive through policy and innovation.
Furthermore, Chikunga suggested that the banking sector invest in digital literacy, infrastructure and access to technology for women and persons with disabilities as well as integrate inclusion into the very architecture of economic planning.
“We must also look at the role of care infrastructure not as a social cost but as an economic multiplier. Investment in the care economy is investment in jobs, community wellbeing and women’s ability to fully participate in the workforce.
“Together, we must not only reimagine, but also actively innovate alternative pathways to building an economy that is dynamic, resilient, and inclusive enough to truly leave no one behind.
“Together, let’s explore practical strategies, share success stories, break barriers, challenge stereotypes and fast track the development of financing models that unlock the full economic potential of women and persons with disabilities. Together, lets create a banking environment where everyone can thrive,” she said.
The Minister explained that G20 Empowerment of Women Working Group (EWWG) has committed to advancing three urgent priorities that include the care economy, financial inclusion for and of women, and gender-based violence and femicide.
“As part of this working group, we have developed several empowerment programmes as legacy projects that we wish to partner with private sector partners beyond South Africa’s G20 Presidency.
“To this end, we have conceptualised and designed a series of Transformative Emerging Industrialists Accelerator Programs and intend to rally all relevant stakeholders, particularly SOEs, private sector companies and industry associations behind their implementation,” the Minister said.
These programs will target emerging women industrialists in key sectors, including energy security, the maritime, defence and aerospace industries, platform economies and agriculture, among others.
Participating emerging industrialists will work alongside experienced industry associations, receiving support from ideation through to product development, financing, market access, and commercialisation pathways.
“To advance disability inclusion, we have also developed an investment case for the establishment of a Disability Inclusion Nerve Centre, a legacy project of South Africa’s Chairship of the G20 Empowerment of Women Working Group.
“This centre will serve as a cornerstone for advancing disability rights and inclusion in the region, aligning with both South Africa’s constitutional imperatives and international commitments,” the Minister said.
The centre will focus on the following priorities:
- Research on mainstreaming the mights of persons with disabilities, particularly in the areas of financial inclusion, care economy, artificial intelligence (AI), climate change and conducive working conditions.
- Establishing a national disability data observatory.
- Strengthening data collection and reporting systems across public and private sectors.
- Developing early childhood disability screening protocols.
- Enhancing institutional capacity through strengthened disability focal points.
- Leveraging AI for disability inclusion.
- Supporting special schools across South Africa to train teachers, address the digital divide, and improve educational outcomes for learners with disabilities.
- Developing a model disability inclusive classroom and school for South Africa.
South Africa assumed the G20 Presidency from 1 December 2024 to 30 November 2025 under the theme: “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability”. – SAnews.gov.za
