South Africa is entering 2026 with a decade’s worth of measurable progress on gender equality. As of nowadays the country has closed roughly 77% of its overall gender gap. In simple words, about three-quarters of the difference between men and women has been reduced.
This indicator places the country ahead of the global average and consistently among Africa’s top-three performers. Parity in education and health has strengthened over the years, and women now hold nearly half of parliamentary seats.
Briefly News research shows that the country has spent the last decade among the top 25 nations globally for gender equality. This year, however, it slipped to 33rd place, not due to the poor performance, but because other countries advanced faster.
Beneath these gains lies a more complicated truth: equality on paper has not fully translated into equality in practice, particularly in the labour market.
Women in South Africa earn about 20% less than men hourly, are disproportionately represented in informal work, and remain underrepresented in high-growth, high-income sectors.
Nowhere is this divide more visible than in the technology industry. And because tech is one of the biggest contributors to GDP and a driver of future jobs, its gender imbalance carries long-term economic consequences.
Why the tech sector matters most for South Africa’s future
While South Africa continues to demonstrate strong performance within Africa by ranking as the 3rd most innovative country in the region, it still lags behind nations that fully harness the talent, skills and knowledge of their entire populations, such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
This contrast highlights that sustained global competitiveness depends on infrastructure and policy, but also on who is empowered to participate in building the future.
What the data shows: Representation and the skills pipeline
Recent statistics help illustrate the extent of the imbalance. Research from the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA) shows that women represent just under 40% of the ICT workforce, and when narrowed to core technical roles including software development, engineering, infrastructure, cybersecurity the percentage drops closer to one quarter. This is not a pipeline issue alone, though education does play a role.
Only about 13% of STEM graduates in South Africa are women, and even those who enter these programmes often cite barriers such as limited mentorship, gender stereotyping and unequal access to high-quality training. This mismatch between potential and opportunity creates a stagnant funnel: too few women graduating in high-demand fields and even fewer progressing to leadership.
Leadership and visibility: The missing middle
The leadership data is even more stark. Industry surveys suggest that only 5 % of ICT companies in South Africa are led by women, and women remain underrepresented in executive and decision-making roles across the broader technology ecosystem.
This gap affects everything from product design to funding decisions. It also means fewer visible role models for younger women navigating early-career pathways.
Signs of momentum: Women innovators rising
Yet, despite these inequalities, there are pockets of powerful momentum.
Women in South Africa are emerging as innovators, founders and builders in ways that challenge old stereotypes. Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in which women are more likely to be entrepreneurs than men. South Africa contributes significantly to that trend.
In fintech, healthtech, education technology and creative digital industries, women are founding and leading startups at increasing levels. Many of these founders credit online learning, digital skills training and accelerator support as the catalysts that allowed them to break into the sector.
National programmes driving inclusion in tech
Large programmes have helped expand this momentum.
- Private-sector initiatives, including Huawei’s Women in Tech programme, have trained hundreds of South African women in cloud computing, AI, data analytics and other advanced skills.
- Vodacom #CodeLikeAGirl is a large-scale national coding initiative targeting girls under 18 years from underprivileged communities. It offers various coding bootcamps teaching coding languages, plus life skills & mentorship.
- African Girls Can Code Initiative (AGCCI) is a programme run in partnership with UN Women South Africa, national education authorities and private partners. It is also offering coding & robotics-based bootcamps (learning the fundamentals of AI, 3D printing, web/mobile app development) for high school girls and young women.
- WIIT (Women in IT/Institute of IT Professionals South Africa branch) is a professional, organisation-based effort to support and empower women in ICT in South Africa.
- The government has also recognised the need to structurally support women innovators. In 2025, the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation launched the Women in Technology and Innovation Programme. The programme provides access to funding, technical support and an enabling environment for women to participate meaningfully in South Africa’s innovation landscape.
What South Africa must do in 2026
The question, then, is what must happen in 2026 for this momentum to transform the sector at scale. First, South Africa will need to strengthen the pipeline from education into employment. This requires encouraging more girls into STEM fields and ensuring that they complete these programmes with the mentorship and exposure needed to transition into the tech workforce.
Companies, meanwhile, must take more deliberate steps to promote gender-balanced hiring and advancement.
At the entrepreneurial level, investment remains a critical barrier. Women founders worldwide receive significantly less venture capital than men, and South Africa mirrors this trend. Ensuring that public-private funding instruments intentionally include women, not as a diversity add-on but as central contributors to innovation, is essential.
The road ahead: Building a truly inclusive digital economy
As South Africa looks to 2026, the challenge is clear but achievable. The country has already shown politically and socially that deliberate policy and public advocacy can drive real progress.
The same is possible in tech. With coordinated action, South Africa can build one of the continent’s most inclusive innovation sectors.
The groundwork is already visible in the women launching startups, gaining advanced digital skills and leading innovation spaces; the task now is scaling this momentum into a fully transformed ecosystem.
Thembisile Tsambalikagwa is a PR Officer at Briefly News, where she focuses on media relations, brand storytelling and amplifying impactful, data-led narratives. She has experience across business, mining, education and enterprise development, with a strong interest in African socio-economic issues and stories that shape public understanding.
