G20 Summit: Women lead the charge for economic equality

As South Africa prepares to host the G20 Summit in November, leading influential women are taking the opportunity to spotlight the critical issues of economic empowerment and the gender pay gap.

Their discussions reveal both the progress achieved and the significant barriers that still exist, calling for urgent action to create a more equitable economic landscape for women.

With South Africa holding the 2025 G20 presidency, the nation is currently hosting working group meetings in anticipation of the G20 Summit.

The G20 aims to economically empower women and reduce the gender gap by 25% by 2030, through the Brisbane-eThekwini Goal, supported by the G20's Empowerment of Women Working Group (EWWG) and the Women20 (W20) engagement group which aims to increase women's economic participation, financial inclusion, and access to resources.

As a woman at the forefront of change, Minister of Small Business Development, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, said women constitute more than 50% of the population.

Ndabeni-Abrahams said empowering women is therefore a strategic economic investment with multiplier effects for households, communities, and the nation.

The minister said there has been progress in the economic empowerment of women and the reduction of the gender gap in Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and cooperatives.

During its 2025 budget vote, the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) announced an initial R300 million for the Women Entrepreneurship Fund. This initiative aims to boost female self-employment by supporting women as business owners and entrepreneurs.

She said towards the end of the 2024/25 financial year, the Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency (Sedfa) launched a Women’s Desk to ensure well-coordinated support for women entrepreneurs, which will combine finance, capacity building, and market access.

The department developed the Gender, Youth and Disabilities (Geyodi) Mainstreaming Strategy over the past five years, streamlining financial and non-financial resource allocation to women entrepreneurs.

According to the Minister, between the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years, more than 54% of all non-financial support under the former Small Enterprise Development Agency went to women entrepreneurs.

In addition, Ndabeni-Abrahams said the Department and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa), now merged with Sedfa, directed efforts towards bridging the digital divide along gender lines.

“Almost 43% of the 2,322 businesses supported in these programmes were women-owned.”

Regarding access to finance, she said of R2.3 billion disbursed into the economy in business loans by the former Sefa, about R811 million was disbursed to women-owned enterprises during the 2024/25 financial year.

The Minister said of R2.3 billion in business loans disbursed by the former Sefa in the 2024/25 financial year, R811 million went to women-owned businesses.

However, she said generally, women continue to face multiple structural and systemic barriers, stereotypes, prejudice, exclusion from access to procurement opportunities, and limited access to financial support information and business networks.

The Minister highlighted the safety and security challenges faced by women, particularly in contexts such as cross-border trading and attending site meetings.

She said despite empirical evidence showing that women honour their debts, they remain excluded from financial support.

“Women are not trusted with multi-million-rand projects/tenders, and companies, including the government, still expect women to be subcontracted.”

Instead, Ndabeni-Abrahams said women are given very small procurement opportunities like catering and cleaning.

She said women are still in the lower levels of construction grading in line with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB).

With regard to the gender digital divide, the Minister said women are not yet digitally literate and do not have access to digital devices.

“Women have the burden of unpaid care; many are taking care of their families, sick relatives, and bringing up kids, which takes them away from many economic activities and opportunities,” said Ndabeni-Abrahams.

International Trade Law expert, Thelela Ngcetane-Vika, from Wits School of Governance, said the G20 needs to centre gender equality as a critical agenda item.

Ngcetane-Vika said given current geopolitical tensions, the gender agenda is severely compromised, and there is a sense that this important issue is not a priority.

She said South Africa and the Global South must advocate for the G20 Summit in November to prioritise gender, as politicians alone, facing numerous challenges, may not sufficiently address it.

While South Africa has good policies, Ngcetane-Vika said there is failure in implementation.

For example, the African Macroeconomic Policy, which aims for inclusive growth, poverty reduction, and social development by focusing on human capital and infrastructure, is not being implemented, among others.

In addition, she said there is a lack of political will and a lack of commitment in corporate South Africa.

Often, it’s about ticking boxes, she said, using examples of achieving a 50/50 gender split in government and the corporate sector.

“This isn't always true commitment, which should involve developing, empowering, and investing in women through skills, courses, and education,” she said.

Ngcetane-Vika said when politicians sell manifestos, they talk about these issues, but she questioned whether this is a real commitment.

“It would go back to the kind of leaders we have in this country. Do we have people who are really committed? Because you can have policies, but if there's a lack of goodwill, lack of commitment, and lack of passion for women empowerment, then it becomes a by-the-way; it has to be central,” she said.

She highlighted the deliberate efforts within the government to close the gender gap and expressed hope that these initiatives receive the necessary support.

However, Ngcetane-Vika said more women still need to be appointed.

But beyond making policies, Ngcetane-Vika said people need to be educated about the importance of empowering women and reducing the gender gap, encouraging men to become allies of women empowerment.

karen.singh@inl.co.za