Africa Must Intensify Efforts to Promote Women's Economic Inclusion: South African Pres

• African President calls for a stronger push on Women’s economic empowerment
• He noted that women’s exclusion fuels economic and social vulnerability
• G7 and African nations’ forum provide a platform for advancing tech-driven economic opportunities for women

President Cyril Ramaphosa urged African nations to set up initiatives supporting women’s economic empowerment, in line with the continent’s declared focus on financial inclusion through 2030. President Cyril emphasized in his weekly massage that global efforts to eradicate poverty and underdevelopment are hindered by the persistent exclusion of women through marginalization and bias.

Cyril pointed out that 2020 marked a significant milestone; the 25^th anniversary of the 1995 Beijing Conference, which elevated and prioritized women’s empowerment and equality as a central focus of the global development agenda.

According to him the G7 and African nation’s forum this week will provide a critical space to assess how digital innovation can support women in starting enterprises, expanding trade, and securing impactful employment across the continent. He cautioned that without integrating women into the core of economic activity, they would remain at heightened risk of exploitation and abuse.

“It is a valuable opportunity to not only review the progress made over the last quarter century, but most importantly to clearly outline the actions we must now take to ensure that women occupy their rightful place as equals in all areas of life in all societies,” Ramaphosa wrote in the column. “For Africa, this means, among other things, that we must intensify measures to empower women economically.”

He also added, “There is much that can be achieved by ensuring that women have greater access to affordable financial services and education,” “This should take place alongside other measures we are pursuing on the continent, such as efforts to increase the portion of public procurement set aside for women-owned businesses.”