Women’s Month · August 2026

Women. Power. Progress.

Across the Southern African Development Community (SADC), women are building businesses, sustaining households and reshaping local economies. We centre their stories.

Discover the stories See how we work

Portrait of a smiling woman wearing a colourful patterned headwrap — Women building livelihoods

01 / Why gender matters

Access is a starting point. Agency is the goal.

FinMark Trust (FMT) works across livelihoods, digitalisation, data and policy to make women’s economic realities visible — and to build financial systems that respond. Gender is not an add-on to this work. It is central to safer incomes, stronger enterprises and more resilient households.

A group of KwaMashu community participants gathered together

Featured story · Livelihoods

Building livelihoods, sustaining hope

FinMark Trust CEO Brendan Pearce reflects on visits to Generating Better Livelihoods pilot communities, where more than 60 young people — most of them women — are building businesses from social grants, training and sheer determination.

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02 / Gender Month reading

Stories of agency, safety and growth

Nine perspectives on the women, programmes and policy ideas shaping more inclusive economies.

Illustrated profiles of African women representing the importance of inclusive gender data

Gender data · Women’s economic empowerment

Beyond Counting Women: Why Better Gender Data Matters for Women’s Economic Empowerment

Better gender data goes beyond counting women. It reveals the barriers shaping women’s economic lives and helps decision-makers design financial systems, policies and programmes that respond to their realities.

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Gender-based violence · Economic agency

FinMark Trust is always purple

Gender-based violence is an economic issue as much as a social one. FMT’s programmes strengthen women’s financial independence as a protective factor against abuse.

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Analysis · Informal economy

Rethinking South Africa’s Informal Economy Debate

Social grants, informal work and pooled household income — often anchored by women — are quietly holding households together.

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Digital ke Power · Thembisa

From cash and uncertainty to confidence

OhsomeCakes owner Ntswaki Mtshali adopted digital payments, moving from chasing proof of payment to planning and investing with confidence.

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Digitalisation · Hammanskraal

From cash risks to digital growth

Praise Moeng’s switch to EFT and PayShap reduced the risks of theft and counterfeit notes, while giving her more time to grow.

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Enterprise · Digital payments

Stitch by stitch: Mbali grows her business

Mbali Ncube built Yarnflore from a YouTube-taught skill. Digital ke Power training helped turn cashless payments from something intimidating into a driver of growth.

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Women participating in a panel discussion at the DSD Policy Colloquium

GBL · Partnership

From grants to growth

Women running ventures from poultry farming to catering shared how coaching and community support are helping them move towards self-reliance.

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Cover of the report on small, medium and micro enterprises in South Africa's informal sector

Publication · Informal SMMEs

Support informal enterprises to grow

This policy framework recommends segmented support, alternative finance and bundled mentorship for an informal sector in which many traders are women.

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03 / Research and resources

Evidence for action

Go deeper into the evidence, practical guidance and conversations shaping women’s financial inclusion across the SADC region.

Regional trade · Webinar summary

E-commerce solutions for low-value cross-border trade

Explore how inclusive, interoperable digital payments can make SADC trade easier, safer and more profitable — particularly for the women and young people who make up most small-scale traders.

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MSMEs · Credit

Why access to credit remains elusive

Why conventional lending still excludes many MSMEs — especially women and youth entrepreneurs — and how more flexible, relevant credit models can unlock growth.

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Leadership · Gender allies

Crossing borders with gender champions

Meet the policymakers, innovators and advocates challenging discriminatory systems and creating more equitable financial opportunities for women.

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SADC · Women’s livelihoods

Women in the SADC economy

A gender-aware view of how women-led businesses, cross-border traders and women in agriculture navigated disrupted livelihoods — and why recovery must respond to their realities.

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Data and guidance

Make women visible in the evidence

GDD Gap Assessment ReportRegional gaps in gender-disaggregated financial inclusion data SADC Gender and Financial Inclusion FactsheetA concise regional picture of access, usage and gender gaps GDD RoadmapA practical framework for better-quality, more useful gender data GDD Summary GuidelinesGuidance for translating gender data into products, programmes and policy Women’s Roles in Cross-Border RemittancesEvidence on women as senders, recipients and shapers of remittance markets

Watch and learn

From evidence to practice

04 / The work behind the stories

Stories open the door. Our work changes the system.

Build livelihoods

Through Generating Better Livelihoods, social grant recipients gain skills, assets, coaching and pathways towards sustainable work.

Digitalise incomes

We help informal and low-income workers use digital payments to reduce cash risks, protect income and unlock opportunity.

Turn evidence into policy

Gender-disaggregated data and research reveal gaps, shape policy and track who benefits — and who is still left behind.

05 / Gender champions

Accountability starts from within.

Our Gender Champions embed inclusion across departments, strengthen accountability and ensure gender equity remains central to our strategy, programmes and partnerships.