Poverty in Africa has the face of a woman

The exclusion of women from land ownership, finance and leadership continues to hold Africa back, leaders warned at the G20 Empowerment of Women Working Group Women to Africa event in Sandton.

Former African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said Africa’s development would remain out of reach unless women are placed at the centre of economic growth. “Poverty in Africa has the face of an African woman. Women struggle daily to feed their children, access healthcare, and find employment even for graduates. Gender-based violence strips away dignity, while many remain locked out of finance and land ownership,” she said. She called for women to be given land rights and access to capital, saying: “Africa has fertile land, abundant sunshine, water and people to be self-sufficient in food production. But this potential will never be realised if women cannot own land and access capital.”

The event also heard that Africa’s biggest bank by assets, Standard Bank, has committed $10 million to the African Women Impact Fund (AWIF), a Pan-African initiative supported by the UN Economic Commission for Africa, UN Women and the African Union Commission. The fund aims to channel capital to women fund managers, who are more likely to invest in women-led businesses, helping to close the $42 billion financing gap faced by women entrepreneurs across the continent.

Standard Bank Chief Executive of Corporate and Investment Banking Luvuyo Masinda said the contribution was intended to broaden women’s participation in financial markets. “By strengthening the role of women as fund managers and decision makers, we are helping expand access to finance, unlock opportunities and drive growth,” he said.

Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Sindisiwe Chikunga welcomed the initiative but stressed the need for concrete action. “Conferences do not change the world, systems do. What matters is whether women across our continent gain access to capital, safety, and leadership. We must finance women-owned businesses, place women at the frontier of Africa’s new industries, and institutionalise accountability beyond events,” she said.

The African Women Impact Fund was launched to support women in fund management and promote investments into women-owned enterprises in line with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Supporters of the initiative say it is a scalable and sustainable way to ensure that women are not left behind in Africa’s economic transformation.