The growing flow of investment into energy, infrastructure and sustainable finance has highlighted concerns about whether women are fully considered in how these resources are allocated.
A financing theme once largely confined to development institutions is beginning to move into mainstream capital markets, and South Africa’s push for investment in renewable energy, infrastructure and sustainable finance could make it one of the continent’s most important testing grounds.
As governments, banks and investors mobilise capital into energy transition projects, logistics networks, climate adaptation and broader infrastructure, the questions being asked of finance are also starting to shift. It is no longer only about how money is raised, but also increasingly about how it is used and who benefits when it is deployed.
That is where gender-responsive finance is starting to gain ground.
In an interview with Business Day, UN Women head of sustainable finance Robyn Oates explained the potential for gender-responsive finance to reshape market norms.
“Markets have traditionally been blind to gender, and that creates inefficiencies in how capital flows,” Oates said. “If we start to structure loans, bonds and investment products in ways that consciously consider women, we not only drive social impact but also unlock tangible financial returns.”
At its core, gender-responsive finance asks whether financial systems, products and investment decisions take into account the different economic realities, constraints and risks that women face — not only as entrepreneurs and borrowers, but also as workers, consumers, caregivers and participants in broader value chains.
The concept goes beyond more familiar ESG metrics that often focus on representation, such as how many women sit on a board or what share of a workforce is female.
Instead, it asks more fundamental questions: whether infrastructure is designed in ways that enable women to access jobs and markets safely; whether energy, agriculture and transport investments include women in supply chains and procurement; whether financing reaches women-owned enterprises; and whether large-scale development spending is reinforcing or reducing existing inequalities.
“That framing is beginning to resonate more strongly in financial markets,” said Oates.
According to a recent study by the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and 2X Global, the global gender-focused bond market had grown to 576 active issuances by 133 issuers as of June 1 last year — a sharp increase from the far smaller market that existed only a few years ago. Iceland last year issued what it described as the world’s first sovereign gender bond, while Tanzania’s NMB Bank said its own gender bond was 197% oversubscribed, suggesting that investor appetite exists where products are clearly defined and communicated.
“This is not a niche anymore; investors are starting to take it seriously,” said Oates.
For whose benefit?
For Africa, the implications could be significant. The continent is entering a period in which large volumes of capital are being directed towards infrastructure, climate resilience, industrial development and the energy transition. But while those themes are often discussed in macroeconomic or policy terms, much less attention is typically paid to how the design of those investments shapes who is included in their benefits.
For South Africa, the country is simultaneously trying to expand renewable energy capacity, improve transmission and logistics infrastructure, unlock industrial growth, strengthen climate resilience and broaden participation in the economy. Those priorities are capital-intensive, and much of the financing attached to them is already being framed through the language of sustainability, transition and development.
“South Africa’s energy and infrastructure agenda could provide a proving ground. With billions earmarked for renewable energy, transport, and sustainable urban projects, the question is whether these funds will reach women meaningfully or simply reinforce existing structural gaps,” said Oates.
“The country has one of the continent’s most sophisticated financial markets, an increasingly active sustainable finance ecosystem, deep infrastructure and transition needs, and a development agenda that cannot realistically be separated from questions of inequality, labour market exclusion and social resilience,” she added.
“South Africa could show the world what it looks like when gender is integrated at the outset, not as an afterthought. If this is done right, it becomes a template for other African markets.”
Social and economic imperatives
Beyond capital markets, the rationale for gender-responsive finance is both social and economic. Women are projected to account for about 75% of global discretionary spending by 2028, according to a report by the UN Development Programme and the Financial Centres for Sustainability Network. The World Bank also found that women in low- and middle-income countries are increasingly using formal accounts to save, even though persistent gaps in access and usage remain.
Challenges remain, though. According to the World Bank’s Global Findex Database findings for 2025, 73% of women in low- and middle-income countries had a financial account in 2024, up from 2021, but women still lag behind men in areas such as formal saving, borrowing and digital payments. The bank also found that about 700-million women worldwide still do not have a financial account, showing that gains in financial inclusion are far from complete.
“Integrating gender into finance is not charity; it is smart economics,” Oates said. “Gender finance is no longer a sidebar; it is a lens for designing smarter, more inclusive markets. The sooner South Africa tests and scales it, the sooner others will follow.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.