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This study presents a thematic literature review aimed at understanding the systemic barriers that Black African women face when accessing bank loans in South Africa, as well as the critical role that the humanities can play in addressing these issues. In the context of the persistent economic instability facing South Africa, the small business sector has become a vital source of income and resilience for Black women. Despite this, their economic potential remains constrained by limited access to bank loans. Guided by an intersectionality framework, the study discusses the systemic barriers that contribute to the financial hardships and exclusion of Black African women. It further explores how gender-sensitive and humanities-informed approaches can contribute to more inclusive financial services. This includes emphasizing the need for culturally sensitive financial products, bias awareness training, and supportive policy frameworks. The review calls for strategic interventions to improve economic empowerment among Black African women entrepreneurs. Central to these interventions is the role of humanities faculties in facilitating Short Learning Programs and Skills Training Programs that provide business training, helping women manage finances and scale their ventures sustainably through enhanced financial literacy. This increased knowledge can improve their chances of success, even in the absence of formal funding. Conducting Afrocentric research is another avenue to uncover the barriers and address the current financial exclusion that Black women in South Africa experience. Gender equality in financial inclusion must remain one of the fundamental building blocks for steady and positive economic growth in South Africa.

The main objective of this paper is to investigate the factors having the most influence on the alleviation of poverty amongst the households adopting microfinance in Zambia. Ninety nine (n=99) respondents were randomly and purposively selected from amongst 340 microfinance adopters of the so-called Micro Bankers Trust programme operating a microfinance business in the Makululu Compound of Kabwe, Zambia. Socio-demographic primary data were collected through face-to-face interviews based on a semi-structured questionnaire instrument. The data were entered into an excel spreadsheet for analysis. The descriptive data were thereafter exported and fitted to an empirical model. The descriptive results revealed that the majority of the respondents were married, unemployed, fairly educated younger women from larger-sized poor households who drew their household income mainly from microfinance activities. The majority of the respondents thought microfinance had improved their well-being in some crucial areas. The results of the empirical model found that some respondents were indeed alleviated from poverty through microfinance. Conclusion drawn in this paper is that microfinance does alleviate poverty of the poor.