G20: The Global South’s greatest strength, its youth

AS THE G20 approaches in November, great time and effort needs to be put into aligning the Global South, not just to blanket Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) focusing on the weaknesses of the Global South and Africa in particular, but to cultivate these weaknesses into strengths.

- COLE JACKSON LEAD ASSOCIATE AT BRICS+ CONSULTING GROUP CHINESE & LATIN AMERICAN ‘SPECIALIST

On the back of the different G20 task Forces, there seems to be some understanding of this.

South Africa's G20 presidency is thus an important one, as it represents Africa at large.

Sustainable Development Goals

A commendable cause and acknowledgement that as wealthy as the world has become after World War II. Many in the Global South have been excluded from the benefit of this wealth, be it due to historic injustices or the perpetuating of injustice in new forms.

The SDGs thus focuses on alleviating the basic human needs with an important mission to alleviate poverty, where more than 700 million people live on less than $2.15 (R37.20) per day.

Although a lot of progress has been made alleviating extreme poverty, the overall goal of alleviating poverty has slowed drastically over the years.

This calls for a more refined approach.

South Africa and Africa at large

South Africa, holder of the 2025 G20 presidency, has a population of approximately 64 million people. Of this approximately 40 million are of working age, half of which represents the youth. Around 50% of those aged 15-35 are unemployed. This paints a grim picture for the youth of South Africa.