During this year's G20 side events, our colleagues joined leaders, activists and policymakers and spoke on various panels, showing what it looks like when women are not only spoken about, but also speak for themselves.
Leila Akahloun: "There can be no just climate future without us"
At a side event of the G20 W20, Leila Akahloun, Senior Advisor to Mrs Graça Machel, joined a powerful gathering hosted by Tallawah: A Global Network of Black Women Climate Leaders in partnership with the W20 and South Africa's National Research Foundation. On the panel titled "Not Without Us: Black Women Shaping a Just Climate Future" Leila helped centre the leadership, wisdom and lived experience of Black women from across Africa and the diaspora in shaping climate solutions.
She reminded the room that the people most affected by climate change are often excluded from the spaces where decisions are made, even though Black women are already innovating, organising and reimagining what justice, equity and sustainability look like in their communities. Leila's message was clear: including Black women is not a favour, it is a prerequisite for meaningful change.
Thelma Bamhare: Unlocking trade and finance for Africa's women entrepreneurs
At the G20 C20 Conclave Leaders' Summit, Thelma Bamhare, Project Lead for the Women Creating Wealth programme, brought more than fifteen years of the Trust's experience in women's entrepreneurship into a global conversation on inclusive growth. Speaking on the panel "Youth and Women Leadership Development, Empowerment and Inclusion"alongside H.E. Hanan Jarrar, the Palestinian Ambassador to South Africa, Thelma shared how Women Creating Wealth has supported thousands of women entrepreneurs across seven African countries.
She highlighted stories of women who have grown their enterprises, created jobs and entered new markets once they had access to networks, knowledge and capital. Reflecting on the dialogue, Thelma described it as a constructive space that helped shape solutions for inclusive trade and economic advancement and reaffirmed the Trust's commitment to unlocking opportunities for women entrepreneurs under the African Continental Free Trade Area and beyond.
Lehlogonolo Michelle Ratlabyana: Putting women at the heart of food systems
At the same C20 gathering, Lehlogonolo Michelle Ratlabyana, Project Lead at the Trust, joined the Agriculture and Food Security panel to spotlight the women who feed Africa. She shared how the Trust's agricultural value chain projects are helping women producers in poultry, wine, citrus and vegetables access local and regional markets, connect with buyers and participate in trade exhibitions.
Lehlogonolo spoke about women who have strengthened their businesses through training in good agricultural practice and who are now moving into agro processing and adding value to their produce. Her message to G20 stakeholders was simple and powerful: if Africa wants resilient food systems, women farmers and agri entrepreneurs must have easier access to markets, finance and supportive policies, and institutions must work together to create an environment where women owned small and medium enterprises can thrive.
