DIRCO, UNISA and UKZN to Host G20 Town Hall in Durban: Focus on Financial Inclusion for Grassroots Growth
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation, together with the University of South Africa and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, is set to hold a key G20 Town Hall Outreach event tomorrow in Durban. This gathering aims to bring global economic talks closer to everyday South Africans, spotlighting ways to boost financial access for local communities. As South Africa leads the G20 this year, the event underlines the country’s push for fairer global systems that help reduce poverty and build stronger economies from the ground up.
The meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, 8 October 2025, from 08h00 to 12h00 at the UKZN Westville Campus, comes at a time when financial inclusion is seen as a game-changer for tackling inequality worldwide. [0] It forms part of a series of outreach programmes designed to get more voices involved in shaping South Africa’s G20 agenda, which runs from 1 December 2024 to 30 November 2025 under the theme “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability.” [7]
Event Theme and Its Importance
The theme for this Durban event is “Financial Inclusion for Economic Development: Creating Access to Benefit Grassroots Economies.” Experts and officials will discuss how better access to banking, loans and digital finance can help small businesses, rural areas and low-income groups thrive. In a world where money moves fast across borders, leaving many behind, financial inclusion is key to cutting poverty, growing economies fairly and keeping societies stable. [18]
South Africa’s G20 Presidency is a big chance to lead talks on fixing global rules, especially for poorer countries. It focuses on meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, like ending hunger and creating jobs. The advisory from the department notes: “South Africa’s G20 Presidency stands as a vital moment to shape global dialogues and promote economic development. It represents a strategic opportunity to advance change in global governance, while working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.” [11] This push includes calls for debt relief, better tax rules to stop money leaking out of countries, and more affordable funding for growth. [22]
Financial inclusion ties into wider G20 efforts, like the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion meetings planned throughout 2025. [12] Earlier this year, a special conference on financial inclusion and women’s empowerment was held in May at Sun City Resort, showing how these ideas link to empowering women in business and finance. [13] In South Africa, this means helping township economies, small farmers and young entrepreneurs get the tools they need to succeed.
A Look Back at Previous Town Hall Events
This is the fourth in a series of G20 Town Hall Outreach programmes, started to make sure South Africans from all provinces join the conversation. The first one kicked off on 14 May 2025 in Pretoria, Gauteng, at the UNISA Main Campus, drawing crowds to talk about the basics of South Africa’s G20 role.
The second happened on 8 August 2025 in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, co-hosted with the local municipality. It focused on bringing G20 ideas to rural and township settings, with live discussions on how global policies affect daily life.
Last month’s third event was in Cape Town, Western Cape, on 16 September 2025. It built on the earlier ones, diving into topics like trade, investment and how South Africa can lead for the whole African continent now that the African Union is a full G20 member. These gatherings have sparked real talks, with speakers like Nelson Kgwete from the department sharing insights on building grassroots economies.
Each event has grown the outreach, showing how G20 decisions can help fix local issues like joblessness and unequal access to money.
South Africa’s Bigger Role in G20
As the first African country to chair the G20, South Africa is putting the spotlight on the Global South’s needs. President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for a new deal on global finance, including faster debt fixes, reusing special funds from rich countries and reforming banks to give more help to developing nations. This fits with events like the first G20 Finance Ministers meeting in Cape Town in February 2025, where leaders talked about closing a huge funding gap for sustainable goals.
The presidency also links to other G20 arms, like the Business 20 for companies, Parliament 20 for lawmakers and even talks on digital skills and clean energy. For instance, recent P20 Speakers’ Summit in Cape Town stressed fair climate funding and bridging the digital gap to make sure no one is left out.
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