On Sunday, South Africa will become the first African nation to chair the G20, but its emphasis on topics like climate change and equitable growth runs the danger of colliding with the harsh realities of trade disputes and diplomatic tensions.
With South Africa taking the helm a year after the African Union was accepted as a permanent member of the G20, it is viewed as a chance to advance policy areas that are essential to the growth of the continent.
Priorities mentioned by President Cyril Ramaphosa include climate change, food security, artificial intelligence, and inclusive economic growth; further information is anticipated next week.
Ramaphosa has stated that his nation will aim to expand on the efforts of its predecessors, making South Africa the fourth emerging market to take over the G20 presidency, which is rotated yearly, following Brazil, India, and Indonesia.
Donald Trump, whose incoming government has promised to impose stringent trade taxes on countries like Canada, Mexico, and China, has sparked concerns about trade wars. The United States will assume power in December 2025.
Additionally, Trump has threatened to undo the climate-related programs he would inherit from President Joe Biden and has essentially disregarded the scientific consensus about the influence of human activity on climate change.
“It will be important for South Africa to ensure that it consolidates positions of the Global South and hands over to the U.S. a solid legacy on issues to avoid the U.S. and Global North diluting or undermining the whole agenda of the Global South,” said David Monyae, director of the Centre for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg.
The G20 was created to promote international economic cooperation and consists of 19 independent countries in addition to the European and African Unions. It accounts for 67% of the world’s population, 75% of global trade, and 85% of the world economy.
Global polarisation, however, makes the G20’s professed goal more difficult to achieve, since members like the US, China, and Russia are openly at odds over trade and conflicts in the Middle East, Ukraine, and other places.
Rating agencies and the International Monetary Fund have cautioned that trade policies that are becoming more protectionist pose a threat to global growth and may disproportionately affect developing market economies.