Tana Malinga
Africa’s economic revival may depend on a resource that has always been present but remains vastly underutilised, the power, talent and economic potential of its women.
That was the compelling message emerging from the two-day Standard Bank Top Women Conference, held on 8 and 9 September 2026 at the Sandton Convention Centre, under the theme “Her Power. Africa’s Future. Amplifying Women-Led Growth.”
- Simone Cooper
Rather than another conference built around celebration alone, the gathering placed a sharper question on the table: How does Africa move women from potential and representation into real economic influence, ownership and growth?
- Standard Bank Head of Business and Commercial Banking South Africa Simone Cooper
For Standard Bank Head of Business and Commercial Banking South Africa Simone Cooper, the answer requires more than encouraging women to succeed individually. It demands systems capable of turning ambition into sustainable opportunity ,through access to finance, markets, education, technology, networks and leadership.
The scale of the opportunity is enormous. Research cited at the conference estimates that increasing the economic participation of young women could unlock up to US$287 billion in additional GDP and create 23 million jobs across Africa by 2030.
This makes investing in women not merely a question of inclusion, but one of Africa’s smartest economic decisions.
The conference also carried a powerful message about the next generation. With Africa projected to account for 40% of the world’s young people by 2030, the continent’s future is already sitting in classrooms, businesses, workplaces, laboratories and boardrooms.
But the challenge is converting that potential into opportunity and opportunity into growth.
The intervention by former Cabinet minister Naledi Pandor brought the conversation sharply into the realities still confronting women, including poverty, violence, unequal pay, sexual harassment and inadequate representation in positions of power.
Her message reinforced a crucial distinction: representation without influence is not transformation.
Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Nomusa Dube-Ncube pushed the conversation towards the future economy, challenging the persistent barriers that discourage girls and women from entering STEM, coding, robotics, artificial intelligence and other technology-driven fields.
Her call was unmistakable: women must not merely consume the technologies shaping tomorrow, they must build them, lead them and help govern them.
And that challenge sits at the heart of the conference’s broader economic proposition.
Africa does not lack ambitious women, exceptional entrepreneurs or innovative ideas. What remains inadequate are the systems that allow millions of women to flourish without having to display extraordinary resilience simply to overcome ordinary barriers.
The ambition, therefore, must move from producing exceptional women to building exceptional systems.
That means replacing barriers with bridges and creating stronger pathways from education to employment, entrepreneurship and boardroom influence.
It also means changing the culture of support.
As reflected in Cooper’s address, mentorship matters but sponsorship can be transformational. Mentors offer guidance; sponsors use their influence to open doors, advocate for talent and connect people to opportunities.
That distinction carries a powerful leadership lesson: success should not end with how far one person climbs, but with how many others are helped to rise.
The conference ultimately left a message of hope, but not passive hope.
It was a call for deliberate economic action for business, government, institutions and individuals to invest in women not as beneficiaries on the margins of growth, but as architects of Africa’s economic future.
Technology must widen opportunity rather than deepen inequality. Finance must reach women-led enterprises. Markets must become accessible. Leadership pipelines must begin earlier. Sponsorship must replace closed networks. And representation must evolve into genuine influence.
“Her Power. Africa’s Future.” is therefore more than a conference theme. It is an economic proposition and a challenge to every institution with the power to open a door.
Africa’s future will not be determined by whether women are capable of leading.
They have already demonstrated that they are.
The defining question now is whether the continent is prepared to build the systems, opportunities and partnerships that allow millions more women to turn that capability into lasting economic power.
And perhaps that is where the real revival begins, not by asking women to prove their worth again, but by creating an economy ready to fully recognise it.
