JOHANNESBURG, May 6 (Xinhua) -- South Africa is working to achieve women's economic and financial autonomy in a bid to achieve gender equality, a government official said on Tuesday.
Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Sindisiwe Chikunga made the remarks at the Group of 20 (G20) Financial Inclusion and Women Empowerment Conference 2025 in South Africa's North West Province.
Chikunga said it is crucial to leverage preferential public procurement at various levels of government to achieve sustainable financial inclusion.
"This should include setting mandatory quotas for contracts awarded to women-owned businesses, with specific attention to marginalized women entrepreneurs. In South Africa, we have put the quota at 40 percent for women-owned businesses," she said.
Chikunga spoke of "social, legal, and customary barriers" that hinder women's ownership of land, capital, credit, technology, and other means of production, urging efforts to ensure that women have access to land-related productive assets as key pillars of financial inclusion and the foundation of wealth creation.
"At the level of economic decision-making and policy leadership, we must implement gender-responsive budgeting across all government departments, establish meaningful quotas for women in financial institutions and regulatory bodies, and create specialized economic advisory councils that amplify women's voices in all areas where the direction of our economies is determined," she said.
Chikunga called on countries to ensure that women have access to financial resources and capital formation, promote progressive fiscal reforms, and overhaul the global financial architecture to be gender-sensitive.
The G20 Financial Inclusion and Women Empowerment Conference is scheduled from Tuesday to Wednesday. ■