{"id":204108,"date":"2021-10-06T00:55:45","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T22:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/south-africa-needs-to-up-its-game-when-it-comes-to-financial-inclusion-for-women\/"},"modified":"2021-10-06T00:55:45","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T22:55:45","slug":"south-africa-needs-to-up-its-game-when-it-comes-to-financial-inclusion-for-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/south-africa-needs-to-up-its-game-when-it-comes-to-financial-inclusion-for-women\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa needs to up its game when it comes to financial inclusion for women"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The financial gap between men and women is a global problem<\/a>. It\u2019s a problem because excluding women financially prevents them from participating and contributing to society\u2019s social and economic activities. This is bad for women, and for society.<\/p>\n

In South Africa, the government has put in place different measures to address gender equality. But policies on financial inclusion have always been generalised and not gender specific. Financial exclusion<\/a> is when people don\u2019t have access to \u2013 or can\u2019t afford \u2013 financial services. Financial inclusion means being able to access credit and manage or mitigate risks with products that satisfy an individual\u2019s basic needs. <\/p>\n

In the case of women entrepreneurs, financial inclusion involves being able to save and invest, and having products that help them manage their businesses sustainably. <\/p>\n

The focus of my doctoral research<\/a> was to analyse conditions that explain financial inclusion among women-owned businesses. <\/p>\n

My findings show that South African women are financially included in terms of bank account ownership. But they are not financially included in, and don\u2019t make use of a range of, other financial products or services.<\/p>\n

I also found that there\u2019s a huge gender gap in terms of policies and interventions that would help women entrepreneurs. Government policies haven\u2019t been designed to address the particular situations faced by women running a business.<\/p>\n

Financial inclusion and women<\/h2>\n

My study involved 30 women entrepreneurs in South Africa\u2019s economic hub Gauteng, as well as five policy makers.<\/p>\n

My findings align with earlier research<\/a> that shows that South African women are more financially included than those in other countries in the Southern African Development Community.<\/p>\n

This has been attributed to the fact that South Africa has an extensive programme of distributing grants. Over 18 million are paid out every month<\/a> by the South African grant agency SASSA<\/a>. Most are paid into bank accounts and recipients use a Mastercard to cash out money at ATMs and to swipe at shops.<\/p>\n

But having a bank account doesn\u2019t equate to using it<\/a>. Research has shown that 28% have active bank accounts \u2013 defined as those with a monthly deposit and where transactions occur monthly. A higher proportion transacted on their accounts only twice a month or had dormant accounts. <\/p>\n

Most of the female entrepreneurs in my research said they struggled to access financial services and had to partner with a man before being heard by financial stakeholders. Most of the women also attested to the fact that they remained restricted to the household\u2019s financial responsibilities. They also said they had limited exposure to the benefits of financial institutions and the products they had to offer. <\/p>\n

Other constraints that surfaced in my study were:<\/p>\n