Promoting financial inclusion for empowerment

WITHOUT adequate financial inclusion, South Africans who hope to start businesses and improve their lives - and their communities — will remain constrained.

- NICOLA MAWSON

Ofentse Tabane, founder and MD of Randcorp Investments, says that the financial inclusiveness of Africa is not just a moral imperative, it’s an economic necessity. Through formal inclusion, “we're not just increasing access to financial services, we're unlocking the potential of our people,” he says.

Tabane was the keynote speaker at an event hosted by Personal Finance, which examined how to break barriers and build a financially inclusive South Africa under the theme Breaking Barriers — Building a Financially Inclusive South Africa.

“The numbers are here; the studies are here. The World Bank shows that increasing financial inclusion can boost South Africa’s GDP by up to 6%. We're not just talking about charity, we're talking about creating a more competitive, more dynamic economy,” says Tabane.

The entrepreneurship imperative

A 2024 research paper published on ScienceDirect found that financial inclusion is a crucial factor in the willingness of people to become entrepreneurs. This is backed up by National Treasury information, which pointed out in 2023 that financial inclusion is an important means of driving entrepreneurship.

“The appropriate use of financial products and services by small, medium, and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) improves their prospects, and positively impacts the economic environment of the societies in which they operate.” To get there, Tabane says: “We need to work together... We need to relax the gatekeeping when it comes to access to credit for the township economy. We need to be flexible when it comes to access to financial growth.”

The inclusion paradox