Minister Baartman addresses G20 Digital Economy Working Group Ministerial Meeting

Speech by Deidré Baartman 

Western Cape Minister of Finance 

Welcoming Remarks  

G20 Digital Economy Working Group Ministerial Meeting 

Cape Town 

29 September 2025 

INTRODUCTION 

Excellencies, 

Honourable Ministers and Heads of Delegation for the Digital Economy Working Group, 

Esteemed delegates,  

Distinguished guests. 

On behalf of the Western Cape Government, a warm welcome to Cape Town. 

A hundred kilometers north of here, in the town of Clanwilliam, I want you to imagine a small farmer who sells Rooibos through the same routine every season, a handshake at the co-op, a price taken rather than chosen. The world beyond her gravel roads seemed distant. 

Then came change. The community library went online. The farmer learned digital basics, set up payments, and posted photos of their harvests. Orders soon arrived from buyers who valued origin and tradition. Income grew, her skills deepened, and the youth of the community, following in her footsteps, studied with new hope for a different future.  

This scenario captures what happens when connection meets capability and when distance collapses into opportunity. 

If you step outside this hall, the Atlantic carries more than waves. Beneath it, fibre-optic cables splice the Western Cape into global markets at the speed of light. A design file from Woodstock can reach Frankfurt in seconds; a nurse in Beaufort West can consult a specialist without sending a patient on a day-long trip. 

Nothing about this is accidental. It is the outcome of policies that meet people where they are. When the state lowers the cost of access, teaches practical skills, and keeps rules clear and predictable, ordinary people will do the rest. That idea is the thread running through our work as the Western Cape Government. We are here under the banner of “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability,” and for us these are tests, not slogans. 

For us, digital infrastructure is as real as roads and substations. It saves hours, cuts errors, and opens doors. But connection alone is not enough. The world is shifting fast, driven by technologies like Artificial Intelligence that will transform how we learn, trade, and govern. Our task is to ensure that these tools expand participation rather than entrench exclusion. 

We ask ourselves three questions before every project: 

Does it widen the circle of opportunity? 

Does it stand up to fiscal scrutiny? 

Will it still serve people when the applause has faded? 

AN INCLUSIVE DIGITAL FUTURE 

The digital economy can be a great equaliser or a deep divider. One in three people globally remain offline. Even where networks exist, many cannot connect due to cost, skills, or trust. This exclusion fuels inequality and raises the cost-of-service delivery. 

But Africa holds a unique advantage: we can leapfrog legacy systems. Just as we skipped landlines to embrace mobile banking, we can now build digital economies designed for inclusivity from the start. Our continent’s greatest asset is its people (young, entrepreneurial, and ready to innovate). Our role is to give them the tools. 

When countries get the basics right, the results are profound. Kenya’s mobile money revolution transformed livelihoods. India’s open payments platform powers billions of transactions monthly. The lesson is clear: open, affordable digital rails unlock growth that compounds. 

AI now raises the stakes. It can help clinics triage patients, flag procurement risks, and empower small firms. But it can also introduce bias, errors, and dependence. That is why the Western Cape Government has adopted a governance framework to guide ethical, transparent AI adoption that builds public trust. 

THE WESTERN CAPE BLUEPRINT 

Our approach rests on three pillars: Access, Skills, and Enterprise. 

Access begins with connection. Through our Provincial Broadband Initiative, we are linking nearly 2,000 government sites (schools, clinics, libraries) to high-speed internet. Our public Wi-Fi network, one of Africa’s largest, serves half a million users daily, each receiving up to 6GB of free data monthly. 

Skills turn access into capability. Coding and robotics are now embedded in our schools, while partnerships with organisations like CiTi and UVU Africa have trained over 6,000 young people for digital roles. We are shifting toward outcome-based models that reward training linked to real employment. And within government, our AI framework ensures every level, from policymakers to frontline staff, builds digital literacy. 

Enterprise converts skills into income. Cape Town is South Africa’s venture capital hub, home to over 450 active start-ups. Yet our vision extends beyond tech firms. Most jobs are in small and medium enterprises, so our support helps SMMEs get online, accept digital payments, and use e-invoicing. When thousands of small firms become digitally fluent, growth becomes broad-based and resilient. 

MEASURING THE DIVIDENDS 

The impact is tangible. A connected clinic reduces travel and waiting times. A connected school turns a good teacher into a multiplier. A connected entrepreneur reaches new markets. When friction falls away across thousands of sites, growth moves from the abstract to the everyday. 

This is what solidarity in the digital age means: building systems that empower all, not just a few. 

A CALL FOR GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP 

The G20’s theme of Solidarity calls us to act together. The next phase of the digital revolution must be a force for convergence, not divergence. Solidarity demands more than funding infrastructure. It means sharing knowledge, building ethical guardrails for AI, and aligning on standards that ensure transparency and accountability. 

The principles of universal access, future-ready skills, and dynamic enterprise are not unique to the Western Cape. They apply from rural Indonesia to industrial Germany. Our shared challenge is to make them real everywhere. 

I began with a vision for a small town where a connection changed lives. That is the future we must design: one where opportunity is not determined by geography or birth, but by our collective choices. 

We can build walled gardens of privilege, or shared digital highways to prosperity. 

Here in the Western Cape, we have made our choice. 

We invite you to join us in solidarity, equality, and sustainability to build a digital future that works for all. 

Thank you.